Impact & Sustainability News From Leading Brands

Social Impact & Volunteering

Xylem Watermark Kicks Off Annual Month of Service

Oct 4, 2018 1:00 PM ET

Xylem Watermark is proud to kick off our annual Global Month of Service in October - an entire month dedicated to volunteerism and raising awareness for the necessary improvements to clean water access around the world. Since 2016, Xylem employees have come together in October to participate in activities across the globe with one common mission – to provide and protect safe water resources for communities in need and to educate people about water issues.

Events, Media & Communications

Blockchain for Social Impact Summit

Oct 4, 2018 1:00 PM ET

ICO Impact Group client Akoin is proud to be speaking at Serendipia’s Blockchain for Social Impact Summit on October 4th in san francisco.

Over 150 attendees are set to attend Broadway Studios for insightful talks on how Blockchain can be used to redefine how our societies, businesses and communities are working in cohesion to change the world and achieve the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals.

Environment

BIER Member Spotlight: Paul Bowen

Oct 4, 2018 1:00 PM ET

Twice a month the Beverage Industry Environmental Roundtable (BIER) highlights their members' beverage industry sustainability insights and ideas in their BIER Member Spotlight series. These spotlights include their answers to questions about their company's sustainability achievements and strategy, practical insights from BIER, interesting facts, and more.

Sustainable Finance & Socially Responsible Investment

Scotia Global Asset Management Becomes a Signatory of the United Nations-Supported Principles for Responsible Investment

Oct 4, 2018 12:25 PM ET

Scotia Global Asset Management today announced it has become a signatory of the United Nations-supported Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI).

Innovation & Technology

How Online Commerce Can Help Fight Inequality

Oct 4, 2018 12:25 PM ET

Inequalities between citizens of the same country are becoming a greater political concern. Although income inequality between countries has dropped over the last two decades, discrepancies between regions and cities within countries have increased. This is alarming. But it’s not the full picture. Technology is empowering entrepreneurs in more disadvantaged areas, in ways the traditional economy cannot.

Environment

Inogen Member Spotlight--Michael Liang, ESD China

Oct 4, 2018 11:10 AM ET

Antea Group spotlights Guangzhou-based Michael Liang, Director of EHS Management Services at ESD China, a member of the Inogen Environmental Alliance.

Environment

Nestlé Waters Allentown Factories Achieve Globally Recognized Water Stewardship Certification

Oct 4, 2018 11:00 AM ET

Nestlé Waters North America announced today that its Allentown, Pennsylvania factories received certification under the Alliance for Water Stewardship (AWS) Standard. Created and supported by prominent environmental conservation groups, development organizations, and industry leaders, the AWS Standard is the first comprehensive global benchmark for responsible water stewardship across social, environmental, and economic criteria. This achievement was confirmed through audits conducted by SCS Global Services (SCS), a leading international third-party certification body, and sole certifier to the AWS standard in North America.

Environment

CSRHub's Cynthia Figge to Speak at SB New Metrics '18

Oct 4, 2018 10:35 AM ET

CSRHub CEO and Co-Founder, Cynthia Figge, will be speaking at the Sustainable Brands New Metrics ’18 Conference, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, held on October 29-31, 2018. Cynthia will speak on October 30th on “The ROI of Embedding Social Purpose in Brand Strategy”. This session will look at some emerging best practices, along with challenges based on wide-reaching recent research as well as anecdotes from practitioners.

Health & Healthcare

Sandoz Healthcare Access Challenge (HACk) Returns, Seeking Digital Solutions to Local Healthcare Access Challenges

Oct 4, 2018 10:20 AM ET

Sandoz, the Novartis generics and biosimilars division, today announces the launch of the second Sandoz Healthcare Access Challenge (HACk). The Sandoz HACk is a global competition that invites entrepreneurs and innovators in the field of digital technology to submit inspirational ideas with the potential to complement – or even positively disrupt – established approaches to driving access to healthcare. Sandoz HACk opens for entries today (October 4), closing on November 30, 2018.

Philanthropy & Cause Initiatives

Keep America Beautiful Partners With Duracell to Donate Batteries

Oct 4, 2018 10:15 AM ET

Keep America Beautiful, the nation’s iconic community improvement nonprofit organization, is partnering with Duracell to distribute 9V batteries, valued at more than $2 million, to 42 Keep America Beautiful community-based affiliates for the 2018 Duracell/Keep America Beautiful 9V Battery Grant Program. Duracell’s 9V Battery Grant Program is among the largest in-kind donations Keep America Beautiful has received in its 65-year history.

Responsible Production & Consumption

Symantec Makes Sustainable Food Choices

Oct 4, 2018 10:05 AM ET

At Symantec's cafe in Mountain View, California Executive Chef Robert Sapirman purchases cage-free eggs and sustainable seafood, sources locally, and supports the small farmers doing things right. This October, Symantec hosts its first Less Meet Monday to reduce GHG emissions and show diners how delicious plant-based proteins can be.

Health & Healthcare

Updated GRI OH&S Standard Calls for More Comprehensive, Worker-centric Reporting

Oct 4, 2018 10:05 AM ET

The benefits of improved occupational health and safety are far-reaching. The new reporting standard from the Global Reporting Initiative puts the worker in the center, and can help companies drive improvements in the lives of millions of workers worldwide.

Environment

VIDEO | Denali's Superintendents Celebrate the Zero-Landfill Initiative

Oct 4, 2018 10:05 AM ET

In this video, Denali National Park superintendents discuss ways you can help reduce, reuse, recycle, and support the park's Zero-Landfill Initiative.

