Category: Corporate Social Responsibility

By Posted on Posted in Abundance and Prosperity, Business Ethics, Business-general, Corporate Social Responsibility, Demographics/Psychographics, People Helping People, poverty Tagged with , , , , ,

“Imagine Walmart doing distribution for food banks…in which The Gap runs thrift shops…in which The Home Depot is involved in rebuilding.”

This challenge comes from Ron Shaich, CEO of Panera, as he closes a wonderful talk at Sustainable Brands about Panera Cares, a series of pay-what-you-want stores aimed at alleviating hunger. So far, his first charity store, in St.Louis, is more than self-supporting, and they’ve opened a second location in Dearborn (metro Detroit)—both in economically diverse neighborhoods. The idea is that some who can afford it will pay more than the suggested amount, subsidizing those who pay less. And so far, it seems to be working.

Great to see this sort of abundance-based thinking from the CEO of a major restaurant chain.

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By Posted on Posted in Corporate Social Responsibility, Energy & Sustainability, Ethics in Government Tagged with , , , , ,

More remarkable for who he is and where he posted than his actual content (which is good but nothing particularly new): it was a pleasant shock to come across this article on Huffington Post making connections between fossil fuels and endangered species by Major General Michael R. Lehnert, recently retired as the Commanding General of Marine Corps Installations West, entitled (somewhat misleadingly) “Top 10 Reasons to Support Clean Energy.”

I’ve known for a few years that the US military has been taking an ever-greater role in sustainability (perhaps to atone for its prior role as one of the worst polluters in the world). Still, it’s exciting when they go public like this.

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By Posted on Posted in Business Ethics, Corporate Social Responsibility, Energy & Sustainability, Green Business

If you’re interested in both business ethics and environmental sustainability (as I am), read this article on Triple Pundit that shows how corruption can degrade our environment, citing a few among many examples. They didn’t even mention many well-known cases, such as the lead-poisoned toys and adulterated baby formula from China a few years ago.

Do yourself, your customers, and your bottom line a favor: remember to be both green AND ethical.

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By Posted on Posted in Business Ethics, Corporate Social Responsibility, Energy & Sustainability, Entrepreneurship, Ethics: General, Green Business, Shel's Personal Life, Social and Economic Justice, Socially Responsible Investing, Transparency vs. Secrecy Tagged with ,

It’s been a good year for recognition of my work for a better world. In October, I was inducted into the National Environmental Hall of Fame (View pictures and read the transcript here.)

And then last night, I received notification that I (as the human face of GreenAndProfitable.com) am the very first business in the country to be certified by Green America at the Gold level (which was a fairly arduous process involving several reviews of an extensive questionnaire covering socially responsible investing, supply chain, commitment to social and economic justice, and, of course, environmental benchmarks, among other things).

I’m thrilled. After 40 years in the environmental world, it is nice to have people notice.

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By Posted on Posted in Abundance and Prosperity, Corporate Social Responsibility, Demographics/Psychographics, Entrepreneurship, Green Business, Socially Responsible Investing, Uncategorized Tagged with

In honor of the push to bank local by Green America, the push to buy local by Business Alliance for Local Living Economies, and because business bankers want to see business plans and December is National Write a Business Plan Month, I present this guest post from Tim Chen of NerdWallet, on sustainable banking.

Take it away, Tim:

Seems like everywhere you turn these days people are promoting something green. From locovore diets, to green building and green business, there’s a big push for more sustainable living, and a certain trendiness that goes along with it. Chances are if you’re reading this blog, you’re already in the know. Maybe you have your own sustainable business venture, and you’re looking for tips and ideas to make it work. Here’s one for you: Green banking.
Green banking means different things to different people. Maybe you switched to online statements, and you’re darned proud of it. If so, good for you. If not, check it out. Going paperless with your banking is one of the easiest ways to give the environment a little help, and just about every bank offers the service.
But there are other ways to green your banking, and options you may not have heard of. Take, for example, New Resource Bank in San Francisco. The bank only offers accounts to green businesses, and allows accountholders to network with each other. New resource composts and recycles in an effort to meet their goal of 95% waste diversion away from landfills, and every swipe of your debit card earns money for their nonprofit partners.
There’s also GreenChoice Bank, which is based in Illinois. The bank targets their lending to the sustainable business community, and half of the management is accredited in Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED).
Houston-based Green Bank will donate $50 to one of a list of local environmental organizations when you open a business or personal money market or checking account. The bank headquarters are LEED Gold-Certified, with minimized resource consumption and rainwater irrigation.
If these banks aren’t in your area, don’t despair! Green America offers a list of community development banks and credit unions, as well as a campaign to “break up with your mega-bank.” Switching to a greener bank can help you take your business sustainability one step further. It will also put you in good company––who knows, you might even make valuable connections with likeminded entrepreneurs.
Tim Chen is the CEO of NerdWallet, an unbiased resource for the best business credit cards.

