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At first look, the ongoing surge in apparel thrifting and online resale appears to be a resounding win for the environment. With fewer barely-worn garments ending up in landfills, a lower overall carbon footprint and reduced water and fertilizer consumption, how could it not be? Of course, while all of those benefits are certainly a boon, there is a caveat. Instead of abating fast fashion, secondhand marketplaces have gotten in on the trade.

A tiny symptom of fast fashion is causing a huge problem

Thanks to the rush toward cost-saving synthetics prompted by the fast fashion industry, 62 percent of textiles are now man-made. This has resulted in a surge of microfibers, which by many accounts are the most common type of microplastics being released into our water systems. Worse yet, the synthetic material that sheds its fibers at the highest rate is also the most popular — with polyester losing fibers at a rate six times that of nylon. Synthetic textiles are responsible for 35 percent of the microplastics that end up in the earth’s oceans — and most of them likely got there from the wash cycle. A report funded by the Ocean Wise Conservation Association estimates that American and Canadian households alone contribute 3.5 quadrillion microfibers to oceans and freshwater systems annually. Broken down, they approximate that to an average of 533 million microfibers per year from each household.

Fast fashion shoppers are motivated by savings and convenience. Nearly three-quarters surveyed in one report agreed that the items were a good deal while a little over half said they were motivated by how quick and easy it is to buy from fast fashion retailers. Another 20 percent admitted to feeling as though they had to keep up with the latest trends on social media. Aja Barber, a stylist, consultant and author, has been quoted by Yahoo News as saying, “Right now, the fashion industry pumps out 150 billion garments a year, [but] the human population is only 7.9 billion. And 50 percent of our planet cannot afford to participate in this system.”

Many consumers are still not completely unaware of the effects their shopping habits have on the environment. Half of fast fashion buyers recognize that the industry is bad for the planet, while a whopping 74 percent concede that their purchases are part of the problem. The pressure to be on-trend and post a new outfit each and every day clashes with the self-professed values of younger generations — leaving Gen Z and millennial fashionistas to grapple with the industry’s disposable nature.

Turns out, secondhand doesn’t necessarily solve the sustainability problem

They’ve done so by creating a circular economy of sorts. One that involves both thrifting and fast fashion. More than 60 percent of Gen Z and millennial shoppers check secondhand retailers, whether online marketplaces or brick and mortar thrift shops, before buying a new item of clothing, compared to 41 percent of all shoppers. Driven largely by younger buyers, the market for used apparel is expected to expand 127 percent by 2026. At the same time, those huge Shein hauls have to go somewhere and one popular place is the donation box.

Many longtime thrifters are complaining that the glut of fast fashion items ending up in secondhand stores is making it hard if not impossible to locate the quality items they are used to finding. Instead of name brands and quality items made from natural fibers, the racks have been overtaken by items from H&M and Zara, among other fast fashion brands. And while a possible second life via the thrift shop is preferable to chucking the clothing in the trash, the more often that the items are washed the more microfibers they will release into waterways.

Rethinking how society views fashion

Like the transportation and food industries, the fashion industry operates on principles of unsustainability — as in encouraging overconsumption and making it harder and more expensive to do the right thing — while consumers take the ethical fall. Caught between their values on one side and social expectations on the other, many Gen Z and millennial fashionistas have done their best to navigate a system that makes it impossible for them to have both.

Nevertheless, if they are going to truly live up to their ideals, young consumers will need to reimagine how to be on-trend while spending more on individual items. Secondhand marketplaces can enable this, but not if they are continually flooded with garments made from synthetic materials. It is up to the fashion industry to change the way it does business. By focusing on natural fibers and resale marketplaces, the industry can do its part to stop the flow of microplastics into our oceans. 

Image credit: Fallon Michael via Unsplash

Even though fuel prices are beginning to fall, the expense of refueling, repairing and maintaining a fleet of gas or diesel vehicles is still a major headache for businesses. Fleet electrification can solve all three problems at once, and there is no need for fleet managers to reinvent the wheel. A growing number of specialty companies are beginning to offer fleet electrification as a service with no up-front investment.

The fleet electrification advantage

Electric vehicles (EVs) still cost more up front than comparable gas or diesel vehicles, mainly due to the expense of the battery pack. Fleet owners don’t have to wait for the cost of EV batteries to fall, though. EVs involve less maintenance and repair than comparable gas or diesel vehicles, and charging a battery costs far less than filling a fuel tank. As a result, the total cost of owning an EV – including fuel plus maintenance and repair over time — can be equal to or less than owning a gas or diesel vehicle.

EVs provide other advantages, too. Because they are emissions-free and practically noise-free, they can improve community relations along residential routes, and they can enhance worker health and workplace well-being.

In addition, EV charging stations can eliminate the infrastructure costs, environmental impacts and potential hazards involved in fueling infrastructure, including pumps and underground storage tanks.

Another emerging benefit is the ability to participate in community-wide grid management initiatives. A growing number of utilities are recruiting EV owners to deploy their batteries in virtual power plants that help shave down peak use periods and thereby enhance grid reliability and stability. EV batteries can also be deployed on an individual basis as emergency power generators.

Above all, EVs provide businesses with another important tool in their decarbonization toolkit. In an era of heightened awareness about the impacts of climate change, fleet electrification enables businesses to demonstrate they are part of the solution.  

