News and analysis on sustainability, corporate social responsibility, stakeholder engagement, and Internet and other digital marketing and communications. You'll even get some very practical tips on these topics that you can put to immediate use!
I have recently returned from a trip to Moldova (located in southwestern Europe and bordered on the west by Romania and on all other sides by Ukraine).
On my way home I began scanning through a week’s worth of email and was surprised to see what I call the ‘SunChip® Bag controversy’. Coming from Eastern Europe, where people struggle to make ends meet on a daily basis and resources are scarce, I experienced culture shock when reading about the uproar over the noise of the SunChip® bag.
How lucky are we as a society to have such problems to fixate on – I mean it is just a bag. I, for one, commend the efforts of PepsiCo to try to find a better solution for the waste that they create; while the bag may be noisy at least it is a step in the right direction.
We have real problems out there with the environment and our impact on it; and companies that are making efforts to work toward more sustainable solutions should be commended and supported in their efforts.
How about, instead of using social media to complain over the noise of a bag we find a way to constructively crowdsource solutions to help PepsiCo improve their bag? As a starting point, I am sure that the creative people on Esty.com could develop reusable bag covers which muffle the bag sounds in the short term enabling people to continue to support a chip that is trying to minimize their impact.
As many of the Global 2000 companies kick their sustainability initiatives up a notch or two, we are consistently seeing a disconnect between these programs at the corporate and brand levels. Much of the work being done at the corporate level is not effectively being shared and integrated into the relevant brands owned by a corporation; and vice versa, there are often cause-related campaigns, for example, occurring via a specific brand that do not get included in corporate communications around sustainability issues.
I read with a combination of dismay and amusement yet another op ed about “the case against CSR,” this time on the Wall Street Journal website. Oddly enough, it came from a professor at the University of Michigan’s School of Business, with one of the stronger CSR-related programs in the country and host of the upcoming 2010 Net Impact Conference.
This piece followed a Washing Post op ed of a similar theme only last month, calling CSR a cult and blaming it for the BP and other disasters – which could more easily be waved off due to the naivety of an author with clearly no knowledge of the field, and confused by the difference between walking and talking CSR.
Water… H2O… Agua… Eau… Acqua… Das Wasser… Voda… There are numerous ways in which one can say ‘water’ but they all describe the same unique substance without which human beings can’t live.
Water is something that Americans take for granted every day. The majority of Americans have the luxury to be able to turn on a faucet and get clean drinking water any time they want, or to purchase water for use. Yet every day more than 4,000 children in developing countries die, simply because they don’t have access to clean drinking water (CSDW.org). Unsafe water or lack or basic sanitation causes 80% of all diseases, more than all forms of violence and war (charitywater.org).
Our friends at Changents.com have created a wonderful campaign, partnering with Proctor & Gamble, called the “Clean Water Blogivation.” By utilizing blogging, individuals will be able to make a difference for hundreds of people by providing them clean, drinkable water.
When someone creates a blog post, like this one, describing the importance of being a clean water ‘Change Agent’, they will be eligible for a chance to join a ‘P&G Children’s Safe Drinking Water Program’ and possibly win $15,000 for a favorite charity that’s working in the front lines of the global water crisis. So, if you have a blog, join us in spreading the word!
Perhaps even more importantly, each time a reader votes for a blog post, P&G will donate a day’s worth of clean drinking water (2L) to a person in need in a developing country. This is an amazing step in the right direction by using the power of online communities to touch lives and give life-sustaining water.
P&G is utilizing their ‘Pur Packets’ to transform bacteria and disease ridden water into clean and safe water in a matter of 30 minutes for thousands of people in the developing world. Check out the ‘Pur Packets’ at work here:
On a more personal note the members of SDialogue are doing our best to conserve water in everyday life. For example, both of SDialogue’s founders have made additions to their homes which cut back on their personal water usage. Perry has a 1,100 gallon rainwater collection system in his home which allows him to conserve water naturally. Beth has an outdoor shower which she uses into the winter months, cutting back on the amount of time she and her family spends showering. You can check out her blog on outdoor showers here.
Please vote for SDialogue’s blog post by using the widget posted near the top of this blog. Remember with every vote (one per visitor per day – so come back everyday), you can help us bring a day’s worth of clean drinking water (2L) to those who desperately need it!
The Obama Administration is putting forward a great effort to improve the health of our nation by getting us outside. Children today spend half as much time outdoors as their parents did, helping to push our country deeper into an epidemic of childhood obesity. Through the First Lady’s “Let’s Move” campaign and President Obama’s “America’s Great Outdoors” campaign, the administration is attempting to reconnect Americans, including our children, to the outdoors. Read the rest of this entry »