Opportunity Sustainability ℠

Funny thing about the planet – we often forget that it is much bigger than we are and often has a mind of its own. Take, for example, the chaos being created by the volcanic ash cloud over Europe this week. The recent eruptions of Iceland’s Eyjafjallajoekull volcano are disrupting business systems on a global scale. We have been reminded once again of nature’s brute force and primordial beauty. The continuing volcanic ash cloud is having holistic and systematic repercussions. Starting with air travel disruption, the impact is now ricocheting across international business and global supply chains. What will happen if the volcano repeats it’s last (1821) eruption cycle of on-and-off spewing of ash for 13 months?
What impact will it have on the long-term viability and sustainability of companies in the region and around the world?

Cold-Pack EPS Cooler shipping packaging. An example of doing it right if you have to use EPS, along with resources for both recycling and alternatives to EPS coolers for shipping perishable goods.

Last Saturday I took part in a rally to support the creation of a SE Wisconsin’s RTA. RTA stands for Regional Transit Authority, a governing body that coordinates and champions transit systems in a region. Most metropolitan areas have one. Milwaukee and Southeast Wisconsin does not.
You may be asking, what does this have to do with sustainability?
Everything.

This summer I was impressed when I watched the Walmart Sustainability Milestone Meeting. The meeting coincided with the announcement of a Sustainability Index and followed the previous month’s release of the Walmart Sustainability Report. I was impressed by the depth and breadth of Walmart’s sustainability efforts.  Many sustainability/green/csr colleagues had to stop in their tracks and [...]

Matthew Rochte, LEED AP was interviewed by Stephen Hinton on Blog Talk Radio for the Hinton Human Capital show.
Sustainability and Corporate Social Responsibility: Fact Vs Fiction

In this overview discussion we explored the origins of CSR and sustainability. We could have easily spent a show talking about each of these along with any number of the topics we touched upon: philosophy, buzzwords, green, GHG, LEED, environmental stewardship, sustainable value frameworks, green jobs, innovation, and compliance versus opportunity and innovation, Opportunity Sustainability℠, and how business coaching plays into sustainability leadership. Check out the show.

Q: My company wants to start a Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiative.  Where do you start CSR initiatives?
A: Done right, CSR is a systematic and strategic approach to business sustainability.  Note:  I will be using sustainability and CSR interchangeably.
The first questions to ask you and your company revolve around your company’s intent behind CSR, what’s [...]

I regularly tweet about CSR and sustainability issues and every once in a while I run across a good guide, list, or case study.  Today has had a flush of these articles that deserved sharing and preserving a little longer than Twitter does.

Communicating Corporate Responsibility: 7 rules for communicating CSR by Logos Institute for Crisis [...]

Leave it to Mark Fiore to find a humorous way to point out the the paradigm shift and challenges of communicating the need for [fill-in-the-blank] (sustainability,  green business, corporate social responsibility, climate change, green house gas cap and trade, etc.)  Despite the scientific evidence, the peer reviewed journals, the business school program adoption and conversion, [...]

Last summer, when gas prices were hitting $4/gallon I had the fortune of attending a fantastic presentation on bicycle commuting at the Minneapolis EcoTuesday. I was reminded today about that discussion when I read Julie Urlaub’s article on 10 Reasons to Bike Commute to Work .  Kevin Ishaug, owner of Freewheel Bike Center in Midtown [...]