Responsible Production & the Circular Economy

In 2018, after a three-year drought, Cape Town, South Africa, became the first major city to come within days of running out of water. As “Day Zero” approached, residents were limited to 50 liters of water a day. Businesses had to evolve processes to reduce water usage.
The Kimberly-Clark Epping mill is located just outside of Cape Town. The company knew that if Cape Town ran out of water it would be a threat to the business. Even more, it would be a threat to the surrounding community and Kimberly-Clark’s employees’ way of life.

Royal DSM, a global science-based company in Nutrition, Health and Sustainable Living, announced at the European Coatings Show (ECS), in Nuremberg, Germany, a series of ambitious sustainability targets for its Coating Resins business that will help it to become even more environmentally friendly in the coming years.

Nestlé is the world’s largest food and beverage company. With over 2000 brands, Nestlé products are sold across 190 countries and range from global icons to local favorites.

Fair Trade USA, the leading certifier of Fair Trade products in North America, in collaboration with the Sustainable Coffee Challenge, announces a group of joint commitments with major partners deeply committed to sustainable coffee sourcing and improved farmer livelihoods. This announcement from Target, Chartwells Higher Ed, UCLA, Bon Appetit Management Company, Atlas Coffee Roasters, and the Sustainable Purchasing Leadership Council comes at a pivotal moment for coffee farmers around the world who have been struggling with low C-Market prices. The unstable coffee market has millions of producers looking for the price assurances and community development funds provided by the Fair Trade model.

In July, I’ll become a first-time mom, which means the next four months of my life are going to be spent preparing for what’s to come. In my attempt to navigate the baby-care industry, I’ve started researching the options for toxic-free, eco-friendly, safe and affordable products. To say the process is ‘overwhelming’ is an understatement.

Today at HP Reinvent, the company announced its bold vision for print sustainability – pledging that every page printed with HP will support a forest positive future, carbon neutrality, and materials designed to reduce the impact to the planet.

Kate Indreland from Big Timber, Montana, is featured in this post. She was a finalist in our inaugural General Mills Feeding Better Futures Scholars Program, which encourages youth ages 13-21 to nominate their in-action solution or idea that tackles one of the following topics: sustainable agriculture, food waste reduction and hunger relief. As a finalist, Indreland won $10,000 to further her soil health work. I had a chance to connect with her to see what she’s been up to since last summer.

New speakers have joined the 18th annual Responsible Business Summit Europe (10-12 June, London) with the aim of share and identify new strategies to achieve sustainable development, as well as to find partnerships and innovations to lead on environmental and social issues whilst delivering greater transparency on your climate and reputational risks.

Here’s the idea. Everything around us, from the roads that we drive on to the picture frames proudly displaying our loved ones to the tallest of skyscrapers, contains a virtual amount of energy. And that energy matters.

Kirk Middle School of Newark, Delaware, today was crowned national champion of the Keep America Beautiful® Recycle-Bowl, the national recycling competition for K-12 students, teachers and school communities. Recycle-Bowl engaged nearly 730 schools spanning four weeks in the fall, culminating on America Recycles Day on Nov. 15, 2018.