Impact & Sustainability News From Leading Brands

Keep up with the latest news from 3BL’s clients.







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Education

Ziploc® Brand Honors Teachers as Super Heroes with #MoreThanATeacher

Ziploc® brand is redefining what it means to be a super hero and honoring teachers around the country. In celebration of National Superhero Day April 28 and National Teacher Day May 8, Ziploc® brand is unmasking a new initiative, #MoreThanATeacher, which calls upon everyone to thank the real-life super heroes among us – teachers – by helping to provide resources to empower teachers and encourage students and the public to recognize the heroic impact they have on our lives.

Energy

Opportunities and Challenges in the Solar Massachusetts Renewable Target (SMART) Program

This will be a hot summer for solar and storage developers in Massachusetts as the Commonwealth kicks off its SMART program, providing tiered incentives to promote solar with an additional kicker if there is storage attached. It’s an exciting program—the first of its kind outside of California, and one of the first ever in the U.S. to promote energy storage coupled with community solar (direct contracts between solar arrays and residents).

Research, Reports & Publications

Act Responsibly. Enable Sustainability.

It was a great way to wrap up the year: winning the German Sustainability Prize in December of 2017 for our holistic sustainability management approach. The deciding factor for the jury was our partnership-based supplier management and how our core business is contributing to sustainable development. With services such as cloud computing and "plug & play software" we help our customers save energy and resources and reduce their carbon footprint.

Philanthropy & Cause Initiatives

The “Working Poor” Are One Crisis Away From Homelessness

Did you know that in Central Florida, 1 in 6 people are food insecure? Yes, in America! Over 40% of families in Central Florida are classified as “working poor”. The “working poor” are one crisis away from homelessness.

Energy

Makeup Lessons With an Automaker

Our vision includes a world with zero emissions. While we have made great progress in improving energy efficiency at our global operations, we can’t get there alone. It’s important that we work together both internally and with other energy efficiency leaders to identify new opportunities for improvement and realize our goals.

Diversity & Inclusion

Going From Ingredients at Nestlé to Hurricane Response in Houston in Two Days

For most of us, balancing life and career can be a challenge. Now imagine that you’re not just balancing one career, but two: life as a First Sergeant in the Air Force, being called up for disaster response, along with a civilian career working to perfect ingredients at Nestlé. What happens when a hurricane hits?

Jessica has lived this incredible challenge and is a perfect example of why, at Nestlé, we love hiring and working with veterans and military personnel. We believe that skills learned in the military can be incredibly valuable in the civilian workplace — not to mention the integrity and perseverance gained from military service.

Social Impact & Volunteering

Celebrating Our Millionth Volunteer

On Saturday, April 21, we celebrated our 17th Comcast Cares Day – and surpassed our millionth volunteer since this amazing company tradition began in 2001. Giving back to the communities where we live and work is at the core of our Comcast NBCUniversal culture, and Comcast Cares Day is our way of recognizing our employees’ commitment to improving communities each and every day.

To mark this major milestone, we tracked down our one millionth volunteer – and her name is Kyeshia Bates, a Comcast employee for seven years who works on our fulfillment team just outside of Detroit.

Energy

Green Mountain Energy Customers Avoid 8.6 Billion Pounds of CO2 in 2017

Every month is Earth Month for the customers of Green Mountain Energy Company. By choosing cleaner electricity and carbon offset products, Green Mountain’s customers avoided more than 8.6 billion pounds of CO2 in 2017. Since its inception in 1997, Green Mountain customers have collectively avoided a total of 63 billion pounds of CO2. That’s like taking 6.8 million cars off the road for a year, or planting 7.5 million trees.

Doubling down on its mission to change the way power is made, all of Green Mountain’s commercial offerings will be 100% renewable moving forward, making it the first electricity supplier for commercial businesses to take this step.

Environment

The Greenest Town in Oil Country

Georgetown — a city 25 miles north of Austin with a population of about 61,000 — is now powered by 100 percent renewable energy, becoming one of the largest cities with municipally owned utilities in the nation to do so. Learn more at: https://stories.wf.com/?cid=intpart_wfs_3bl_1801_0.

