ESG News from Leading Brands

Energy

VMware Achieves Carbon Neutrality and Partners with City of Palo Alto on Community Microgrid, as Part of Global Impact Initiative

Nov 1, 2018 6:00 PM ET

VMware, Inc. (NYSE: VMW), a leading innovator in enterprise software, has announced the achievement of key milestones in its journey to drive positive global impact across people, products and the planet. At the opening of the new VMware Discovery Center in Palo Alto, CEO Pat Gelsinger announced the company has achieved carbon neutrality in global operations two years ahead of the company’s scheduled 2020 goal, and a partnership with the City of Palo Alto to develop a proof-of-concept for a community microgrid.

Social Impact & Volunteering

Composting at Sappi Transforms Food Waste Into Community Resource

Nov 1, 2018 5:40 PM ET

Sappi’s shared service center in South Portland Maine has implemented a program that collects the office’s organic solid waste on-site, adding a compost container to complement the existing single-stream recycling and landfill waste containers.

Environment

Borden Project Receives Canada’s Clean Growth Program Funding

Nov 1, 2018 5:00 PM ET

Canada’s Minister of Natural Resources, the Honourable Amarjeet Sohi, together with Parliamentary Secretary Paul Lefebvre, announced this week that the Government of Canada plans to invest $5 million to help position Goldcorp’s Borden Project as a mine of the future — mining ore in a more environmentally sustainable way.

Environment

Essity Commits to 100% Recyclability of Plastic Packaging by 2025

Nov 1, 2018 4:45 PM ET

Essity has joined the Ellen MacArthur Foundation’s New Plastic Economy global commitment, “A line in the sand”. Essity is therefore committed to working toward 100% recyclability of the company’s packaging by 2025.

Philanthropy & Cause Initiatives

Celebrate With Your Community This Small Business Saturday®

Nov 1, 2018 3:00 PM ET

Are you ready to shop, eat and celebrate with the small businesses in your neighborhood this holiday season? Today, American Express (NYSE:AXP) revealed its lineup of community programs for the ninth annual Small Business Saturday, taking place nationwide on November 24. Small Business Saturday, founded by American Express in 2010, is held each year on the Saturday after Thanksgiving to encourage people to shop at independently-owned businesses online and at storefronts across the country.

Awards, Ratings & Rankings

Mohawk's Bandy to Be Recognized with Prestigious Greenbuild Leadership Award

Nov 1, 2018 3:00 PM ET

The U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) has announced the recipients of its 2018 Leadership Awards, an annual recognition of the outstanding individuals and organizations at the forefront of the green building movement. George Bandy Jr., Mohawk Industries vice president of sustainability and commercial marketing, will join five other distinguished honorees, including global apparel retailer NIKE, for the USGBC Leadership Awards Reception on Wednesday, Nov. 14, 2018, in Chicago. Individuals and organizations representing diverse expertise from across the green building industry will be celebrated in tandem with the Greenbuild International Conference and Expo.

Health & Healthcare

Nestlé Partners with Tembo Education to Drive Greater Nutritional Awareness in East Africa

Nov 1, 2018 2:30 PM ET

Nestlé has partnered with Tembo Education to deliver customised, nutrition-based curriculums to families across Kenya, through SMS and WhatsApp messages. The aim is to help families provide their children with the best possible nutritional start in life by delivering information, tools and tips that could tackle malnutrition and potentially save lives.

The initiative, launched through Nestlé’s open innovation platform - HENRi@Nestlé, forms part of Nestlé’s ambition to improve nutritional levels across the East and Southern Africa region (ESAR). According to joint assessments conducted by Kenya’s County Departments and UNICEF last year, nearly 73,000 children are severely malnourished in Kenya alone.

