ESG News from Leading Brands

Sustainable Development Goals

Bold ideas for South Africa’s Development at World Economic Forum

Jul 23, 2018 12:45 PM ET

Education

Traveling Science Lab 'Curiosity Cube' Comes To Laramie 

Jul 23, 2018 12:10 PM ET

Pharmaceuticals and biosciences company MilliporeSigma is stopping in Laramie this week to showcase its “Curiosity Cube.” What used to be a 22 by 10-foot shipping container is now a mobile science lab with interactive experiments. The Curiosity Cube allows kids to experience different technologies like high-tech microscopes, virtual reality, and 3D printers.

Responsible Production & Consumption

Starbucks and McDonald’s Unite to Push Industry Toward More Sustainable Packaging

Jul 23, 2018 11:45 AM ET

Last week, coffee drinkers learned about Starbucks’ latest sustainability initiative – a plan to phase out single-use straws by 2020. But Starbucks isn’t the only fast-food icon exploring ways to lessen its environmental impact. Together, McDonald’s and Starbucks distribute a combined 4 percent of the world’s 600 billion single-use cups annually. And, while the two fast food giants have been making strides toward sustainability separately for years, McDonald’s announced that it will be joining forces with the coffee icon to tackle an issue that outweighs the brands’ rivalry.

Education

An Amazing Way to Add STEAM to Girls’ Career Dreams

Jul 23, 2018 11:35 AM ET

Learning becomes deeper and longer lasting when it involves creativity, discovery and community. That’s why I’m so excited to help support Walmart and the Walmart Foundation in their giving efforts. Through my job as a senior grant manager for the Walmart Foundation, I get to be part of helping organizations like the Scott Family Amazeum, who are working to break down the intimidation factors of STEAM in hopes of inspiring the next generation of engineers, coders, scientists and beyond.

Responsible Business & Employee Engagement

A Letter From Connie L. Lindsey And Michael G. O’Grady of Northern Trust

Jul 23, 2018 10:15 AM ET

Northern Trust values corporate social responsibility (CSR) as an essential element of our mission and culture. Our stakeholders expect us to be responsible stewards of the company’s resources, balancing appropriate levels of prudence and risk to create value. We take that responsibility seriously, as demonstrated through our commitment to Achieve Greater through our CSR strategy.

Philanthropy & Cause Initiatives

Reporting Live from Where News Happens

Jul 23, 2018 10:05 AM ET

Even before Hurricane Maria touched down in Puerto Rico in September 2017, many feared the damage would be enormous. When the storm reached landfall, those fears were confirmed, and it was obvious that people’s lives on the island would be changed forever.

Seeing the devastation firsthand, our NBC News teams knew that covering the story piecemeal from afar wasn’t going to be enough — the story was too big and too important. As we do whenever major news stories hit, we embedded ourselves on the ground to help audiences understand what was happening on an island literally in the dark.

Environment

Driving Decisions With Data Dashboards: Using 3-D Data Visualization in Aviation and Beyond

Jul 23, 2018 9:00 AM ET

Across Tetra Tech’s markets, nearly all clients share the need for actionable information that can drive decision making. Big data began bursting onto the scene some 25 years ago, inundating our information-hungry clients with megabytes and gigabytes of facts and figures that soon became a flood of petabytes and zettabytes. Managers thirsty for relevant intelligence were drowning in oceans of data, wondering what was important, what was essential, and what was urgent information.

Social Impact & Volunteering

Xylem’s Morton Grove Team Cleans Lincoln Creek

Jul 23, 2018 9:00 AM ET

The team from Xylem Watermark in Morton Grove, IL has been hard at work in their local community. Twenty-five Watermark volunteers recently helped clean up a section of Lincoln Creek, which carries water away from Downtown Milwaukee. While doing so, they helped monitor water quality and shared their data as part of the EarthEcho Water challenge. In addition to 30 garbage bags of trash, the team also removed an automobile bumper and two shopping carts, highlighting the importance of keeping our waterways clean.

Energy

Montgomery County Department of Environmental Protection and Safeway Want You to “Lighten Your Load”

Jul 23, 2018 8:30 AM ET

This summer, the Montgomery County Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) and Safeway stores are partnering to help save shoppers energy and money on their lighting with “Lighten Your Load” events.

Awards, Ratings & Rankings

Booz Allen Honored With Champion of Veteran Enterprise Award for Collaborating With Veteran and Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Businesses

Jul 20, 2018 3:00 PM ET

For the seventh year in a row, the National Veteran Small Business Coalition (NVSBC) honored Booz Allen with its Champion of Veteran Enterprise Award in recognition of its efforts to team with veteran-owned and service-disabled veteran-owned small businesses. In government fiscal year 2017, the firm subcontracted more than 13 percent of our work to service-disabled veteran-owned small businesses, and 20 percent to veteran-owned small businesses.

Sustainable Finance & Socially Responsible Investment

The Spark of Entrepreneurship + Whole Planet Foundation: Part I

Jul 20, 2018 1:35 PM ET

Ten years ago, I embarked for a life-changing journey as an intern for Whole Planet Foundation with their microfinance partner, Grameen Bank, in Panajachel, Guatemala. I was 19 years old, a rising Sophomore at the University of Texas at Austin, and I had no idea what to expect. I came away completely inspired by the spark of entrepreneurship created by microfinance and found in each woman I met in Guatemala, which has led to a very interesting and crazy past 10 years as I have started my own ethical fashion business, Teysha.

Philanthropy & Cause Initiatives

Wells Fargo Contributes $250,000 for New York Area Housing, Revitalization Efforts

Jul 20, 2018 1:30 PM ET

Wells Fargo donates $250,000 for three local nonprofits to support affordable and safe housing, small business empowerment and health and wellness in the New York area.