Leaping the up-front fleet electrification cost hurdle

The total cost of owning an EV is attractive, but obstacles remain. To make the switch, fleet managers have to invest in new vehicle technology and charging infrastructure, and they have to learn how to juggle charging times along with route planning and scheduling. 

The startup Zeem Solutions provides a good example of how innovators are mining these challenges for new opportunities. Zeem has just launched its first EV depot near Los Angeles International Airport. It’s a turnkey solution with no up-front costs to the fleet manager.

For a flat monthly fee, Zeem provides fleet managers with electric trucks, cargo vans, transit shuttles and other vehicles according to their needs, along with a facility that includes fast-charging stations, parking and a break room for drivers. Including EV charging, maintenance and insurance along with the cost of leasing the vehicles, Zeem calculates that its flat-fee system is less than the cost of owning a gas or diesel fleet.

The choice of the Los Angeles Airport location for the initial facility is no accident. Of all the opportunities for fleet electrification, electric fleets at transportation hubs — including seaports and rail yards as well as airports — are the most impactful in terms of benefits to local communities. 

“By operating zero-emission EVs, fleets benefit from a quiet and clean ride for drivers and passengers as well as improved air quality for the communities they serve, including historically disadvantaged communities near transportation centers and freight corridors where Zeem Solutions’ EV depots will be located,” the company explains.

Expanding to fill demand for EVs

Zeem anticipates that a growing number of fleet managers will be eager to adopt a service that provides immediate bottom-line and community relations benefits without a huge capital investment. The company has already embarked on a massive expansion plan in partnership with LAZ Parking Realty Investors, assisted by a $50 million capital investment from affiliates of the firm ArcLight Capital Partners.

The LAZ Parking connection provides a platform for rapid expansion. The company operates more than 3,500 parking locations in hundreds of cities across 39 states, and bills itself as the fastest-growing contract parking operator in the US. Its Realty Investors branch will provide Zeem with extensive experience in site acquisition and construction for its planned network of EV fleet hubs.

An ambitious showcase for fleet electrification

As for Zeem’s new EV hub at the Los Angeles Airport, that is no pilot project. EVs and charging stations are not a new thing anymore. They are proven technologies with widespread adoption. 

The new EV hub launched last week with almost 100 EVs available for lease, along with 77 fast-charging ports. The facility also includes several dozen Level 2 chargers for use when longer charging times can be scheduled. Zeem anticipates that it will be the largest privately owned EV charging facility in the U.S. when operating at full capacity.

That scale is a good fit for Los Angeles Airport, which claims it is the second-busiest airport in the U.S. and the fourth-busiest airport in the world.

The new hub is also a good fit for the sustainability plan issued by Los Angeles World Airports, which has set a timeline of 2045 for achieving net zero carbon emissions from LAX and Van Nuys Airport.

Now that the U.S. Supreme Court has limited the ability of the EPA to decarbonize power stations, the climate action ball is in the hands of the private sector. The technology is in hand, the bottom-line benefits are clear and companies like Zeem have the solution.

Image credit: Ryan Miller via Unsplash

As technology organizations step up their sustainability initiatives, there is a strong tendency across the industry to focus primarily on the “green” dimension: reducing carbon footprints, digital- and cloud-first initiatives and optimizing consumption at data centers and other locations. It is an understandable reaction. IT (information technology) is one of the highest consumers of energy in any enterprise and should therefore be a leader in finding a solution. 

But this narrow definition of sustainability — as admirable as its end goals are — leaves out critical questions of economic viability and social equity. If the information technology industry is to truly sustain itself, in addition to understanding its impact on the planet, it must also wrestle with questions about the long-term viability of its workforce, as well as equitable access to the benefits of technology.

What does that mean in practical terms for IT organizations? Let us take a closer look at each of these dimensions:

Promoting economic sustainability

For IT to be economically sustainable, it must have a sustainable knowledge workforce. With development cycles shortening, innovation accelerating and technology advancing at record pace, that will require more than just bringing in new talent. Organizations also need to dedicate themselves to constantly upskilling their existing talent and investing in workforce development programs. Increasingly, companies' ability to sustain competitiveness will rely on how well they “upskill,” and how efficiently they can transition employees to new, critical roles, as opposed to “buying” knowledge from the open market. 

At the same time, the industry must take steps to manage and minimize IT complexity. This will require it to do more than blindly adopt the architectural trends and technologies promoted by the industry pundits, and instead select architectures and technologies that are adequate to solve the business challenges at hand while not raising levels of technical complexity. In practical terms, organizations need to be more open to low-code solutions, SaaS solutions and development approaches that open the doors to more people to enter the IT workforce. The industry also needs to take steps to develop expertise by promoting mentor-apprentice models and closely-knit agile squads.

Supporting social sustainability

Meeting the sustainability challenge will also require organizations to redouble their efforts in promoting digital equity, developing technology skills in the next generation, and making it clear that technology is for everyone. From a skills development standpoint, this might include high school mentoring programs, hosting hackathons and other events that allow teenagers to get exposed to IT careers at an early date, or funding P-tech (Pathways in Technology Early College High Schools) programs that allow students to earn a high school diploma alongside an associate degree, gaining work experience along the way.