Philanthropy & Cause Initiatives

LA Kings Host Halloween Party at Ronald McDonald House

Nov 1, 2018 2:30 PM ET

AEG’s LA Kings and Blue Shield of California teamed up to host a Halloween Party at the Los Angeles Ronald McDonald House on Tuesday, October 30. Throughout the afternoon, volunteers from the Kings and Blue Shield of California – including LA Kings center Nate Thompson and his wife Sydney – prepared and distributed gift bags, decorated cookies with guests, led Halloween-themed arts and crafts and played a lively game of ball hockey.

Awards, Ratings & Rankings

GM’s Toledo Transmission Receives Ohio EPA’s Top Environmental Stewardship Award

Nov 1, 2018 2:20 PM ET

General Motors' Toledo Transmission plant was recently recognized for excellence in environmental stewardship by the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). This year, the plant was awarded the Platinum Level – the highest-level award from Ohio EPA’s Encouraging Environmental Excellence Program (E3) – making General Motors one of five organizations to receive this recognition this year.

Environment

Smithfield Foods Collaboration with Environmental Defense Fund and Roeslein Alternative Energy Helps Bring Monarch Butterflies Back in Large Numbers

Nov 1, 2018 2:15 PM ET

Smithfield Foods, Inc. is the first food company to participate in a new program with Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) and Roeslein Alternative Energy (RAE) to restore key prairie habitat for monarch butterflies, as described in this video. Their efforts are helping bring back the iconic insect, which has experienced a 95 percent population decline since the 1980s and could be listed as a threatened species in June 2019. However, the monarch is currently undergoing what is anticipated to be the largest migration in 10 years.

Diversity & Inclusion

You Don’t Have to Wait to Be Successful: How Astellas Supported my Professional Growth as a Working Mother

Nov 1, 2018 1:35 PM ET

Health & Healthcare

FCA US Offers Employees, Families Personalized Support and a Digital Tool to Better Manage Critical Gaps in Diabetes Care

Nov 1, 2018 1:35 PM ET

FCA US today announced it will enhance support for employees, retirees and covered dependents managing diabetes by offering them personalized care and a digital tool to help better manage critical gaps in their diabetes care.

Research, Reports & Publications

Symantec Looks Back on 10 Years of CR Commitment

Nov 1, 2018 1:05 PM ET

We are proud of the progress we have made, and the impact we have had over the last 10 years—even as we continue to embed sustainability practices throughout our company and value chain.

Health & Healthcare

Introducing Sysco Simply: A Platform Dedicated to Health and Well-Being Food Solutions

Nov 1, 2018 1:00 PM ET

Sysco Corporation, the leading global foodservice distribution company, announced today the launch of Sysco Simply, a platform designed to enable our customers to accommodate the growing consumer demand for varied dietary and lifestyle choices. Based on customer insights, feedback and industry trends, the first focus area of Sysco Simply is plant-forward dining; including vegan, vegetarian, flexitarian and plant-based protein products.

Energy

VMware and the City of Palo Alto Advance Sustainability Efforts with a Proof of Concept for a New Community Microgrid

Nov 1, 2018 1:00 PM ET

VMware, Inc. (NYSE: VMW), a leading innovator in enterprise software, announced its intent to explore developing a microgrid at its headquarters campus with the City of Palo Alto. A microgrid is a system of generators, batteries, and electric loads that can be operated in a controlled, coordinated way to provide resiliency. Microgrids can operate while connected to the main power grid or can power critical electric loads when off-grid. The VMware microgrid will serve as a testbed for the company and the City of Palo Alto to explore the potential of microgrids to advance resiliency at the corporate and community level. Palo Alto and VMware will also explore a partnership to use this microgrid to augment the community’s emergency services by providing a charging site for the City’s emergency

Education

T. Rowe Price: Kids Who Get Everything on Their Holiday Wish Lists Are More Likely to Develop Spendthrift Habits

Nov 1, 2018 1:00 PM ET

T. Rowe Price’s 2018 Parents Kids & Money Survey, which sampled 1,013 parents of 8 to 14 year olds nationally, found that parents who try to get everything on their kids’ holiday wish lists are more likely to report that they have gone into debt for their kids, worry that they’re spoiling their kids, and have kids who are less likely to save their own money. Additionally, parents who participate in promotional days, such as Black Friday and Cyber Monday, are more likely to splurge. The survey was conducted in January 2018, shortly after the 2017 holiday season.