Philanthropy & Cause Initiatives

Tyson Foods $40,000 Grant Funds Food Bank Mobile Pantry

Jul 20, 2018 1:15 PM ET

A $40,000 grant from Tyson Foods is allowing The Food Bank for Central and Northeastern Missouri to offer a mobile pantry benefiting Pettis County residents.

Social Impact & Volunteering

Capturing Impact: What Counts as Volunteer Time?

Jul 20, 2018 1:10 PM ET

Are you writing or refreshing your volunteering policy? Wondering what counts as volunteering time? Realized Worth has answered some of the most frequently asked questions we receive on the topic.

Energy

Mohawk Group Leaves A Positive Handprint at NeoCon with Solar Energy

Jul 20, 2018 1:10 PM ET

Mohawk Group donated the solar flower through our collaboration with Groundswell and Elevate Energy, among others, to benefit The Renaissance Collaborative (TRC), a non-profit organization that supports sustainable and affordable housing and related programming in Chicago. TRC’s offices and its Renaissance Apartments are housed in the restored Wabash Avenue YMCA, continuing the legacy of providing housing and job training in the Bronzeville neighborhood.

Philanthropy & Cause Initiatives

Stronger, Better: A Year of Disaster and Resilience

Jul 20, 2018 12:45 PM ET

A family frantically climbs onto an air mattress to escape their flooding home, their precious belongings floating around them. Water levels rise by the hour. Precipitation falls with force. Dams release water. Relief seems nowhere in sight.

That’s how some of our customers and employees experienced Hurricane Harvey, when historic rainfall was unleashed on southeast Texas during the four days the storm stalled there.

But when Harvey was still just a tropical storm developing in the Gulf of Mexico, our Comcast team in Texas was already preparing for possible disaster. They worked hard to establish communications with local governments, employees, customers, and the community at large. Their planning and strategies set a new standard for disaster response throughout Comcast NBCUniversal.

Responsible Business & Employee Engagement

Seeking to Find Purpose and Create Impact? Get Out of Your Office.

Jul 20, 2018 12:10 PM ET

How Executives Are Creating Meaningful Second Careers

Diversity & Inclusion

Viacom Diversifies Vendor Pool, Echoing Internal Culture

Jul 20, 2018 11:30 AM ET

Sustainable Development Goals

CSR Now Drives Business as Usual

Jul 20, 2018 11:15 AM ET

In the past, “The CEO rule was basically keep your head down, stay out of complicated issues, because there were opinions on both sides of any issue,” Lawrence Parnell, program director at the Strategic Public Relations Program at George Washington University told the Wall Street Journal.“It’s no longer a question of if, but where, when and how to engage on these issues and what type of topics to engage on. These are new challenges and things CEOs and boards never had to deal with before, so they are struggling.”

Environment

HP Used Eight Million 'Ocean-Bound' Plastic Bottles in Products Last Year

Jul 20, 2018 11:10 AM ET

80% of HP ink cartridges now contain 45-70% recycled content and all toner cartridges contain at least 10% recycled content. In total, more than 8.3 million "ocean-bound" plastic bottles were used for HP products in 2017.

Philanthropy & Cause Initiatives

The JetBlue Foundation and Organization of Black Aerospace Professionals (OBAP) Host Hands-On Aviation Camps in Seven JetBlue Cities

Jul 20, 2018 11:05 AM ET

This summer, the JetBlue Foundation has partnered with the Organization of Black Aerospace Professionals (OBAP) to host seven Aviation Career Education (ACE) Academy summer camps for future aviators. Thanks to a grant from the JetBlue Foundation, OBAP was able to bring the program to additional cities this year. The camps were held in seven different locations – New York, Boston, Orlando, Fort Lauderdale, Long Beach, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands.

Philanthropy & Cause Initiatives

Smithfield Foods Donates More Than 36,000 Pounds of Protein to Harvesters—The Community Food Network

Jul 20, 2018 11:00 AM ET

Smithfield Foods, Inc. and Price Chopper joined forces to donate more than 36,000 pounds of protein to Harvesters—The Community Food Network. Smithfield’s contribution was part of the company’s 2018 Helping Hungry Homes® donation tour. Now in the program’s 10th year, Helping Hungry Homes® is Smithfield’s signature hunger-relief initiative focused on alleviating hunger and helping Americans become more food secure. The donation, equivalent to more than 147,000 servings, will help families fight hunger across northwestern Missouri and northeastern Kansas.

Research, Reports & Publications

INFOGRAPHIC | Sustainable Business at NRG

Jul 20, 2018 10:50 AM ET

As with other organizations that have chosen to make sustainability part of their strategic imperative, sustainability at NRG means driving business results, reducing risk and enhancing the company’s brand value. Sustainable Business lies at the core of our five-pillar strategy because it encompasses initiatives that embed sustainability in the organization.

Health & Healthcare

Merck Reinforces Commitment to Responsible Pricing

Jul 20, 2018 10:25 AM ET

Merck has a long history of responsible pricing. In 2017, Merck issued its second annual Pricing Action Transparency Report, which showed that net prices across Merck’s U.S. product portfolio declined by 1.9 percent. We believe that further changes are still necessary to help red

Philanthropy & Cause Initiatives

Changing Lives at the Sands Cares Fresh Start Mobile Showers

Jul 20, 2018 10:10 AM ET

Las Vegas Sands and Clean the World teamed up in July 2017 to launch the “Sands Cares Fresh Start Mobile Showers,” as a response to the growing homelessness population in Southern Nevada, an initiative addressed by Sands Cares, the company’s global corporate giving program. The mobile hygiene unit travels across the valley offering hygiene services to those experiencing homelessness.