Impact & Sustainability News From Leading Brands

Sustainable Development Goals

New Technology is Shaking Up The Diamond Mining Industry in Côte d’Ivoire

Feb 23, 2018 8:00 AM ET

Terah DeJong, country director of the Tetra Tech-implemented U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) Property Rights and Artisanal Diamond Development (PRADD II) Project, discusses the introduction of new technology in the diamond mining areas of Cote d’Ivoire, and how technology has increased the volume of stones that enter the legal chain of custody, leading to increased earnings and more sustainable livelihoods for miners. All opinions expressed in this post are the author’s own.

Social Impact & Volunteering

Xylem Volunteers Collaborate to Protect Water Environments of South Florida

Feb 23, 2018 8:00 AM ET

Last October, five Xylem volunteers from Chile, Germany, Sweden and the United States spent five days exploring the water environments of South Florida and collaborating with groups working to protect these unique environments. Activities were conducted in partnership with EarthEcho International, one of Xylems’ global nonprofit partners.

Social Impact & Volunteering

Cerro Verde, a Freeport-McMoRan Company, and Dreambuilder Program Featured in Mining With Principles Campaign Video

Feb 23, 2018 7:50 AM ET

América Cristina Paz Tito lives in Arequipa and is a small business owner. She has been taking monthly classes from the DreamBuilder program, a partnership between Freeport-McMoRan and its affiliate Sociedad Minera Cerro Verde, and Thunderbird School of Global Management.

Sustainable Development Goals

Motorbike Transport App Creating Jobs and Saving Lives in Rwanda

Feb 23, 2018 7:45 AM ET

SafeMotos is transforming public transport in Kigali by providing quality training and fair wages to drivers and safer rides for customers

Health & Healthcare

CISCRP’s New Clinical Research Awareness Initiative Uses Empty Pharmacy Shelves to Educate Public and Patients

Feb 22, 2018 5:15 PM ET

The Center for Information and Study on Clinical Research Participation has released a new educational video. Sponsored by Sanofi US, the digital public service announcement is designed to increase awareness of the important role that clinical research participants and clinical trials play in advancing public health.

Health & Healthcare

Ferring Pharmaceuticals and Merck Announce Completion of Largest Clinical Trial Ever Conducted in Postpartum Hemorrhage

Feb 22, 2018 3:50 PM ET

Ferring Pharmaceuticals and Merck, known as MSD outside the United States and Canada, through its Merck for Mothers initiative, today announced the completion of CHAMPION (Carbetocin Haemorrhage Prevention), a global clinical trial conducted by the Human Reproduction Program (HRP) at the World Health Organization (WHO).

Education

Engineers Spark STEM Interest at Local Girl Scouts Electricity Workshop

Feb 22, 2018 3:15 PM ET

Engineer Lindsey Sayers remembers building a strobe light in her high school electronics class and watching the light flash on when she plugged it in. In awe that something she built worked, she knew then that she wanted to become an engineer.

Education

Real Life Research Experience: Meet Amgen Scholars Alumni Agata Misiaszek

Feb 22, 2018 2:55 PM ET

Ever since I can remember, I was curious about how the world works and the causes and implications of different processes. Life’s extremely complex network of molecules and reactions that made me want to contribute to its understanding, especially because it has a constant impact on us. I find the ability to understand and possibly modify the entire network by interacting with a single component on molecular level incredibly fascinating. The application of research in disease treatment and improvement of overall life quality makes me realize the importance of the area and drives me to invest even more into my studies.

Environment

Los Angeles Convention Center Installs Rooftop Garden

Feb 22, 2018 2:35 PM ET

The Los Angeles Convention Center (LACC), managed by AEG Facilities, recently revealed its new 9,500 square-foot rooftop garden. Located above the LACC’s South Hall lobby, the garden features various citrus trees and vegetables that will be used to provide produce for the LACC in-house caterer Levy Restaurants.

Environment

Environment Scores Big Win With Zero-Waste Legacy Project at Super Bowl LII

Feb 22, 2018 2:15 PM ET

The NFL, in partnership with PepsiCo, Aramark, U.S. Bank Stadium, SMG and the Minnesota Sports Facilities Authority, scored a zero-waste legacy project at Super Bowl LII, with 91 percent[1] of all trash generated on gameday from 67,612 fans responsibly recovered through composting, recycling and reuse. The landmark project marks the highest diversion rate achieved at U.S. Bank Stadium and at any previous Super Bowl, and aims to serve as the benchmark for future large-scale events.

Environment

Timberland Shares Sustainability Approach at Rotary Presidential Peace Conference

Feb 22, 2018 2:00 PM ET

I recently had the opportunity to join over 800 Rotary members from 30 different countries at Rotary’s Presidential Peacebuilding Conference in Vancouver, British Columbia. The conference was focused on Environmental Sustainability and Peace, the first of six Peacebuilding Conferences to be held in different locations around the world on Rotary’s core focus areas. I was invited to share some of Timberland’s corporate responsibility best practices on a session entitled “Business of Sustainability.” Beth Keck, former Senior Director at Walmart and member of the Environmental Sustainability Rotary Action Group, facilitated the conversation between me and Bruce Karas, VP Environment, Sustainability Coca-Cola.

Responsible Business & Employee Engagement

Building the Business Case for Sustainability: Impactful CSR Through Cross-Functional Teamwork

Feb 22, 2018 1:30 PM ET

Building the business case for sustainability within a company is not always easy. In this interview, Symantec's Debra McLaughlin reveals practical examples of how the company tackled some of their CSR challenges, and how sustainability reporting has been an effective tool for that.