Energy

Duke Energy's $62 Million Solar Rebate Program Approved for North Carolina Residential, Business and Nonprofit Customers

Duke Energy's $62 million solar rebate program – which will help North Carolina customers with the upfront cost of installing solar panels on their property – was approved this month by the North Carolina Utilities Commission (NCUC).

Diversity & Inclusion

MetLife Foundation Announces Sponsorship of "Multipliers of Prosperity" for a Fourth Year

MetLife Foundation announced today its fourth year as sole sponsor of Multipliers of Prosperity, an award-winning online thought leadership platform developed in partnership with WSJ. Custom Studios. The online site facilitates a global conversation on the financial health of low- to moderate-income people, and showcases the innovative and important solutions being implemented by both nonprofit and private sector financial services providers.

Social Impact & Volunteering

Creating Authentic Volunteering Programs that Matter

How do you ensure that employees are encouraged to make a difference and take the opportunity to volunteer through their workplace all year round?

In this Twitter chat recap featuring Prudential Financial, TELUS, Volunteer Canada and Realized Worth, Benevity shares highlights and key takeaways aimed to support giving and volunteering throughout the entire year.

Energy

Solar Desalination Technology in Coastal Regions - Erb Institute | Business for Sustainability Impact Project

At the Erb Institute, our students collaborate with students across campus—from both other schools and other programs. By nature, they are curious and driven to make a difference in the world using their business acumen and sustainability smarts. We sat down with ‘Erber’ Iulia Bleanda-Mogosanu, who has been working on a team that is building a prototype single-stage distillation unit. This apparatus has the potential to desalinate water in coastal communities that are deteriorating because of insufficient access to fresh water. This is a cool story in itself, but we also wanted the scoop on the genesis of this idea and Iulia’s role.

Awards, Ratings & Rankings

SC Johnson United Kingdom Named Best Workplace for 8th Time

SC Johnson United Kingdom has been recognized as a 2018 Best Workplace by the Great Place to Work® Institute. The organization ranked No. 52 on the list of companies. Since 2006, SC Johnson United Kingdom has been recognized as a Best Workplace eight times.

Sustainable Development Goals

Just Released: Finalised Speaker Line-up for Europe’s Leading Responsible Business Event

Ethical Corporation’s global flagship event, The 17th Annual Responsible Business Summit, will take place in London on 13-14 June 2018.

This year’s event brings together the most senior and diverse speaker line-up in its history and will be the MUST-ATTEND event for any persons or organisations looking to chart a new sustainable way forward for their business.

Through keynote debates, case studies, workshops and panel discussions this event will promote ideas on how businesses from around the globe can collaborate to drive large-scale change and meet the Global Goals.

Environment

Timberland’s Earth Week Engages Employees in Sustainable Practices for Themselves and for the Brand

As part of the outdoor lifestyle brand’s fourth annual Earth Week celebration, leading up to global Earth Day on April 22, Timberland hosted a series of environmentally-focused events at its Stratham, NH headquarters. From reforestation and cattle ranching, to sustainable seafood and a tiny house, the week’s full schedule of events was designed to engage employees in the company’s efforts to protect and restore the outdoors, while also providing actionable ideas for adopting more sustainable practices in their own lives.

Supply Chain & the Circular Economy

Driving Sustainable Logistics in Europe

A hyper-connected network of logistics clusters could play a key role in achieving the European Union’s goal of creating a sustainable, more efficient freight transportation system.

Innovation & Technology

VMware Joins Cybersecurity Tech Accord to Protect and Empower Users

VMware is proud to announce it is one of 34 companies who signed the Cybersecurity Tech Accord, a commitment to protect and empower all people online. Read more about the Tech Accord here: http://bit.ly/2EVaSaV

Philanthropy & Cause Initiatives

Family Violence Exists Intergenerationally Within Far Too Many Families

As a voluntary private nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization, The American Campaign for Prevention of Child Abuse and Family Violence is addressing the physical, mental and emotional wellbeing of vulnerable individuals within America's homes.

Awards, Ratings & Rankings

SC Johnson Mexico Named a Top 2018 Workplace

SC Johnson Mexico has been recognized as a 2018 Best Workplace by the Great Place to Work® Institute. SC Johnson Mexico has been included on the list of Best Workplaces 17 consecutive times, the most of any company in the country, and ranked No. 5 on this year’s list of companies.

