News from Leading Brands

Keep up with the latest impact news from companies embracing the triple bottom line, shared via 3BL's publishing platform.

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Philanthropy & Cause Initiatives

Follow the Money: How Sands Cares Assists WestCare

Through the implementation of the Fresh Start Mobile Showers, WestCare partnered with Sands Cares, Las Vegas Sands’ corporate giving program, as a local stop for providing the community’s homeless population with private showering facilities. As the mobile showers began to gain traction, WestCare has been an important partner in assisting those experiencing homelessness in the Las Vegas area.

Research, Reports & Publications

M&S Publishes Its First Update on Plan A 2025 as Part of Its Business Transformation

M&S updates stakeholders on progress against its 100 new Plan A commitments launched last year. This year’s update comes as part of a wider business transformation programme.

Environment

6 Natural Adventures to Visit This Summer

June marks National Great Outdoors Month and National Water Month. The beauty of our nation’s forests and parks are that they are filled with breathtaking views, unbeatable hiking trails, and diverse wildlife. The summer is the season to get outdoors and connect with nature. Here are 6 forests, parks, and preserves that we are replanting in and that are full of adventure.

Awards, Ratings & Rankings

Sustainability Winners Unwrapped

Events, Media & Communications

Twitter Chat With Aetna: #HealthierWorld, Thursday, 6/7 Noon ET/ 9am PT

Join us on Twitter tomorrow, Thursday, June 7, at Noon ET (9:00 a.m. PT), as Aetna, along with public health leaders, share ideas and provide insight on how to build a healthier world, one community at a time. You can follow the conversation by locating the hashtag, #HealthierWorld.

Awards, Ratings & Rankings

National Grid Earns EEI Emergency Assistance Award and Emergency Recovery Award for Restoration Efforts Across U.S.

The Edison Electric Institute (EEI) today presented National Grid with the EEI Emergency Assistance Award and the EEI Emergency Recovery Award for its outstanding power restoration efforts after Winter Storm Riley, Winter Storm Quinn, and a severe wind and ice storm that impacted New York, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island in October 2017, March 2018, and April 2018.

Education

Washington, D.C., students learn in a floating classroom

It’s not often that teenagers are able to spend a school day on a boat instead of in a classroom, but students from The School Without Walls High School in Washington, D.C., had that opportunity recently. As the high school students traveled along the Potomac and Anacostia rivers, they tested water quality, identified fish, examined maps, and surveyed bird diversity.

Diversity & Inclusion

Northern Trust Celebrates Pride Month this Month and Every Month

This #PrideMonth, and every month, we're proud to recognize the diversity of our partners! We are committed to fostering diversity and inclusion in the workplace.

Environment

How China’s Ban on ‘Foreign Trash’ Will Impact U.S. Recycling

Are you a conscientious recycler, someone who scrubs their aluminum cans and glass containers before tossing them in the bin? Do you know the plastic recycling number codes by heart? Well, now a new rule by China might make some of these efforts moot.

Diversity & Inclusion

What’s in a Name?

As a child on the playground, did you ever experience a bully relentlessly calling you a “tomboy” (if you are a female) or a “sissy” (if you are a male)? That’s how many transgender people feel, even as adults, every time they have to present their identification with their birth name and assigned gender – that information does not represent who they are, and the exercise is dehumanizing and demoralizing.

Research, Reports & Publications

Sands ECO360 Launches 2017 Environmental Progress Report with Focus on Sustainable Dining

Las Vegas Sands is the leader in sustainability within the hospitality industry. Through Sands ECO360, its global sustainability program, the company implements strategic initiatives that minimize its environmental footprint on the planet. Since setting the five-year goals in 2015, the program has made outstanding progress detailed in its 2017 Environmental Progress Report.

Environment

Partnering to Build up Pollinator Populations

When rival automakers come together it’s usually to brag about their latest engineering accomplishment or to re-imagine the future of mobility, but sometimes they garden. Yes, garden. Through our membership with the Wildlife Habitat Council (WHC), FCA US is now tracking and promoting healthy biodiversity at 12 facilities across North America.