Awards, Ratings & Rankings

Avery Dennison Among Barron's 100 Most Sustainable Companies

Feb 22, 2018 1:00 PM ET

Sustainability, one of our company values, means we are focused on the long-term health of our business, planet and communities. Our efforts over the last few years have dramatically raised the bar, and recently resulted in our ranking #72 on Barron’s first list of 100 Most Sustainable Companies. Barron’s is a US-based publication that covers the financial and investment industries. It's 100 Most Sustainable Companies list was developed with Calvert Research and Management, which looked at the 1,000 largest publicly held companies headquartered in the US (size determined by market value) as of December 31, 2017.

Diversity & Inclusion

Bacardi Debuts Women’s Empowerment Series in Houston

Feb 22, 2018 12:15 PM ET

The series brought together industry leaders, community partners, and expert panels to spark discussion of everything from equal pay and maternity leave for women in the hospitality and spirits industries to financial wellness and self-defense tactics.

Events, Media & Communications

PODCAST | SHE Innovates Interview with Nate Hurst, HP Chief Sustainability and Social Impact Officer

Feb 22, 2018 11:45 AM ET

Nate Hurst, HP's Chief Sustainability and Social Impact Officer chats with Michelle King about how women play a key role in driving innovation in the workplace, and what business leaders can do to deliberately support women in technology and innovation. SHE Innovates is a podcast that shares the stories, challenges and triumphs of women across innovation, technology and entrepreneurship.

Diversity & Inclusion

An Aspiring Pilot Veers into a Career as a JetBlue Aircraft Mechanic

Feb 22, 2018 11:30 AM ET

Jerusalem Melke has spent more sleepless nights at John F. Kennedy International Airport than even the most road-weary frequent flier, although she is there by design. Melke is an aircraft technician for JetBlue Airways, and her workday starts at 10 p.m. “The terminal is pretty desolate at night, but outside the hangar it’s bustling,” she said.

Awards, Ratings & Rankings

Piedmont Natural Gas Named Natural Gas Utility Customer Champion

Feb 22, 2018 11:10 AM ET

Responsible Production & Consumption

Wendy’s Chili Recipe Isn’t Your Family Recipe… but It’s Pretty Darn Close

Feb 22, 2018 11:05 AM ET

Being a resourceful man – and a little ahead of his time – Dave Thomas inherently understood the concept of food recovery. And by building the brand on the promise of serving fresh, never frozen beef*, Dave knew his hamburgers would have a shorter shelf-life. He even asked himself, “what do you do with the leftover hamburger?” The answer was simple: combine the beef we use for our hamburgers with a hearty helping of vegetables, chili beans and a dash of spice.

Environment

Amy Harder: Democrats Debate Energy Policy

Feb 22, 2018 11:00 AM ET

The 2016 disagreement between Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders over the best energy mix to help us get to a 100% renewable future sure does seem antiquated these days with climate change deniers and fossil fuel interests at the helm in Washington. This week on Sea Change Radio, though, we get an update on the continued divisions within the Democratic Party from Axios energy reporter, Amy Harder.

Energy

UPS to Deploy First Electric Truck to Rival Cost of Conventional Fuel Vehicles

Feb 22, 2018 10:35 AM ET

Designing electric, zero-emissions vehicles from the ground up is no easy task - but UPS and Workhorse Group are doing just that, and putting them on the road at a cost matching standard petroleum vehicles without the benefit of any subsidies in an industry-first initiative.

Social Impact & Volunteering

Building a Better Tomorrow Through Community Service and Corporate Giving

Feb 22, 2018 10:00 AM ET

For the ninth consecutive year, Wells Fargo is United Way Worldwide’s No. 1 workplace giving campaign in the U.S. More than 65,000 team members demonstrated their strong commitment to community service by giving $85 million to 40,000 nonprofit organizations and volunteering a record 2 million hours — valued at $48 million — in communities nationwide during the company’s employee giving campaign in 2017.support disaster relief and recovery efforts, veterans, military service members and their families, community revitalization, and environmental sustainability.

Events, Media & Communications

Mars, GSK & TD Bank + 400 More to Join RBSNY

Feb 22, 2018 9:45 AM ET

The Responsible Business Summit New York (March 26-27) is the leading conference to create long-term, positive impact on society, the environment and industry through transforming business operations.

See who you could be altering the course of your business and collaborating with.

Philanthropy & Cause Initiatives

CITGO Announces 10th Anniversary Grantee Finalists for the Bronx Social Program

Feb 22, 2018 9:45 AM ET

Today, CITGO Petroleum Corporation celebrated the 10th anniversary of its Bronx Social Program by announcing the 2017-2018 grant recipients. The 21 chosen programs were selected because of their efforts to serve the Bronx community through five focus areas, including arts and culture, education, empowering communities, environment and healthy living. CITGO and its charitable organization the Simón Bolívar Foundation created the Bronx Social Program in 2007 to provide grant opportunities to local nonprofit organizations dedicated to ensuring a brighter future for the South Bronx.

Environment

Tetra Pak Delivers More Than Half a Billion Fully Renewable Packages

Feb 22, 2018 9:00 AM ET

In 2014 Tetra Pak launched the world’s first fully renewable carton package – Tetra Rex® Bio-based. Today, we observe a significant milestone as more than half a billion packs have reached consumers. Manufactured entirely from paperboard and sugar cane, it is not only good for the planet, but also for brands seeking to differentiate themselves.

Philanthropy & Cause Initiatives

MilliporeSigma Strengthens Corporate Responsibility Efforts With Nine New Signature Partnerships

Feb 22, 2018 9:00 AM ET

Building on its commitment to accelerate scientific research and science education, MilliporeSigma today announced nine new or expanded partnerships with leading nonprofit organizations across the world. These long-term, multi-dimensional partnerships are designed to spark scientific curiosity and passion — paving the road for innovative breakthroughs with demonstrated impact and measurable outcomes.