More broadly, the IT industry would be well-served to stop thinking about the current hiring market as a “war for talent.” For years, technology companies have drawn artificial boundaries and barriers for entry, such as needing an undergraduate STEM education or demanding a minimum of three to four years of IT experience. If tech firms are now staring down a labor abundance problem, it is partly one of their own making. The technology industry has struggled with a diversity bias for years, with a dominance of men in the workforce and an overall lack of women and people of color. 

To move beyond this bias, the industry needs to take concrete steps to promote an inclusive workforce by leaning into both gender diversity and neurodiversity. By searching out new sources of talent — whether by hiring veterans returning from duty, seeking candidates at historically black colleges and universities or opening pathways to graduates of two-year colleges — IT companies can expand their pipeline of candidates, open pathways to new communities and make their workforces more sustainable over the long run. 

In addition to building a more inclusive workforce, steps such as building solutions with alternative interfaces — such as with voice and gestures — and eliminating biases in algorithms and data, are steps in the right directions. So, too, are an increase in the use of remote and hybrid working models can have a profound impact on lowering the barriers of entry to IT. 

Only by bringing together all three dimensions of sustainability — environmental, economic, and social — can IT organizations achieve their long-term goals. Looking at IT sustainability through the lens of reducing greenhouse gas emissions and managing carbon footprints is critical, but it will not help address the growing gap between digital haves and have nots or give companies the ability to build the kind of flexible workforces they will need to continue to innovate.

Interested in having your voice heard on 3p? Contact us at editorial@3BLMedia.com and pitch your idea for a guest article to us.

Image credit: Pixabay

Count in one leading luxury fashion house is eager to change its image and shrink its environmental footprint. Last week, Gucci announced a new strategic partnership with the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, an NGO that has become a leading authority on circularity. The foundation says it will support Gucci as it seeks to scale circular design principles. In a statement, Gucci CEO Mario Bizarri said that the partnership would “further strengthen our commitments to circularity and regenerative agriculture.” 

The fashion industry’s environmental impact is hard to overstate: it is an enormous source of waste and pollution, accounting for 10 percent of global CO2 emissions, 20 percent of plastic produced and 92 million tons of waste annually. Perhaps unsurprisingly, 85 percent of clothing thrown away each year in the United States goes into landfills or incinerators.

While recent efforts are admirable, Gucci and the other power players in the luxury fashion space have a long way to go to meaningfully reduce the enormous amount of waste and pollution that these companies keep generating. To that end, circularity is critical to achieving these brands' goals.

Designing out waste

Circular design seeks to eliminate waste from all aspects of a product’s life cycle, from sourcing materials to planning for a product’s end-of-life. Circularity is critical for the fashion industry, which has traditionally operated in a highly linear manner, sourcing virgin materials for production and ending with products in landfills.

For example, polyester, the most commonly used textile for clothing production, is a leading contributor to microplastic pollution and is an ongoing demand driver for fossil fuels, a key component of the synthetic fiber. Polyester fabric is also notoriously difficult to recycle, which is one of the reasons why, according to the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, less than 1 percent of clothing that is collected for recycling is actually recycled into new clothing. 

Through Gucci’s partnership with the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, the fashion house hopes to design and produce its products in a new way. The company already has a goal of 100 percent sustainably sourced materials by 2025, and it is developing partnerships with resale outlets and socially-beneficial businesses that can give Gucci products and byproducts a new life. 

New frontiers in fashion circularity 

Gucci is a global behemoth with resources to fund its sustainability aims. However, smaller firms can also provide critical lessons in sustainable production.

Just a short walk from Gucci’s global headquarters in Florence, Italy is Zerolab, the first leather recycling center and circular design-focused incubator in Florence. An innovative leather waste collection and sorting center, Zerolab also functions as a training facility for leather skills and an incubator for emerging designers focused on circular design. 

Cassandra Kane, Zerolab’s Chief Innovation Officer, has a front-row seat to luxury fashion’s move toward circularity. She said, “As luxury brands have exploded in growth over the last thirty years, their supply chains have become industrialized and globalized, and that explosive production is what can cause once-artisanal production to become less sustainable.” In 2021, Gucci recovered 290 tons of leather for upcycling, but Kane noted that in Tuscany alone, where Gucci is headquartered, “more than 265 tons or over 400,000 pounds of leather waste are generated at the factory level each year.” 

The future of high fashion for Gucci and other fashion houses

While the global fashion industry is plagued by overproduction of cheap, synthetic materials, certain players in the industry have further externalized their waste problem by dumping or burning their excess materials. Nevertheless, if industry leaders like Gucci can innovate circularity into luxury designs, then there’s reason to hope that they can pave the way for other fashion brands to follow.

Kane is optimistic. “Turning the tide on the production practices of global brands is not something that can happen overnight. Gucci has made some giant leaps quite quickly that other brands can replicate,” she said, adding, “Luxury brands like Gucci are leading the way in investing in sustainable and regenerative technologies, and partnering with experts like the Ellen MacArthur Foundation is a great step in solving the issues. Across the industry, when the luxury sector invests in new technology, that tech eventually trickles down throughout the wider industry.” 

When asked about the future of sustainable fashion, Kane is hopeful. She told TriplePundit, “The new definition of luxury will be more than just beautiful artisanal products. It will be products that are made from circular, regenerative and ethical materials through a production process that doesn’t harm our planet, and maybe even supports it.”

