Search

As we pass the midway point of the year, we're taking a look back at some of the stories our readers clicked most from our weekly Brands Taking Stands newsletter, which covers the latest in corporate and consumer activism.

Considering the U.S. and half of the global population will vote in national elections in 2024, stories about preserving voting rights and election integrity are among the most popular, but readers are also eyeing other hot sustainability topics like gun safety, plastic waste and sustainable consumption. Read on to catch up on the coverage you may have missed, and subscribe to Brands Taking Stands for more stories like these directly in your inbox. 

Taking a Stand Against Gun Violence Pays Off For Dick’s Sporting Goods

Dick’s Sporting Goods faced criticism and calls for a boycott from gun ownership activists when it first began scaling back the sale of guns and ammunition in 2012. A dozen years later, the criticism continues. 

The National Center for Public Policy Research, a conservative think tank, targeted the company at its shareholder meeting last month with allegations that it harmed financial returns to satisfy executives' political beliefs about firearms. 

The only problem is: Dick's sales have never been stronger. Last year's holiday shopping season delivered the biggest sales quarter in the company's history, and it's branching out into new offerings that range from same-day delivery to experiential stores complete with batting cages and practice fields. Meanwhile it continues to respond to public concerns about gun violence. 

Click to read more

New Business-Led Pledge Calls on U.S. Political Candidates to Support Election Integrity

We published this story last week and it's already among our most popular for all of 2024 — a clear sign the upcoming U.S. election is at the top of our readers' minds. Launched at the end of June, the Federal Candidate Pledge to Respect Elections calls on candidates for president and other federal offices to uphold the basic democratic guarantee of free and fair elections.

Launched by the Leadership Now Project, a bipartisan nonprofit that advocates for American democracy, the pledge cites six specific commitments for candidates — including respect for individual voting rights, ensuring the safety of election officials and, above all, supporting the peaceful transfer of power. 

More than 125 business leaders co-signed by the time of the announcement on June 26, including LinkedIn Co-Founder Reid Hoffman. "As we prepare for the general election, it is critical that candidates reinforce confidence in our democratic processes, as election instability threatens business operations and economic stability," Hoffman said in a statement. Other signatories include senior executives from across industries and both sides of the political aisle. 

Click to read more

This Fund Aims to Scale Packaging Reuse and Refill Systems Globally

At least 14 million tons of plastic are washed into the world's oceans every year, equivalent to more than 280 billion beverage bottles. These plastics break down into smaller and smaller pieces when exposed to the sun, and the resulting microplastics have been found from the top of Mount Everest to the ocean floor — not to mention in human blood, and more recently within testicles and clogged arteries. 

Given the scale of the challenge, it's no surprise that readers around the world have a keen interest in how we can possibly solve it. The good news is that we already know the steps to take — we just need to put them into action. The U.N. Environment Program ran scenarios for halving global plastic waste while reducing plastic litter in oceans and the environment by 80 percent, and it found most of the plastic reduction needed to reach that target could be achieved by reuse, refill and new delivery models. 

Launched in February by the plastic action group Repurpose Global, the Reuse Outcomes Fund aims to help promising startups in the U.S., Canada and India bring their reuse and refill ideas to market. The fund leverages lessons the nonprofit learned from scaling waste management infrastructure across the Global South and focuses on models that can be scaled and replicated globally in the coming years. 

Click to read more

Nonpartisan Ways Brands Can Support Free and Fair Elections in the U.S.

Standing up for the basic tenets of democracy — such as the right to vote without interference and have that vote be counted — is not partisan. And business leaders don't need to back a candidate or make a political statement in order to get involved.

We spoke with democracy advocates about non-partisan ways U.S. businesses can support voting rights and election integrity in 2024 — from giving employees paid time off to vote and volunteer as poll workers, to directing stakeholders toward trusted sources of essential election information like voter registration deadlines. 

Click to read more

Sustainable Brands Are Worth $44 Billion to U.S. Consumers, New Study Finds

We often hear that consumers are looking for sustainable products and brands, and that many are even willing to pay more for them. But it’s often difficult for brand leaders to pin down just how much of an impact sustainability really has on consumer purchasing, making it harder to tie investments in sustainability to the bottom line. 