Research, Reports & Publications

Updated Report: Automakers Reduce Risk, Enhance Competitiveness With Strong MPG/Emission Standards

In the wake of reports that the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration (NHTSA) and Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) may propose rollbacks to vehicle efficiency and emission standards, Ceres has released an updated analysis and fact sheetpointing to the economic benefits of strong national standards.

Major investors and companies are voicing concerns that the administration’s potential move could blunt a key driver of the U.S. economy, hurt the global competitiveness of the U.S. auto industry, and create significant regulatory uncertainty for the auto industry.

Events, Media & Communications

Dispatches from the Sustainable Brands Conference – Vancouver 2018

At Sustainable Brands 2018 in Vancouver, Buy Social Canada led attendees on a social enterprise walking tour across the city, highlighting a long list of social enterprises and the innovative work they’re doing to better their community. Buy Social Canada brings together socially driven purchasers and social enterprise suppliers, working with community organizations, the private sector and government.

Environment

Merck INFOGRAPHIC | Finding New Ways to Reduce Our Environmental Impact and Promote Sustainability

The world’s resources are finite. Over the next few decades the demand for energy, clean water and natural resources will increase substantially due to population growth and economic development. As a result, there will be fewer resources available to support the world’s growin

Responsible Production & Consumption

Looks Great, Tastes Fresh: Meet Our New Tomatoes

By the end of 2018, all of Wendy's tomatoes will be vine-ripened from greenhouse farms. The goal: tomatoes that taste like you grew them yourself. And did we mention that greenhouse farms bring benefits to the environment as well?

Events, Media & Communications

MUST SEE: Ethical Corp’s Revolutionised Supply Chain Conference

For over a decade this event has delivered an unmatched, holistic view of supply chain challenges and solutions. 2018’s iteration is the strongest, most value packed we’ve ever produced with a laser-like focus on the emerging technologies, innovations and collaborations critical to sustainable, cost-effective supply chain strategies.

Education

High School Students Use Star Banks Adventure® App to “Game Their Way to Success”

“Dear Ms. Christoff,” the email began, “My name is Olivia Perini, and I am a 9th grade student at Harrison High School in New York. For our high school DECA club project, my two partners and I were assigned the task of coming up with a financial literacy promotion. We chose to use the T. Rowe Price Star Banks Adventure app to promote financial literacy in the school.”

Research, Reports & Publications

New Article From John Kania, Mark Kramer, and Peter Senge Provides an Actionable Framework for Catalyzing Systems Change

A new article, The Water of Systems Change, published by FSG, provides an actionable model for funders and other social sector institutions interested in creating systems change. Many funders and grantees today find the concept of systems change and its implications difficult to grasp and apply, despite decades of academic research and activist leadership. The Water of Systems Change aims to clarify what it means to shift the conditions holding a social or environmental problem in place.

Sustainable Development Goals

The Role of Land Rights Documentation in Promoting Sustainable Land Use Practices

Tetra Tech’s Dr. Matt Sommerville, senior associate with Tetra Tech International Development Services, participated in a U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) LandLinks expert interview that highlights the innovative approaches used for customary land documentation in Zambia and ways the Tenure and Global Climate Change (TGCC) project institutionalized land reform at the local, regional, and national levels. All opinions expressed in this post are the author’s own.

Education

Duke Energy Connects Students and Educators with STEM, Literacy and Workforce Development Opportunities in North Carolina

Duke Energy is empowering students, educators and the workforce of the future by investing $2.5 million in 67 education and training initiatives across North Carolina. The 2018 grants, from the Duke Energy Foundation, will enhance educational programs focused on science, technology, engineering and math (STEM), K-3 early childhood literacy and workforce development.

Research, Reports & Publications

Barilla 2018 Sustainability Report "Good For You, Good For The Planet"

The Barilla Group has released its new Sustainability Report.

Highlights include Barilla’s answer to the complex scenario set by the international community and challenges related to the sustainability of the food and agricultural industry.