Image credits: Zerolab
 

Prior to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022, the world was already grappling with the rising cost of food as factors such as the COVID-19 pandemic, supply chain shocks, and climate-related disasters sent global markets into chaos.

The United Nations' World Food Programme is now warning that the world’s food crisis is likely to worsen. The Russian invasion of Ukraine pushed an already-teetering global food market into a tailspin, and a confluence of crises is poised to create a global hunger emergency. 

Contributing factors in the growing food crisis

In 2019, before the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, the UN classified approximately 130 million people around the world as “acutely food insecure.” The pandemic saw those numbers rise to 276 million. Now, due to the crisis in Ukraine, that number has soared again to 345 million and is expected to continue growing.

Ukraine is responsible for about 10 percent of the world’s wheat exports. When Russia invaded Ukraine, it immediately imposed a blockade on Black Sea ports, the country’s primary outlets for exporting grain. Currently, The UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) estimates that 25 million pounds of wheat and grain are stuck in Black Sea ports. Many countries in the Middle East and North Africa heavily rely on Ukrainian wheat, and the blockade has sent prices soaring across those regions — and has affected food security in other parts of the world as well.

At the same time that Ukraine’s 2021 grain harvest is stuck at port, farmers worldwide are expressing concerns about a related, drastic decrease in yields for 2022. Early spring is a critical time for agriculture, but many farmers were unable to access adequate levels of fertilizers. Russia has historically been the largest exporter of fertilizer in the world, but this year, the Russian government banned fertilizer exports from March until May, prime planting season for many crops dependent upon synthetic fertilizers. The fertilizer export ban has been lifted in Russia and the U.S. has since created exceptions for fertilizer in its sanctions against Russia. However, many agricultural, shipping and insurance companies in the U.S. are refusing to participate in agricultural trade with Russia out of an abundance of caution. Without adequate access to fertilizer, yields will likely be less plentiful. 

The rising cost of natural gas is compounding the fertilizer predicament. Synthetic nitrogen fertilizers are made using natural gas, and the skyrocketing cost of natural gas caused the prices of nitrogen fertilizers to rise to record highs. The increase in the prices of crude oil have also raised the cost of agricultural production and distribution, and ultimately, the cost of food for consumers.

Beyond Ukraine, the implications for the global food supply

To stem the impacts of global price inflation, some countries are banning exports of grain and food. Since the onset of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, more than 20 countries have banned or severely restricted grain exports. India banned grain exports in May, and on July 7, the Indian government imposed restrictions on the export of wheat flour. 

Such protective actions are likely to exacerbate the increased global prices and make food that much more expensive for countries who depend on food imports. Even before India’s ban on wheat exports, global export bans affected 17 percent of the world’s food supply, as measured in calories. Worldwide, food prices are 75 percent higher than they were in mid-2020, and export bans are expected to contribute to a further increase.

While consumers everywhere will likely feel the pinch of rising prices, people living in poverty and in countries dependent upon food imports are at the greatest risk of harm. In 2020, Ukraine was the largest supplier of food to the World Food Programme, an essential safety net for acutely food insecure populations worldwide. 

The impacts of the Russian invasion, from fertilizer export bans to port blockades, has not only been catastrophic for the Ukrainian economy, but is forcing tens of millions of people around the globe closer to hunger.

Image credit: Diana Vyshniakova via Unsplash

Women entrepreneurs looking to increase their funding by attracting business investors have a new opportunity thanks to a recently launched program from the creative agency Story Pitch Decks. The company will accept applications for its Uplift pro bono program through August 1 with one startup awarded a free high-quality investor pitch deck.

The winning business receives a presentation deck tailored to the startup and designed to catch the attention of potential investors. Eligible startups should include a majority-women founding team, have a socially or environmentally focused mission, be financially under-resourced and exhibit a healthy work culture.

Why focus on a pitch deck?

“A pitch deck in the startup world, also referred to as an investor pitch deck, is a presentation that startups put together in order to secure venture capital or investor funding,” said Keane Angle, founder of Story Pitch Decks. 

Pitch decks are typically 20 slides or less featuring an overview of the business, its team members and why it is a good investment. Investors and venture capital funds often will not even entertain a meeting with a new company unless there’s a pitch deck, he added.

“There are hundreds of thousands of potential startups seeking funding at any given time in the U.S. and all of them have pitch decks,” Angle said. “The ones that get funded usually have incredible pitch decks that stand out from the crowd — not just in design, but in content and storytelling as well. For women, it's doubly important to invest time and resources into a fantastic pitch deck in order to elevate their appeal to investors above the status quo.”

Despite their success, women entrepreneurs still struggle with investor funding

The rate of growth for women-owned companies is approximately double that of all U.S. businesses with women-owned companies now accounting for close to 42 percent of businesses. But, only 2 percent of venture capital investment in the U.S. went to all-female startups and women entrepreneurs in 2021, the lowest rate in eight years. For women of color, the most entrepreneurial demographic in the U.S., the statistics are even more dismal with businesses led by women of color receiving only a fraction of this tiny 2 percent.

“The gender gap in the startup world today is gargantuan,” Angle said. “In 2021, 98.8 percent of all jobs in America were more gender diverse than how venture capital firms allocated their investments. Story hopes to make some noise, raise awareness about this issue and do our part to try and tip the scales.”