Earlier this year, TriplePundit and our parent company 3BL teamed up with the research technology firm Glow and panel partner Cint to put a dollar figure on consumer affinity for sustainable brands for the first time. The number was big, and it clearly caught our readers' attention. 

In 2023 alone, we found a $44 billion impact across 12 U.S. industries as consumers switched from one brand to another for sustainability reasons. About a quarter of U.S. consumers stopped doing business with a brand last year because of its social or environmental behavior. "In this study we show, as has been shown previously, that this issue is almost universally important to consumers," Mike Johnston, data product leader at Glow, said during a webcast interview hosted by TriplePundit. "We also show there's an expectation for businesses to act on these issues." 

The 2024 Consumer Insights & Sustainability Benchmark, released by TriplePundit and 3BL last month in partnership with Glow, takes a closer look at what's driving this billion-dollar shift, how consumers define companies as sustainable, and what they expect from the business world this year. 

Click to read more

Inside TelevisaUnivision's Media Blitz to Drive Voter Registration

Civic engagement groups predict about 17.5 million Hispanic and Latino voters will cast a ballot in the U.S. elections in November, a 6.5 percent increase over 2020. With the Vota Conmigo voter education campaign, the Mexican-American media company TelevisaUnivision and partners across the United States aim to increase Latino participation even further to 20 million at the polls. 

"This is about democracy," said Teri Arvesu, SVP of social impact and sustainability at TelevisaUnivision. "It doesn't matter who you vote for, I don't care. It's about showing up. And that means something fundamentally much deeper for our community when so many of our families came here from countries where they would not have been able to exercise that right to vote or to participate in a democratic society."

Spanish for "Vote With Me," the Vota Conmigo campaign focuses on providing essential election information to Hispanic and Latino voters. The nonpartisan effort reached 770 million media impressions and registered 1.3 million new voters ahead of the 2020 election. The 2024 campaign kicked off in May with an activation in New York City's Times Square, and it will continue in person, on the airwaves and online through Election Day. 

Click to read more

Support for the Anti-ESG Movement Is Dwindling, But Uncertainty Looms Ahead of Election Day

Pushback against the use of environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors in business gathered momentum in the U.S. back in 2021 when legislators in approximately two dozen Republican-led states passed anti-ESG laws.

Some of these laws restrict state agencies or public pension funds from using ESG factors in their investments. Others ban state and local entities from doing business with specific financial companies that legislators deemed to be unfairly disinvesting from the oil and gas sector because of ESG screens.

Signs indicate the news cycle — and the general public — appear to be moving on from the anti-ESG narrative, but upcoming elections in the U.S. and around the world still have some business leaders nervous about what's ahead. 

Click to read more

Third-Party Verification Labels Can Guide Sustainable Shopping, If Consumers Know About Them

"People are increasingly conscious of their purchasing habits and want to make sure they are shopping for products that match their values," said Nicole Condon, U.S. director at the Marine Stewardship Council, a nonprofit certifier of sustainable seafood. "We’re seeing that consumers are growing more aware of how their purchasing habits impact the environment and, when given the information to make a more sustainable choice, they’re doing just that."

Though a growing segment of consumers are looking to shop more consciously, the ever-increasing volume of sustainability claims creates confusion and makes it harder to differentiate verifiable product attributes from marketing fluff. Third-party verification labels can help point consumers in the right direction, but only if people know what these labels mean and why they should look for them on the products they buy.

We spoke with Condon about how product certifiers, brands and retailers can build awareness of green labels in a Brands Taking Stands story that proved a hit with readers this spring. 

Click to read more

Do Your Investments Support the U.S. Prison System? 

When most people think about companies profiting from the U.S. criminal justice system, private prisons are likely the first thing that comes to mind, but that's only the tip of the iceberg. More than 1.2 million people are incarcerated across the United States. The vast majority of them — over 90 percent — are housed in public prisons run by states and the federal government, at an average annual cost of more than $40,000 per person. 