Awards, Ratings & Rankings

Sacramento Allstate Agency Owner Named 2018 Ray Lynch Award Winner for Community Service

Oct 4, 2018 10:00 AM ET

Sacramento Allstate agency owner Zachary Wandell was recently named as the recipient of the 2018 Ray Lynch Community Service Award, Allstate’s top national honor commending an agency owner or financial specialist for giving back and supporting people and organizations in their local community.

Diversity & Inclusion

21CF and AMC Theatres Team up to Offer Free Screenings of The Hate U Give to Communities Across the US

Oct 4, 2018 10:00 AM ET

Twentieth Century Fox Film and AMC Theatres are joining forces to provide underserved young people across the country access to the powerful new film The Hate U Give, as a tool for driving empowerment, empathy, and dialogue. The studio and theatre chain are hosting free screenings in nine metro areas during the film’s limited release at 11am local time, Saturday, October 6: Atlanta, GA, Baltimore, MD, Dallas, TX, Houston, TX, Los Angeles, CA, Miami, FL, New York, NY, Philadelphia, PA, and Washington, DC.

Sustainable Development Goals

Nestlé Waters Allentown Factories Achieve Globally Recognized Water Stewardship Certification

Oct 4, 2018 10:00 AM ET

Nestlé Waters North America announced today that its Allentown, Pennsylvania factories received certification under the Alliance for Water Stewardship (AWS) Standard. Created and supported by prominent environmental conservation groups, development organizations, and industry leaders, the AWS Standard is the first comprehensive global benchmark for responsible water stewardship across social, environmental, and economic criteria. This achievement was confirmed through audits conducted by SCS Global Services (SCS), a leading international third-party certification body, and sole certifier to the AWS standard in North America.

Events, Media & Communications

Get a Sneak Peak of BSR18: A New Blueprint for Business

Oct 4, 2018 10:00 AM ET

This November 6-8, BSR is bringing change-makers from around the world together in New York to redefine sustainable business. Here's a sneak peak.

Philanthropy & Cause Initiatives

eBay Everyday Heroes - Turning Cards into Cures

Oct 4, 2018 9:50 AM ET

Supply Chain & the Circular Economy

These 7 Top Coffee Trends Will Wake You Up

Oct 4, 2018 9:05 AM ET

“People want more than just a caffeine hit in their cup nowadays. Companies like Nestlé can do positive things as we ride this specialty coffee trend. Because they deal with farmers directly, they can drive social change in coffee-growing countries across the world.”

We recently launched Grown Respectfully to demonstrate how our global Nescafé Plan initiative works to help farmers across the world grow more and better coffee, and to do so sustainably, with benefits for the communities where they live.

Sustainable Development Goals

Power Africa Team Wins Samuel J. Heyman Service to America Medal

Oct 4, 2018 9:00 AM ET

Tetra Tech celebrates Andrew M. Herscowitz and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) Power Africa team for winning a Samuel J. Heyman Service to America Medal (Sammies) for National Security and International Affairs.

The Sammies, considered the Oscars of government service, is the premier awards program recognizing innovation in the federal government, honoring outstanding civil servants who have made significant contributions to the health, safety, and prosperity of the American people.

Sustainable Development Goals

The Arbor Day Foundation’s Miami Community Tree Recovery Campaign Partners with Verizon, FedEx, Million Trees Miami and Miami-Dade County to Distribute Free Trees to Local Miami Residents Affected by Hurricane Irma

Oct 4, 2018 9:00 AM ET

The Arbor Day Foundation’s Miami Tree Recovery Campaign – a partnership between the Arbor Day Foundation and Verizon, FedEx, Million Trees Miami and Miami-Dade County will distribute 1,000 new trees this year to homeowners in Miami, Florida, on Saturday, October 6, 2018, from 9:00 a.m. until noon at Tropical Estates Park, 10201 SW 48 Street, Miami, FL 33165.

Energy

The Future of Energy Is Decentralized

Oct 4, 2018 8:00 AM ET

In every part of the world, from the industrialized to the emerging economies, energy systems are shifting from a highly centralized architecture (i.e., large generation plants, long transmission lines, and one-way flows of energy) to a decentralized, distributed network model. This model takes the form of microgrids (or “mini-grids” in Africa and Asia), small, integrated systems capable of autonomous operation; and as Distributed Energy Resource Management Systems and Virtual Power Plants, as ways of making the existing bulk power grid more flexible. Some compare this to the advent of “the internet of energy.”

Philanthropy & Cause Initiatives

VIDEO | Aflac CSR Hero Diane Hintz Raises Over $83,000 for American Cancer Society

Oct 3, 2018 11:35 PM ET

For Diane Hintz, 2018 Aflac #CSRHero and an independent agent licensed to sell Aflac products, making a positive impact in her community is a year-round job. Inspired by her mother – a breast cancer survivor – Diane is committed to making a difference in her community wherever she can.

Responsible Business & Employee Engagement

Sold Out: The Global Engagement Forum: Live Reaches Capacity

Oct 3, 2018 7:00 PM ET

The Global Engagement Forum: Live 2018 has reached full capacity. Hosted by PYXERA Global, the Forum will convene more than 300 leaders and innovators in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area October 10 & 11. Leaders and experts from business, government, and nonprofit organizations will come together for two days of collaboration around specific global challenges within the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.

Environment

Celebrating Ten Years of Sea Change Radio, Pt. 2

Oct 3, 2018 6:50 PM ET

This week on Sea Change Radio, the second half of our ten year anniversary celebration where we hear from some of the planet’s most important thinkers, leading green advocates, and sustainability innovators. Stay tuned to hear excerpts from interviews with thought leaders like George Monbiot, politicians like Gavin Newsom, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalists like Robin McDowell, and scientists like Richard Lunt.