Spreading the word about the success rates of women-led startups, including their value for investors, is another goal of the Uplift pro-bono program. 

“In 2021 in the U.S. for every $50 that VCs invested in startups, just $1 went to all-women founding teams,” Angle added. 

Story Pitch Decks, run by a majority-women team, has helped raise more than $130 million for startup businesses since launching in 2020. The company typically uses a collaborative two-week process to develop pitch decks with Story creating more than 100 decks since its founding.

Closing the gender gap in the startup world

Although only one startup will receive the investor pitch deck through the Uplift Pro-bono program, Story Pitch Decks is also offering a 10 percent discount on all services to any startup with at least one female founder with a 15 percent discount available to new companies with an all-female founding team. 

The Uplift winner will be announced on August 15 via the Story Pitch Decks blog and social media accounts. The winning startup will work with Story experts during late August, completing the pitch deck by September 1.

Although this is the first year for the Uplift program, Story Pitch Decks plans to expand the program to continue its focus on closing the gender gap in the startup world, supporting women in technology fields and encouraging women entrepreneurs. 

“Eventually, we'd like to open the program to more startups, partner with female-focused VC firms and non-profits, speak more actively on this topic at virtual startup events and conferences, conduct our own research and thought leadership on this topic and create more opportunities overall for women founders to raise successfully,” Angle added.

Image credit: Ono Kosuki/Pexels

At least eight states have banned abortion in the days since the Supreme Court’s ruling on Dobbs v. Jackson, according to a tracker maintained by the New York Times, and half of all states will likely enact limits or bans. Other states, meanwhile, are actually in the process of expanding reproductive rights. 

The Dobbs ruling overturned Roe v. Wade, which in 1973 found abortion to be a constitutional right under the due process clause of the 14th Amendment. This is the first time the Supreme Court has overturned a recognized constitutional right, a fact acknowledged by Chief Justice John Roberts in his solo concurrence. 

On a global scale, the United Nations' women’s rights committee has called out the United States for never ratifying the international convention that protects women’s human rights; though the nation signed it in 1980, it was never ratified. The U.S. is one of seven countries in the world that is not a party to that convention. 

Don’t forget: People of color are most affected by abortion bans

Amidst widespread fears concerning women’s, and all people's, health and agency, Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra offered some words of encouragement. "I've been around long enough to know that nothing's ever totally safe,” he told NBC's Meet the Press. “But remember, we still haven't even been able to pass the Equal Rights Amendment, and so this country has a way to go. But certainly, I don't believe this decision by this court and Dobbs is going to stand long."

But as more ramifications resulting from Dobbs keep emerging, many people who can become pregnant would respond that they will not be able to wait “long” for abortion and related healthcare services.

In the meantime, it will be marginalized communities that are most affected by the rising number of abortion bans, Kim Crowder, a diversity, equity and inclusion expert, told TriplePundit. In early 2020, Black women were almost three times more likely to die during pregnancy than their white counterparts. And women of color overall are disproportionately more likely to get an abortion in the U.S. In Texas, for example, Hispanic, Black and additional communities of color represent 59 percent of the state's population, but people from these communities receive 74 percent of the abortions.  

The racial implications are one indicator of the nuance involved in this topic — and nuance is critical when it comes to the conversation around abortion, Crowder said. “I think people keep trying to flatten it around pro-life and pro-choice, and that’s it, when in fact it really is not that. It’s so much deeper than that," she told us. The national conversation must instead involve the question of why women are seeking abortions while also honoring the fact that women, and all people, period, must have a choice and access to necessary healthcare. 

Be an ally for women of color, from the voting booth to the HR office

That nuanced conversation must center on people of color. “We have a lot of work to do in the medical healthcare industry when it comes to protecting Black and Brown women around health,” Crowder said. Serena Williams and Beyoncé, for example, have spoken out about the challenges they each experienced during childbirth. Williams recounted being ignored by a nurse when voicing her health needs. “I was like, listen to Dr. Williams!” she told Vogue in 2018. 

That’s a message Crowder said needs to be heeded across the board. “I don’t know how many times Black women can say over and over, ‘Listen to Black women,’” she said. “It’s just a continuous reminder: If you’re going to be an ally, that means being an ally 24/7, not just when it’s convenient or when it impacts you.” 

This conversation must leak into workplaces as well, where women feel pressure not to have children if they want to further their careers, Crowder said. We’re seeing businesses offering to pay for travel in order to have an abortion, but “what we really need to see businesses do is expand medical care, offering more parental leave, care for pre-existing conditions and additional benefits that can help with the heavier lifting,” she explained. 

Such benefits can help support anyone starting a family. According to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, paid leave can also boost labor force participation, keeping parents connected to their careers when they may have otherwise exited the labor force. 

What allies can do right now to support people of color

“Voting has always got to be a main piece of it,” Crowder recommended to those wanting to make any positive impact. “How are you voting? Are you voting based on only your needs, or are you looking at how elected officials are talking about communities that maybe you’re not impacted by?” Then, assess where you are donating money. Crowder noted that the biggest change happens within organizations that are already embedded in those communities that are the most at risk. Bottom line: Support the good work they are already doing.  

In the workplace, Crowder said allies can speak up about adequate access to healthcare “using the ability, as a white person, to be able to speak without being fired, or without being targeted.” Many Black professionals don’t feel they are able to bring up their needs in their workplace. One study found that almost 40 percent of Black employees feel it is never acceptable to speak out when it comes to their experience with discrimination at work. 