"It costs as much to send someone to prison as it does to send them to college," said Tanay Tatum-Edwards, CEO and founder of FreeCap Financial. "And that money is all going somewhere." 

Research released by FreeCap Financial in February gave us more insight into exactly where it's going. The data provider's 2023 Criminal Justice Report ranks the largest U.S. companies based on their vending contracts with prisons, use of prison labor and fair chance hiring policies for people with criminal justice histories. It tracks more than $8.6 billion in contracts between state and federal prisons and Russell 3,000 companies from 2019 to 2022. 

The research is meant to inform asset managers about how the companies in their portfolios interact with the criminal justice system and ensure their investments align with their clients' values. Launched in May, the FreeCap Financial BITA Decarceration Index translates this research into an investable product, and backtesting indicates it beat the iShares S&P 500 Index for two out of the last three years. While the FreeCap Index is limited to asset managers and researchers at present, a retail fund for everyday investors is expected in 2025. 

Click to read more

Don't forget to subscribe to Brands Taking Stands for more coverage like these. Have an idea for a story you'd like to see us cover in a future edition of Brands Taking Stands? Tell us about it here. 

Social media erupted in recent weeks after the leading retailer Tractor Supply Co. abruptly announced it is dropping all DEI (diversity, equity and inclusion) programs and dispensing with its decarbonization goals. The announcement may appease some right-wing critics, but it exposes the company to competition from other retailers that are seeking a share of the growing rural market.

Tractor Supply Co. ditches DEI

When Tractor Supply announced the move on June 27, the company referenced feedback from customers who expressed disappointment in some of its civic initiatives, stating it has “taken this feedback to heart.” While affirming support for veterans and the outreach programs of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the company said it will not sponsor any more “nonbusiness activities" and specifically mentioned “pride festivals and voting campaigns.”

In addition, Tractor Supply pledged to eliminate its DEI positions and goals, replacing them with the neutral and ambiguous standard of ensuring a “respectful environment.”

The National Black Farmers Association claps back

Although Tractor Supply presented the announcement as a simple, straightforward solution to a customer relations problem, the response raises a complex web of issues rooted in the history of the United States and its agricultural industry.

First and foremost, the company’s very public, forceful pullback on DEI presents a jarring contrast to the current of conversation around the loss of Black-owned farms, including recent efforts by the U.S. Department of Agriculture to address discriminatory loan policies that pushed Black farmers from their land in the 20th century. Industry peers like John Deere have also spoken up about it. 

The National Black Farmers Association refocused attention to those issues on July 2 when it released a statement calling for the resignation of Tractor Supply President Hal Lawton.

National Black Farmers Association President John Boyd, who is also a shareholder and customer of Tractor Supply, said the retailer's announcement is “reflective of the ongoing racial tension and division in America.”

"This affects our 130,000 members, many of whom regularly shop at Tractor Supply,” Boyd added in the statement. “Having repeatedly attempted to discuss our concerns with Mr. Hal Lawton, I am now calling for his immediate resignation."

The Association also noted that Tractor Supply participates in “predominantly white farm shows and events while snubbing events and opportunities for Black farmers." It says the company “has never displayed a booth or sponsored an event or training opportunity for Black farmers, denying them the respect and dignity they deserve," and emphasized “this behavior is reflective of the widespread disdain that still exists in the agricultural industries toward people of color."

Partners in youth agriculture and veterans services continue to support DEI

The decision also places Tractor Supply at odds with the very groups it claims to support. The nonprofit U.S. Vets, for example, is among the veterans advocacy organizations that recognize and speak about how diversity and inclusion programs address historical injustices that impact veterans’ employment and housing. U.S. Department of Defense officials also note that the pool of qualified recruits in the prime 18 to 24 age group is shrinking, making outreach go diverse communities vital to its future.

Future Farmers of America (FA) is one of the Agriculture Department's rural outreach programs that Tractor Supply still claims to support. However, as with the Defense Department, FFA recognizes that its future depends on connecting with historically excluded groups. Recent outreach efforts include a new, streamlined leadership and education pipeline in partnership with the DEI-centered organization Agriculture Future of America. 

