2Sustain

Last month, SC Johnson released its 2011 annual public report, 360 Degrees of Greener Choices.

This year’s report marks the 20th year SC Johnson has publicly shared information about its goals, efforts and progress, and it also reflects the company’s “360-degree” framework and commitment.

The 360-degree approach involves understanding the entire product lifecycle from beginning to end. It starts with reducing impacts within the company’s supply chain, continues through manufacturing, reducing packaging and making products more recyclable. The circle is completed by helping drive greener choices for consumers through education and engagement.

In the 2011 SC Johnson report, the company says it has met –and in many cases, far exceeded –all of its sustainability objectives for 2011. Highlights include: (more…)

McDonald’s Corporation has released its 2011Sustainability Scorecard, which underscores the company’s progress in five priority areas: sustainable supply chain, environmental responsibility, community, employee experience and nutrition and well-being. Highlight in this year’s report include significant advancements related to sustainable sourcing and what McDonald’s calls “menu evolution.”

With regard to sustainable sourcing:

• McDonald’s can now report measurable progress in its five initial focus areas:  beef, poultry, coffee, palm oil and fiber. Earlier this year, the company announced its Sustainable Land Management Commitment, and then expanded that initiative by joining the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO).
• All fish for McDonald’s Filet-O-Fish sandwich is wild caught, and currently 99 percent is sourced from Marine Stewardship Council (MSC)-certified fisheries.

McDonald’s says it will also be making changes to its menu: (more…)

Brooks Sports, Inc. released its first corporate responsibility (CR) report earlier this month.

Brooks Sports, parent of leading running brand Brooks and women’s active lifestyle brand Moving Comfort, aptly titled the report Running Responsibly and is using it to:

• highlight the company’s environmental and social performance in 2009 and 2010 and
• outline challenges and key focus areas for the future.

Among the sustainability achievements, Brooks has:

• modified materials used in the manufacture of the vast majority of Brooks shoes. For example, virtually every component of the Cascadia 6 has an environmentally-friendlier feature, such as materials made of recycled content, soy-based foams and water-based inks and adhesives.
• reduced packaging materials needed and waste generated in the manufacture of its shoe boxes.
• reduced the use of hazardous substances in the manufacturing process. I n 2010, Brooks listed 193 chemicals on its restricted substance list and actively tracked 67 of the highest risk substances. All 49 of Brooks’ footwear component and material suppliers, and contract factories have enlisted in its Restricted Substances program to help make Brooks products as safe as possible.

With regard to factory and supplier performance, Brooks: (more…)

Cisco has released its seventh annual corporate social responsibility report, which outlines the company’s accomplishments and efforts in five areas: governance and ethics, the value chain, Cisco employees, society and the environment.

This year, Cisco supplemented its report with input from 25 external global CSR stakeholders who came together via Cisco TelePresence to provide feedback on the company’s CSR reporting process, performance and emerging issues.  According to Cisco, this input resulted in a more navigable report format, increased transparency on supply chain and governance issues  and added detail about how Cisco’s products and solutions are helping its customers meet their energy and environmental goals.

Here are a few environmental accomplishments highlighted in the report:

• Nearly 20,000 Cisco employees use Cisco Virtual Office to extend the company’s network into their homes, permitting high-speed access to voice, video and data applications and reducing green house gas (GHG) emissions by telecommuting one or more days each week.
• Cisco is on track to meet its commitment to reduce all Scope 1, 2, and business-air-travel Scope 3 GHG emissions worldwide by 25 percent absolute by CY12 (from a CY07 baseline).
• In FY11, Cisco conserved approximately 16.9 million kWh of energy and avoided 7,400 metric tonnes of CO2e emissions by investing $1.9 million in energy conservation projects. Twenty-six percent of Cisco’s global energy use was from renewable sources.

With regard to responsible sourcing and the value chain: (more…)

WhiteWave Foods, the Colorado-based company that makes Silk^®, Horizon Organic^®, International Delight^® and Land O Lakes^®, released ambitious new sustainability targets last week.

Most notably, by 2013, WhiteWave plans to:

• reduce GHG emissions by 25 percent, working from a 2006 baseline.
• reduce non-ingredient water use by 15 percent, compared to a 2008 baseline.

The company had previously set several sustainability goals in 2006 and 2007, and the results to date are impressive. For example, WhiteWave already has: (more…)