Crowder said one question to be considering at work concerns ongoing benefits that companies can provide to parents once their children are born, and not just those offered to employees that are deciding whether to have a child. She emphasizes that thinking about the abortion conversation in these larger ways can lead to positive systemic change. 

Image credit: Gayatri Malhotra via Unsplash

This article is sponsored by P&G

More than half of the United States is experiencing some form of drought, with areas in the west and southwest seeing extreme or exceptional drought conditions. Unfortunately, this is becoming the new normal as climate change increases the likelihood of water scarcity in already drought-prone areas. Recent reports from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) further underscore the risk a warming planet poses to the global water cycle. Climate change acts as a threat multiplier to existing water crises globally, leading to significant damage across watersheds. Further, many experts have declared water stress to be a top risk factor for companies.

Water stress is often a locally-felt pressure. Wildlife and natural ecosystems rely on watersheds. So do cities, electric utilities, agriculture and corporations — not to mention every one of us. Since every facet of our lives depends on water, every water stakeholder — from companies and governments down to individuals — has a role to play in safeguarding water supplies now and into the future. For example, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency estimates that the average American household uses approximately 300 gallons of water per day, but this figure can be cut by a third with some simple shifts to our household habits. In response to findings like these, dish care brand Cascade is looking to help millions of households reduce their water consumption, along with reducing the water footprint of its own operations and working with partners to restore water in at-risk watersheds, in a holistic approach to water management. 

One of the partners Cascade works with on this front is Change the Course, a hybrid water restoration and awareness-building campaign introduced by National Geographic, Bonneville Environmental Foundation (BEF) and Participant Media in 2014.

What is Change the Course? 

The idea behind Change the Course is to engage corporate partners to support water stewardship and restoration projects in the communities where they operate or source inputs, while simultaneously educating consumers about how to reduce their own water use. The initiative has since scored corporate sponsors and partners from a wide range of industries, including Cascade and its parent company Procter & Gamble (P&G).

What started as a three-way partnership to promote a film about building coalitions in watersheds quickly become much more. “We were trying to think of a way to engage corporate funders to fund projects outside their walls,” Sara Hoversten, director of business for water stewardship at BEF, told TriplePundit. “We came up with Change the Course to engage people in understanding their individual water footprint and fund on-the-ground restoration projects for gallon-for-gallon restoration.” The driving force is to ensure “we have enough clean water where we need it, when we need it, for communities and economies to thrive,” she said. 

How and where it works

For its part, BEF works on scoping and vetting on-the-ground projects and figuring out how to engage with corporate partners to create a vision for water stewardship. BEF works directly with project partners — for example on irrigation efficiency projects in the Southwest, stormwater projects in the Northeast, and restoration of vital salmon spawning grounds in the Pacific Northwest — to ensure implementation and confirm the volume of restored water, which is communicated to the sponsoring company for its reporting purposes. 

Beyond the logistics of how the projects work, the partnerships have begun to shift the conversation around water security and the corporate role in stewardship. “Over the past five years, we have seen an incredible uptick in corporate engagement,” Hoversten said. “[We’re] seeing these big brands putting their reputation, weight and funding behind restoration projects.” 

Cascade is one of dozens of Change the Course brand partners. So far, its project portfolio supported will restore over 2.6 billion gallons over the lifetime of the projects to rivers and wetlands in the U.S. The brand has also looked to integrate water conservation into its consumer communications. 

For example, household water use has increased globally by 600 percent since 1960. To help address that, Cascade has shifted its messaging to consumers to underscore the importance of water conservation at home. “This awareness is critical because through the life cycle assessment of our products, we’ve found the consumer phase (when people use our products) is the most water-intensive part of many of our products’ life cycles,” said Shannon Quinn, water stewardship leader for P&G. 

Raising awareness and empowering individuals to save water at home

The partnership Cascade has forged with Change the Course and other nonprofits is part of P&G’s wider efforts to provide 1 billion people with products that now require far less water for daily use. The Cascade brand, along with others including Dawn and Swiffer, are developing more water-efficient formulas that can help people decrease in-home water use while completing their daily household routines.

But there’s still room for even more water efficiency in U.S. households. For example, Cascade’s dishwasher detergents are designed to work efficiently with dishwashers without the need to pre-rinse dishes, reducing the need for both water and energy. The company estimates that skipping the pre-rinse and putting dishes directly in the dishwasher can conserve about 140 gallons per week, per home. And those gallons add up, with P&G reporting that its public awareness campaigns last year empowered consumers to save 1.6 billion gallons of water and $27 million on their energy bills by running their dishwashers instead of hand-washing. 

Cascade’s multi-tiered campaign aimed at raising awareness about in-home water conservation has reached an estimated 70 percent of U.S. adults to date, according to the company. “We understand the important role we can play in making sure that not only are we designing our products to be efficient, but creatively educating and inspiring our consumers to take full advantage of the benefits our technology can provide to them and our planet,” Quinn said. “Each and every one of us can take small steps that help reduce water use at home and lower our overall environmental footprints through simple and surprising ways, including the way we clean our dishes.” 

Making a difference

Change the Course and its partners, including P&G, are striving to shift the narrative to make sure water stewardship is part of the conversation — both from the corporate side through funding restoration and the customer side through increased efficiency and conservation via education. 