Environment

Johnson & Johnson Consumer Inc. Makes a New Pledge to Help Tackle Plastic Waste

Nov 1, 2018 12:55 PM ET

In 1947, decades before the concept of sustainability became popular, then Johnson & Johnson Chairman and CEO General Robert Wood Johnson wrote in his book, Or Forfeit Freedom: “We must use our resources wisely, avoiding waste of both raw materials and scrap, while we seek substitutes for things already in short supply.”

Responsible Business & Employee Engagement

Whirlpool Corporation Announces New Collaboration with The Walt Disney Company

Nov 1, 2018 12:50 PM ET

Whirlpool Corporation (NYSE: WHR) and The Walt Disney Company today announced that Whirlpool brand will be the Official Kitchen and Laundry Appliance of Walt Disney World Resort in Lake Buena Vista, Florida and Disneyland Resort in Anaheim, California.

Events, Media & Communications

Four Need-to-Know Insights from 3BL Forum

Nov 1, 2018 12:50 PM ET

This week, business executives, nonprofit leaders, government officials and issue advocates met in National Harbor, Maryland for the annual 3BL Forum (formerly Commit!Forum).

Philanthropy & Cause Initiatives

Alliance Data Partners with Habitat for Humanity to Help Families Build Strength, Stability and Self-Reliance Through Shelter

Nov 1, 2018 11:40 AM ET

Alliance Data, a global provider of data-driven marketing and loyalty solutions, is partnering with Habitat for Humanity to help create a world where everyone has a decent place to live. The company’s $300,000 contribution for U.S. and global Habitat builds, along with the commitment of associate volunteers, means more families will discover strength and stability through more resilient homes and communities.

Research, Reports & Publications

What’s Trending: Giving in Numbers: 2018 Edition Is Out!

Nov 1, 2018 11:30 AM ET

We are pleased to announce that this year’s Giving in Numbers report is now available! In keeping with tradition, this year’s report incorporates many of the classic analyses that have characterized this industry-leading report, including total giving by industry, employee volunteer data, and operations. New this year is an expanded section on international giving and a deep dive into measurement of outcomes. As always, we look at trends across the field and offer dozens of case studies to bring the report to life and, hopefully, inspire readers to advance their efforts. What do you think are some of the biggest corporate societal trends?

Education

Discover Expands Pathway to Financial Success in Schools Program with Discovery Education Offering Financial Education Curriculum to Middle School Students Across the Country

Nov 1, 2018 11:30 AM ET

Fifty-nine percent of Americans ages 18-26 who have taken a financial education course believe the lessons will save them more than $10,000 over the course of their lifetimes, according to a new survey from Discover.

Environment

Coming Attractions: A Sneak Preview of HPRC Projects in Progress

Nov 1, 2018 11:25 AM ET

HPRC members and partners are bringing forth new projects to encourage and increase healthcare plastics recycling.

Environment

4 Corporate Sustainability Trends all Business Leaders Should be Watching in 2018 - Part II

Nov 1, 2018 11:05 AM ET

Earlier this year, I identified 4 corporate sustainability trends that all business leaders should be watching in 2018. Those trends were: growth in companies setting Science-Based Targets, greater attention towards reducing supply chain emissions, tech and internet companies stepping up on sustainability, and increased innovation.

Philanthropy & Cause Initiatives

Up for More Good? JetBlue for Good Month Kicks Off with Grant Contest for Nonprofit Organizations

Nov 1, 2018 11:05 AM ET

JetBlue today announced it is up to even more good this November, JetBlue For Good Month. To kick-off this month of kindness and good deeds, JetBlue has launched the JetBlue For Good Grant contest to provide much-needed funds for nonprofits to continue their work helping others within their local communities.