The National 4-H Council, another Agriculture Department-affiliated group that Tractor Supply supports, is also in the process of reforming its past practices to align with the diverse demographic profile of 21st-century America and address the "widening opportunity gap affecting young people."

Leaving ground open for other retailers

Tractor Supply's move away from DEI also exposes the company to competition from other retailers in the rural U.S. markets it predominantly serves. Some farmers who oppose the company's decision told news outlets they plan to take their business elsewhere, and industry peers with strong DEI profiles may be well positioned to step in. 

Lowe’s, for example, opened 300 new stores in rural areas last year, which are designed around the appeal of one-stop shopping for rural customers. "We now expect that these stores will be a key component of our operating profit growth over the next three to five years," Lowe's CEO Marvin Ellison said during a 2023 earnings call, as cited by Business Insider. 

Business Insider reporter Ben Tobin also took note of the investment group Jeffries, which observed the "opportunity for market share shift as Lowe's takes a page out of Tractor Supply's playbook."

As for the page in the Tractor Supply playbook that revoked DEI policies, Lowe’s skipped that one. For example, last year Lowe’s launched a new outreach program that casts a wide, diversity-oriented net to fill gaps in construction industry workforce training. The company's internal inclusion policies contribute to regular appearances on the Great Places to Work list. 

Lowe’s EVP of human resources, Janice Dupré, also draws out the connection between bottom-line results and a strong DEI profile. She came to the retailer as its first chief diversity officer in 2017 following an extensive career that included work in finance and accounting at Dell, IBM and EY.

“Diversity is our greatest strength, and inclusion allows us to accomplish together what is impossible to achieve alone,” a statement from Dupré on the Lowe’s website reads. And that just about sums it up.

At a time of unprecedented technological progress, the potential to harness tech for the benefit of humanity has never been greater. At the forefront of this pursuit is Fast Forward, an organization focused on scaling startups that combine technology with sustainable nonprofit business models. 

Under its AI for Humanity initiative, Fast Forward is focusing on using artificial intelligence (AI) to build solutions for global issues. “Apart from early tech nonprofits like Wikipedia, Khan Academy or Mozilla, it didn't feel like there were enough examples of people who were using tech to make the world better,” said Kevin Barenblat, co-founder of Fast Forward. “So our vision for the AI for Humanity initiative is to support entrepreneurs who are building and using AI to make the world better.”

This vision aligns with the growing global dialogue around AI, including its role in achieving the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals and as key component of the 2024 Force for Good technology report. 

Founded over a decade ago, Fast Forward supported over 100 tech startups and is a prominent player in the “tech-for-good” landscape via its startup accelerator program, which just completed its 11th cohort. This round comprised of 12 startups, two-thirds of which are harnessing the power of AI to tackle issues like poverty, healthcare inequity, education disparities, environmental injustice and more. 

AI startups in the portfolio are empowering scientists in low-income countries to cure neglected diseases, reducing backlogs in Indian courts to ensure fair and speedy trials, bridging the global digital divide by bringing online learning offline, addressing early childhood education disparities in India, and providing free, virtual mental health interventions to people who need them.

What’s more, Barenblat estimates about a quarter of the 100 startups Fast Forward worked with are now aggressively moving into AI. “The newer organizations are more likely to have AI at the center of what they do,” he said. “Some have more traditional technology models and are now adopting them for AI. Or some have used older forms of AI, like machine learning, and are now building on more modern generative AI tools.” 

One of the most obvious and powerful uses for AI is managing incredible volumes of data, Barenblat said. One example is Reboot RX, a startup working to fast-track affordable cancer treatments using repurposed generic drugs, AI technology and innovative funding models. 

“Mounds and mounds of research exists, but no human can read it all,” Barenblat said. “So Reboot RX uses AI to read through the articles, papers, and research studies to identify the most promising drug candidates, and then tries to find funders who want to pay for the additional research and clinical trials for those drugs.” 

Reboot RX raised nearly $6 million so far and was part of Fast Forward’s 2020 accelerator cohort. 