Health & Healthcare

An Intervention That Can Significantly Improve Child Health

The New England Journal of Medicine has published results from a new study showing that the use of an antibiotic significantly reduced mortality among children living in three low-income countries in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Sustainable Development Goals

Philippines Coastal Protection: A Green-Grey Approach to Resilience

Bechtel and Conservation International are collaborating on a three-year coastal protection project in the Philippines to demonstrate the potential for natural systems to adapt to the consequences of changes in climate and extreme weather events, and the relevance of setting up grey (engineering) and green (ecosystem conservation) infrastructures in order to build resilience into coastal territories and communities especially following typhoons.

Philanthropy & Cause Initiatives

Whole Planet Foundation Annual Campaign Will Alleviate Poverty for 93,800 People

Thanks Whole Foods Market shoppers, employees, and generous supplier partners, the Whole Planet Foundation 2018 Prosperity Campaign during March raised over $3 million to alleviate global poverty for the world's poorest people through microcredit loans.

Health & Healthcare

Novartis Foundation Announces Implementation Partners for Better Hearts Better Cities Urban Health Initiative in São Paulo, Brazil

Less than three months after the selection of São Paulo, Brazil as the third city of the urban health initiative Better Hearts Better Cities, the Novartis Foundation announced the creation of a network of global and local implementation partners. They will co-design interventions to address São Paulo’s urban priorities to improve local cardiovascular health, including health education, lifestyle community programs, care coordination and standardization according to up-to-date clinical guidelines, and incorporating digital health tools into screening and care for high blood pressure.

Philanthropy & Cause Initiatives

Citi Foundation Announces Recipients of National $20 Million Community Progress Makers Fund

The Citi Foundation announced today that 40 nonprofit organizations have been selected as recipients of the 2018 Community Progress Makers Fund. The $20 million grant initiative supports visionary nonprofit organizations to help them roll out new approaches to long-standing urban economic challenges in six U.S. cities – Chicago, Los Angeles, Miami, New York City, San Francisco Bay Area and Washington, D.C. Each Community Progress Maker will receive $500,000 in core operating support and access to technical assistance and a learning community.

Latest Campaigns

  1. Social Progress
    Social engagement has always been an integral part of our sense of responsibility as a company. We care and we act to do our part to improve the...
  2. Collective Action
    Cascale shares updates on its efforts and initiatives geared toward activating its ecosystem to develop and scale solutions that drive collective...
  3. 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...
  4. Digital Safety
    We provide tools and guidance so people can manage digital content in a way that’s right for them and their families. Learn more >>
  5. Nutrition and Health
    Focus on preventing and treating malnutrition across life stages. Highlights include early detection, community-based treatment (e.g., MUAC screening...
  6. Health and Safety by Antea Group
    Antea Group's health and safety consultants understand what it takes to help make a positive impact on safety culture. Read blogs, insights, and more...
  7. Aflac Stories
    Get a closer look at the people, products and stories that make Aflac the company we know today.
  8. Retail Logistics
    DP World provides end-to-end retail logistics solutions including comprehensive Purchase Order management from origin consolidation to retailer PO...
  9. AEG Celebrates Inclusion
    At AEG, we embrace inclusion and strive to create a workplace where our employees feel welcomed, valued and respected for the viewpoints, ideas...
  10. Accelerating access to healthcare technology
    We believe technology can help close the world’s health gaps. By putting people first, we find new ways to advance health while reducing costs. And...
  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. Growth Through Sustainability
    Trane Technologies is a global climate innovator with a clear purpose to boldly challenge what’s possible for a sustainable world. See how embedding...
  13. Collective Action
    Cascale shares updates on its efforts and initiatives geared toward activating its ecosystem to develop and scale solutions that drive collective...
  14. Aflac Stories
    Get a closer look at the people, products and stories that make Aflac the company we know today.
  15. Kids to College Powered by Entergy
    Entergy believes in the dreams of the families we serve. Everyone deserves the opportunity to continue their education and, as a corporate leader and...