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By Posted on Posted in Business Ethics, Corporate Social Responsibility, Ethics in Government, Ethics: General, Peace and War, Politics, Social and Economic Justice Tagged with , ,

60 Minutes reports that not a single bankster has been prosecuted on criminal charges over violations of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (a/k/a Sarbox)—the corpoate ethics law much-ballyhooed by reformers and much-belittled by corporations (on whom it imposed a significant paperwork burden).

As the TV program documents, there’s plenty of evidence of criminal wrongdoing, and there are people who would be perfectly willing to testify. Why the failure of will?

Could it perhaps be related to that other failure: failure to prosecute the leaders of George W. Bush’s administration who lied their way into two wars, passed billions of dollars in sweetheart deals, stole two presidential elections (and likely a few key races in Congress), and approved a regulatory climate that let the banks and polluters run amok?

Just wondering out loud. What do you think?

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By Posted on Posted in Business Ethics, Corporate Social Responsibility, Ethics in Government, Politics, Social and Economic Justice, Transparency vs. Secrecy

Must-read article by Eliot Spitzer on how banks defrauded the government into giving a whopping $7.7 trillion in secret loans, with no conditions, under false pretenses. That is half the entire GDP!

And that’s OUR money, folks! Bush’s “regulators” let these deals happen with no scrutiny of the banks, and nobody was scrutinizing the regulators.

“If you’re not outraged, you’re not paying attention.” (author unknown)

“Justice, justice shalt thou pursue.” (The Talmud)

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By Posted on Posted in Advertising, Corporate Social Responsibility, Energy & Sustainability, Green Business, Green Marketing Tagged with , , , , ,

Here’s a company that’s been selling hand-made recycled art papers since 1998 (think about really cool and classy invitations)—and has just developed a new paper line using post-brewery barley as one of the ingredients—and being smart marketers, billing it as the first beer paper. They sponsored this morning’s HARO, and thus, I learned about them. I clicked over half expecting some very rough page put up by a few carousing fratboys–boy, was I wrong! These people love the earth and love what they do, which is obvious on every page of their site.

The firm is called Twisted Limb, out of Bloomington, Indiana. I love their sustainability page, too.

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By Posted on Posted in Abundance and Prosperity, Business Ethics, Corporate Social Responsibility, Energy & Sustainability, Frugality/Frugal Fun, Green Business Tagged with ,

Fascinating article by Marc Stoiber on how Patagonia’s latest environmental initiatives tells customers not to buy what they don’t need, and to make what they do buy last forever. And if it doesn’t last forever, Patagonia will take it back and recycle it for you.

It may be counter to common logic, but Stoiber thinks this will increase sales, and tells why. And I agree, for reasons I cite in my latest book, Guerrilla Marketing Goes Green—that caring and an envirnmental/soial justice agenda build fans and build the brand.

Patagonia is always a great company to watch and learn from, and this initiative does not surprise me.

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By Posted on Posted in Abundance and Prosperity, Corporate Social Responsibility, Energy & Sustainability, Green Marketing Tagged with , , ,

One of the most exciting things about the green movement lately is the way it’s become so mainstream. After some 40 years in this movement, I am deeply gratified that every company I can think of is taking steps toward sustainability. Some, like Marks & Spencer in the UK and believe it or not, Walmart in the US (and worldwide)—a company not exactly swarming with treehuggers—have practically made it into a religion.

In my talks and interviews, I almost always mention Walmart, because that company is heavily driven by the profit motive—and has found it extremely profitable to lower expenses by paying attention to sustainability, and at the same time create new profit centers. For instance, Walmart is selling truckloads of organic food to people who would never set foot in a Whole Foods. While I still have many other issues with the company, ranging from labor practices and supplier policies to siting and closed-store-reuse, on sustainabiity, I have only praise.

And if  bottom-line-driven, NON-treehugger company like Walmart can build a green path to prosperity, what holds the rest of us back?

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