Yet as AI evolves, so do the ethical considerations associated with its deployment. Barenblat acknowledged that AI is just like any tool and can be used in many ways. "AI, to me, is like the world's invented a new kind of wrench,” he said. “It's not just about the tool, but about the impact it can have."

But nonprofit entrepreneurs are typically focused on solving social problems, leading them to use AI ethically and responsibly, Barenblat said. “We often see in the for-profit world that people build these cool tools and then they try to figure out what problem they solve,” he said. “But in the nonprofit space, the entrepreneurs are typically fixated on the problem — be it education, health inequity, or the climate problem — and they're slotting in AI to make their solution better. Because they're using AI for a specific use case, they can set guardrails that are appropriate for the way that they're using the AI.”

Despite being a revolutionary technology, AI nonprofits face all the challenges of any tech startup and nonprofit. “Tech startup challenges include things like getting product-market fit right, competing for resources and funding, and usually they focus on marginalized customers who are not easy to reach,” he said. “So I think AI helps, but at the end of the day, they're still trying to help humans.”

Over the years, Fast Forward garnered support from major tech giants like OpenAI, Google and Salesforce, all of which provide funding and technical expertise. “It’s usually the investors and philanthropists who are impact first [that support the organization],” Barenblat said. “Also, there are some that are very AI-driven, but most of them are very thesis-driven. They're very much interested in, let's say, climate change or education or health, and it just so happens that now there are tools that can enable that kind of impact for much less cost.” 

That philanthropic drive aligns with Fast Forward’s commitment to shaping a future where AI amplifies human capability, rather than replaces it, Barenblat said. 

"The story of AI is not yet written, and it’s being written by us," he said. “AI presents us with this unique opportunity to write the future. I don't think AI is actually going to solve any of these problems like health, education, climate or inequities, but it gives humans the opportunity to do so. I do this work because I feel like we have a choice to make and it's really up to us to decide that we want to use AI in this way.”

In this series, we’ve explored many of the impacts of mining projects on the natural environment and nearby communities. Our focus is examining the solutions to these problems that ensure the minerals necessary to power the low-carbon energy transition can still be secured.

The subject of today’s exploration is taxes. While that might sound like an immediate snoozer, the tactics employed by mining companies to shift profits from one country to another are fascinating, to say the least. Depending on how you look at it, you might also describe those tactics as manipulative and morally suspect.

Whatever your take is, it’s hard to deny that the countries and communities relying on that tax revenue are being done some form of injustice.

“The harm in this case is indirect, but it's still serious because often the dream of having more public services and public resources can actually generate support from local communities for extractive projects,” said Tove Maria Ryding, policy and advocacy manager for tax justice at the European Network on Debt and Development. “Many mining communities do not have proper schooling or health care.”

The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development estimates between $100 billion and $240 billion per year in tax revenue is lost globally due to corporate profit-shifting practices. Is it all legal?

“It’s a big grey area,” says Thomas Lassourd, lead on tax and extractives at the Intergovernmental Forum on Mining, Minerals, Metals and Sustainable Development (IGF). “Some of it is legal as long as local laws and regulations allow it, but some companies really stretch the interpretation of the law.”

Lassourd and IGF work with governments worldwide to uncover profit-shifting schemes and help those countries recover some of their lost tax revenues. 

How multinational mining companies shift profits

“What it all boils down to is the fact that the tax system is just not very well designed to tax multinational corporations,” Ryding said. “A mining company is taxed as an independent company in every jurisdiction where it operates instead of as one global company.”

This system allows mining companies to shift profits to sister companies in low-tax countries, avoiding the higher tax rates in countries where they extract and process minerals. These tax avoidance strategies are captured under an umbrella term: base erosion and profit shifting. One of the more common methods is transfer pricing, by selling products or services to a sister company in another country at prices absurdly high or low as compared to fair market value. 

“Developing countries are very tired of having a global tax system that just doesn't benefit them, doesn't work for them and doesn't give them much revenue,” Ryding said.