As the initiative has grown, it has been able to diversify the types of projects it works on with partners. For example, in the U.S. Southwest, it’s working with DigDeep, a nonprofit aimed at closing the water gap, to provide permanent drinking water for five families in the Navajo Nation in Dilkon, Arizona, whose water stress has existed long before its profile was raised during the COVID-19 pandemic. (Members of the Navajo Nation are 67 percent more likely than the average American not to have access to running water.) The company supported the restoration of meadows, wetlands, and springs that serve as critical water sources and wildlife habitats in California, Arizona and Minnesota. 

To that end, Change the Course helps companies determine which projects to add to their portfolios by going directly to the communities and watersheds to understand their needs. “It is crucial for us to engage in the community, when and how they want,” Hoversten told TriplePundit. Change the Course asks to understand where it can support local communities and relays that information to its corporate partners, as well as local nonprofits and water access organizations.

“Change the Course is trying to create and sustain a movement of collective action,” Hoversten said. Addressing water scarcity at the community level, but with corporate support, creates a network and shared vision of a healthy ecosystem for everyone, she said. Change the Course has so far funded 79 projects in the U.S. and globally on behalf of its corporate partners.

Climate change means water stress will only worsen, and Hoversten envisions a “move from transactional to transformational: working with tribal nations, large-scale geographic projects, and continuing to engage brands in funding and using their influence on water restoration.” Water touches everyone. It is common sense that everyone should also be engaged in ensuring there is enough.

This article is sponsored by P&G

Image credit: Mike Newbry/Unsplash

The landscape of corporate social responsibility often looks scattered and treacherous. Businesses struggle to put the right foot forward and to determine how much engagement is “safe.” In contrast, Responsible Business Initiative for Justice (RBIJ) has found a niche in working with both community groups and major U.S. companies, and continues to drive change for at-risk young adults — one such result is its Unlock Potential program.

A champion for fairness and inclusion for all: RBIJ

RBIJ is an international nonprofit organization working with companies to champion fairness, equality and effectiveness across systems of punishment and incarceration. Priority is given to particular aspects of the criminal justice system: ending the death penalty, as it is skewed against minorities and the poor; and advocating for "Clean Slate" legislation, which automatically seals records for certain offenses, if a person remains crime free for a specific period of time. Calling for an end to the “criminalization of poverty,” and an end to the use of cash bail is another RBIJ initiative. Too often, the innocent end up suffering job and economic losses, and then become economically destitute, only because they cannot afford bail.

RBIJ also participates in the effort to pass legislation in the U.S. that reverses juvenile life without parole sentencing. The U.S. is the only country in the world that permits youth to be sentenced to life without parole. To that end, the fight for prison reform and effective incarceration programs is ongoing. 

RBIJ works with companies to identify their areas of interest, provide relevant data and information, and assist with campaigns, media outreach, as well as administrative support.

Engaging youth through Unlock Potential

More recently, RBIJ has created a network of corporate partners who participate in the Unlock Potential (UP) program, a racial equity-focused youth hiring program designed to prevent incarceration. Corporations participate in UP with the intention of creating meaningful career opportunities for young adults at the greatest risk of incarceration.

Ben Cumming, RBIJ’s communications director, told 3p that “first-time incarceration can decrease lifetime earnings by more than 30 percent. These obstacles disproportionately impact BIPOC [Black, Indigenous and people of color] communities. Black Americans are incarcerated at nearly five times the rate of whites, and the effect of a criminal record on employment is 40 percent more damaging for Black men than white men.” 

UP will focus on the 4.4 million Americans identified as “opportunity youth” — individuals aged 16 to 24 who are neither in enrolled in an education program or employed. 

Four youth groups have been identified as most vulnerable to adverse, life-altering risk: citizens who have already encountered the juvenile justice system; youths with an incarcerated parent; those who were exposed to or victims of sex or human trafficking; and young people who have lived in foster care.

RBIJ and corporate partners work together to offer that first chance at meaningful work

So far, RBIJ and UP have been successful in adding the strength of additional corporations to the program. Such corporations include American Family Insurance, Delta Airlines and Ben & Jerry’s.

“At American Family Insurance, we’ve made it a priority to create real second chances for people who have been incarcerated,” said Nyra Jordan, Social Impact Director at the American Family Insurance Institute for Corporate and Social Impact, in a recent public statement. “But we also need to be working to prevent individuals from ending up in prison in the first place. Unlock Potential will do precisely that.” 

"We know that having a diverse workforce builds a better and more innovative business," said Keyra Lynn Johnson, vice president and chief diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) officer for Delta Air Lines. "This partnership builds a bridge to individuals who often don't have connections and opportunities to careers at Delta, while at the same time broadening our access to untapped talent."

As Ben & Jerry's CEO Matthew McCarthy recently told Inc., "Data show that meaningful employment opportunities are one of the most impactful ways to prevent future incarceration.”

Added RBIJ’s Cumming in a media release from last month, “By participating these companies will advance racial equity, disrupt the poverty-to-prison pipeline, and develop the next generation of corporate leaders – with the diversity necessary to thrive.”