Sustainable Development Goals

Monsanto and Iowa State Partner to Improve Water Quality

Monsanto Company, along with its subsidiary, The Climate Corporation, today announced a partnership with the Iowa State University (ISU) Department of Agronomy to create an infrastructure project designed to monitor water quality and downstream nitrate loss. The project will provide researchers with valuable information on management practices that help keep nitrogen fertilizer from entering surrounding waterways.

Events, Media & Communications

We Are All ‘Still In’ This Together

One year ago, leaders from all over the U.S. — representing businesses, investors, colleges, universities, towns, cities, and states throughout America — joined together to declare “We Are Still In” the global Paris Agreement, promising to world leaders that America will fulfill its global commitment to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and curb the damaging effects of climate change.mNow, with nearly 2,800 signatories and growing, representing 160 million Americans and more than $6.2 trillion of the U.S. economy, this diverse cross section of the economy is helping to ensure the U.S. remains a global leader in climate change.

Philanthropy & Cause Initiatives

Team Viacom Marches to Stomp Out AIDS

Here’s a shocking statistic: one in five new HIV infections is among people ages 13 to 24.

These are the same young people at the heart of so much of Viacom’s programming. On Sunday, May 20, Viacom showed that it is caring, giving, walking, and fighting to battle this epidemic by participating in AIDS Walk New York, the largest single-day AIDS fundraising event in the world.

The team, 50-strong and the driving force behind more than $10,000 in donations to AIDS Walk NY (proceeds will benefit GMHC and dozens of other local HIV/AIDS service organizations), rallied prior to the walk alongside other top corporate sponsors in the so-called “gold section,” a segment reserved for the top fundraising teams, which Viacom has been a part of for several years.

Latest Campaigns

  1. AEG's Commitment to Social Impact and Volunteerism
    AEG embraces its responsibility to enrich the lives of people in the communities around the world where we do business, and to use business to create...
  2. Southwire Giving Back
    Our neighbors depend on us, just as we depend on them, so we are committed to improving the quality of life in the communities in which we work. At...
  3. Carbon Footprint
    We are accelerating our efforts to help build a low-carbon economy and avert the worst impacts of climate change. Our goal to reduce our GHG emissions...
  4. Environmental Sustainability
    As sustainability leaders, we implement our sustainability strategy across all company activities along the entire value chain, from raw materials to...
  5. Corporate Social Responsibility
    Corporate Social Responsibility
  6. International Paper | HEALTHY & ABUNDANT FORESTS
    Vision 2030 Goal: Lead forest stewardship efforts globally
  7. Sustainability Report
    Our latest Sustainability Report highlights recent accomplishments and progress toward achieving goals in the environmental, social and governance...
  8. Social Impact at Mastercard
    At Mastercard, we’re powering economies and empowering people, building a sustainable economy where everyone prospers.
  9. Kingfisher Around the World
    The SCS Kingfisher certification mark is showing up on an increasing number of products around the world. It differentiates companies that are making...
  10. License to Operate
    Corporate governance, risk management, operational integrity, and regulatory compliance are demanding challenges that companies face in today’s ever...
  11. IWBI | WELL Building Standard
    Our built environment can shape our habits and choices, regulate our sleep-wake cycle, drive us toward healthy and unhealthy choices, and passively...
  12. Leading ESG & Sustainability Stewardship
    The new CNH continues on its longstanding path of excellence in sustainability, which is recognized by the foremost authorities.
  13. Green Mountain Energy Commitment to Sustainability
    At Green Mountain Energy Company, we share our customers’ commitment to the environment and sustainability. We are inspired by the success that we...
  14. KeyBank's Community Investment
    In states where Key has a presence, there are approximately 1.7 million low- to moderate-income (LMI) households. Many LMI individuals don’t have bank...
  15. GoDaddy | Diversity, Equity, Inclusion & Belonging
    Diverse teams build better products — period. At GoDaddy, we make apps and services that our worldwide community of entrepreneurs can relate to. Our...