How businesses can engage consumers in their sustainability stories
Communicating simple, inspiring stories of corporate efforts to tackle complex, interrelated social and environmental issues is an ongoing challenge for today’s businesses. Somewhere amid the cacophony of sustainability communications, consumers (otherwise known as people) are fast reaching information overload. And as the effects of so-called ‘greenwashing’, scandals and climate change doom-mongering take their toll, apathy is taking hold. Just 28% of people globally believe business is doing enough to protect the planet and contribute to society, according to Accenture and the UN...
Read MoreBetter Cotton Initiative: Taking sustainable cotton mainstream
Cotton is all around us: in our clothes, our furniture, our sheets and towels, even our bank notes. To meet global demand, millions of smallholder farmers cultivate 25m tonnes of cotton annually, with a further 250 million people working in cotton production. Their livelihoods depend on it. But growing cotton conventionally poses risks to the environment, workers’ health and our future supply of fresh water. Some2,500 litres of water are required to produce one tshirt, according to the Water Footprint Network. The Better Cotton Initiative (BCI) seeks to tackle these issues head on....
Read MoreExploring the 12 dimensions of a fair wage
Being paid enough money to support a family and cover basic living costs – a fair living wage – is a fundamental human right. It is integral to improving the quality of life of garment workers and their families. For factory owners, it is an important step towards attracting and retaining high quality employees, boosting productivity, demonstrating their ethical credentials to customers, and ultimately, growing their business. Apparel companies and their suppliers are under increasing pressure to catalyse real and lasting progress on fair living wages for garment workers, as...
Read MoreHow technology can prevent food loss in developing countries
Up to 40% of food produced in the developing world is wasted before it reaches the market, according to figures from the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO). With three billion middle class consumers expected by 2030, the majority in developing countries, tackling this challenge is no small feat, particularly as rising affluence in urban areas is likely to trigger a growing demand for richer diets and more complex supply chains. Lack of access to cold chain technology and reliable energy sources are the major reasons for crops perishing post harvest, research by Nottingham...
Read MoreHow are 21st century corporates and charities partnering for success?
ColaLife is no ordinary charity. The small UK entity has created a successful business plan and distribution model for its pioneering anti-diarrhoea kit in Zambia by learning from Coca-Cola and Johnson & Johnson. It has just distributed its 50,000th kit and has ambitions to replicate the model in at least three other countries. Reaching families in remote developing communities with medicines to tackle diarrhoea, the second biggest killer of children under five, is a steep challenge. In sharp contrast, social entrepreneur Simon Berry had often wondered – why is it that anywhere you go...
Read MoreFive ways to cut food waste and save money
One third of all food produced annually – some 1.3bn tonnes – is wasted, according to the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), costing the Earth in energy, land and water and creating 3.3bn tonnes of carbon emissions. As the global population swells to 9bn by 2050, improving the way we use energy and natural resources by cutting waste will be vital to producing enough food to go round. In the UK, for example, householders discard nearly 4.2m tonnes of good food and drink each year, with fresh vegetables and salad topping the list (19%), followed by drinks (17%) and...
Read MoreHow can businesses turn plastic risk into opportunity?
Plastic. It’s cheap, it’s abundant, it’s everywhere. Some 288m tonnes of plastic were produced globally in 2012, yet plastics recycling rates remain low, with millions of tonnes of plastic waste entering the oceans each year. Much of it joins the ‘five gyres’, swirling vortices of trash, where it breaks down into a ‘soup’ of tiny plastic particles, harming birds and marine ecosystems, before eventually entering the food chain. The Plastic Disclosure Project (PDP) estimates that ocean plastic waste causes $13bn of environmental damage annually, creating significant natural...
Read MoreThe future of impact investing is bright, says Triodos Bank
Triodos Bank is founded on a simple concept – that money can be used for good – if the opportunities exist to make it happen. This idea, once revolutionary, is now increasingly gaining traction among business and individuals keen to yield a financial return while contributing positively to society. Today, the bank manages assets worth EUR 9.6bn, a 20% increase on 2012, and serves more than 500,000 customers in five European countries. “From the beginning, we’ve acted as a catalyst for change,” explains Dan Hird, Triodos’Head of Corporate Finance. “As an impact investment...
Read MoreSolar innovations begin to reach scale in Africa
Energy access remains a major challenge in Africa, keeping millions trapped in poverty and slowing economic growth. Some 550m people on the continent lack electricity, with many off-grid families using costly kerosene oil to light their homes after dark, exposing themselves to noxious fumes. With the pace of electrification proving no match for Africa’s explosive population growth, renewable energy innovations, including solar, stand to make a significant contribution to improving lives, according to a new report by the Green Alliance. Indeed, solar is starting to reach scale in Africa,...
Read MoreCan sharing economy businesses stay authentic as they grow?
The sharing economy provides almost limitless opportunities for businesses and individuals to profit from sharing unused assets – anything from office space to power drills – with flourishing online communities. Users often trade with peers, adding a human element to the experience. So what happens when sharing companies grow? Can they retain their authenticity and appeal? This week, ParkatmyHouse, the online marketplace for peer-to-peer parking space rental, revealed it will offer parking spaces at major hotels and car parks, as well as on people’s home driveways. The company,...
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