Image credit: Levi Jones via Unsplash

The 6-3 conservative majority on the U.S. Supreme Court has pulled the regulatory rug out from under the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) with its decision in the West Virginia v. EPA case last month, but other branches of the federal government are still pursuing a more sustainable, low-carbon economy. One example is the U.S. Air Force, which has joined with a group of business leaders to support the carbon recycling startup Twelve. The vote of confidence has helped the company gather up $130 million worth of new funding to bring its technology to a wider market. 

Fossil energy stakeholders v. EPA

The Supreme Court’s decision in the EPA case was anticipated after former President Trump cemented the conservative majority when he appointed three new justices who were vetted and referred by the Federalist Society.

The Federalist Society’s role as the “casting couch” for judiciary appointments under Republican presidents pre-dates Trump, but it is especially relevant to the court’s recent decision against the EPA because of the money trail that leads from fossil energy stakeholders to The Federalist Society.

In the run-up to the EPA ruling, for example, U.S. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-Rhode Island) took the Senate floor on June 14 to call attention to “the right-wing donors’ long-planned scheme to capture and control our Supreme Court.”

“What I will talk about today is that [the] scheme’s donor-funded doctrine factory, and a case in which The Court That Dark Money Built could weaponize dangerous, concocted doctrines to power up polluters and threaten a basic function of government,” he stated.

U.S. Air Force steps up for climate action

The Supreme Court decision does not prevent EPA from making rules altogether, but it does take away the agency’s authority to mandate a broad shift away from fossil energy in the power generating sector. 

In effect, the court has placed the decarbonization ball in the hands of business leaders.

Businesses leaders who purport to support a strong national defense have an additional motive to decarbonize, because decarbonization is also a key goal for the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD).

The DOD recognizes climate change as a significant threat to national security, and it has been an early adopter and research funder of solar power, biofuels and other decarbonization tools. In particular, the Air Force has urged the entire DoD to go beyond carbon neutrality, and pursue a carbon-negative goal.

As part of that goal, in 2020 the Air Force’s Operational Energy branch gave its seal of approval for Twelve to set up a pilot-scale demonstration of its system for transforming airborne carbon dioxide into aviation fuel, under the proprietary name of E-Jet.

E-Jet comes under the growing category of e-fuels or electro-fuels. In contrast to synthetic fuels that are based on fossil energy inputs, e-fuels can be made with carbon captured from the air, along with green hydrogen produced from water and renewable energy.

Instead of having to purchase fuel from energy suppliers and ship it to bases around the world, carbon transformation would empower the Air Force to make its own fuel on site. 

“For the Air Force, the implications of this innovation could be profound. Initial testing shows that the system is highly deployable and scalable, enabling the warfighter to access synthetic fuel from anywhere in the world,” the Air Force explained in an article last fall. “Reliable access to energy and fuel is paramount to military operations. Recent joint wargaming and operational exercises have underlined the significant risk that transporting, storing, and delivering fuel poses to troops – both at home and abroad.”

An increase in efficiency by being able to tap into local sources of fuel would actually boost military strategy.

“If brought to scale, the platform would enable more agile operations and decrease dependence on foreign oil, while having the added benefit of mitigating carbon emissions — a Department of Defense key priority under Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin III,” the Air Force added.

Going beyond carbon offsets...

Technology and logistical questions are yet to be settled, so it could be years before the Air Force can deploy the carbon transformation system at scale. In the meantime, Twelve has developed eyewear products with the company Pangaia and it is expanding into additional markets.

Along with the Air Force, Twelve lists Mercedes-Benz, Procter & Gamble, Shopify and NASA among its partners. The investment firm DCVC also began applying its “Deep Tech” strategy to the effort back in 2018, and last month DCVC spearheaded a round of Series B funding that infused another $130 million into Twelve, in combination with additional funding.

“As more companies and organizations adopt carbon-neutrality targets, they urgently need technologies like Twelve’s to rapidly green supply chains and corporate travel to reduce emissions at scale,” explained Zachary Bogue, who is a managing partner at DCVC. 

“Since leading Twelve’s seed round in 2018, we’ve only become more confident that their technology offers businesses a critical solution for not just offsetting emissions, but eliminating them,” Bogue added.

In fact, venturing even further beyond carbon offsets

Not too long ago, carbon offsets were one of the few scalable tools available to business leaders seeking to decarbonize. However, the limitations of tree-planting and other carbon offsets are beginning to show.

Carbon capture and sequestration was also once thought to be a scalable solution, but that is beginning to fade from the picture as the cost of renewable energy continues to fall. Twelve is in the vanguard of a new wave of innovation that provides manufacturers and fuel consumers with new opportunities to decarbonize their supply chains and promote the “green” or sustainable side to their brands.

In addition to jet fuel and eyewear, Twelve is leveraging its existing relationships to promote laundry detergent, car parts and a sustainable supply chain for NASA’s mission to Mars.

It appears that the sky’s the limit for re-using airborne carbon. Other innovators are pursuing high end vodka, perfumes and fabric as well.

As for the Supreme Court, it is worth noting that all six justices in the 6-3 majority were appointed by Republican presidents. With their decision in the EPA case, these six justices have effectively shredded their own party’s stake in a strong national defense.

Nevertheless, business leaders can stitch the pieces back together by continuing to advocate for a low-carbon economy and investing in new clean technology, but without the support of the highest court in the land it will be a longer, harder, slog.

Image credit: Jeremy Straub via Unsplash