How to Embed Sustainability into the Business Enterprise

By Susan Arnot Heaney, Executive Director, Corporate Responsibility, Avon Products, Inc.

For consumer products companies like Avon, there is often a quick assumption that sustainability will focus on the products themselves – products that are green, organic, natural or similar designations.  But at Avon, and many peer companies, the sustainability imperative is embedded organically (no pun!) into the business enterprise, with a commitment to identify and leverage sustainable opportunities in the processes required to develop, create and deliver products to the consumer.

Historically these processes have been invisible to the stakeholder, but with the increased demand for transparency and disclosure, companies have a greater opportunity to showcase meaningful commitments – a silver lining in the sometimes cloudy sky of reporting, rankings and ratings.  And, along the way, the thousands of employees who bring the sustainability commitment to life, from environmental engineers to marketers, are elevated to playing a role in a larger mission, not just “doing their jobs.”

Read more about how Avon embeds sustainability into its business processes.