Work that Lassourd and IGF did in West Africa with the government of Guinea provides a real-world example. They saw some irregularities in export prices of bauxite, an ore that is the world’s main source of aluminum. While IGF doesn’t know if mining companies are engaging in aggressive transfer pricing schemes, it acknowledges the rarity of the export prices.

“I don’t have information on how these companies were structured, and we don’t know exactly if every company was using a profit shifting scheme,” Lassourd said. “What we were able to see, however, is that bauxite in Guinea was exported much lower than what market prices would have us think it was worth.”

Using transfer pricing tactics to sell products, services, or raw materials to sister companies at discounted rates reduces the profits in the country of extraction and shifts them to the low-tax country when that sister company eventually sells the minerals. The parent company earns the same profits, minus the costs associated with transportation, but pays the preferred tax rate instead.

On the recommendations of Lassourd and IGF, Guinea implemented a safe harbor regime for bauxite export prices, which is a calculated range of prices that the Guinean government deems acceptable. If mining companies export bauxite within the safe harbor, those transactions are free from being audited. If they export outside of that safe harbor, they may be subject to investigation by the government.

By keeping bauxite export prices within this safe harbor, neither the government nor the mining companies have to exhaust major resources by engaging legal teams and conducting audits.

Similarly, IGF recently helped Senegal implement a safe harbor price range for phosphate. Phosphate sales in Senegal totaled nearly $950 million in 2022, while mining companies paid just $13 million in taxes to the Senegalese government that same year.

Transfer pricing can be applied to more than just minerals. Sister companies may sell professional services, capital assets, or other company property between each other to shift profits out of high tax jurisdictions. High-interest loans are also a common profit-shifting practice, with the interest payments conveniently moving money out of high-tax jurisdictions.

Challenges closing the profit shifting loophole

With mining giants having operations in many different countries and a suite of subsidiaries with which they can exchange products and services, trying to keep track of all of their fiscal maneuvering can be quite challenging for governments with limited resources.

“One of the issues is that a lot of countries don't have up-to-date laws and regulations on base erosion and profit shifting,” Lassourd said. “Another issue is that even when countries have updated laws and regulations on transfer pricing, they might not have the capacity to enforce them very strictly.”

A further complicating factor with transition minerals like lithium and bauxite is the lack of clearly established market prices. 
With gold, silver or copper, for example, market prices are well established and easily found. Transition mineral prices are not as clear, and a handful of companies may control the market for these minerals. The volatile nature of mineral markets adds complexity to determining fair market values. 

Changing tax policies is also not so straightforward. Countries that do this run the risk of being sued by companies in international arbitration courts. This mechanism, called investor-state dispute settlements, provides an outlet for companies to sue governments when they change laws on things like taxes, environmental protections or human rights. 

More than one-third of these cases are brought by mining companies against states that have nationalized mining projects or sought to boost taxes, according to one report. The threat of investor-state dispute settlements, which are sometimes multibillion-dollar lawsuits, can freeze a government into inaction, a phenomenon known as regulatory chill. An issue we previously covered for this series.

How organizations are closing these loopholes

Organizations like IGF, the Global Alliance for Tax Justice, the European Network on Debt and Development, and Tax Inspectors Without Borders are all working behind the scenes to ensure that multinational mining companies pay their fair share of taxes in the countries where they are due.

When IGF assisted Mongolia with its tax policies, it audited a large multinational mining company and found that an additional $228 million in taxes should be paid. The company quickly paid the bill in full.

As Argentina prepares for the transition mineral boom, it called IGF for assistance. IGF used financial models to guide the government’s tax policies on copper and a pricing framework for lithium to help review transfer pricing. Argentina is part of the lithium triangle in South America where massive lithium deposits are also in Chile and Bolivia. 

On the regulatory front, the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) developed a few frameworks on tax base erosion and profit shifting, which over 145 countries signed. But critics argue these efforts were ineffective.

“There is fatigue from many countries about the OECD's attempts to try and fix the problem,” Ryding said. “The OECD has been in charge of corporate tax for over 50 years. They created the system that's not working, and then they had two failed attempts to fix it.”

There is much more optimism that a new UN convention on international tax could move the agenda in the right direction. Member parties are currently discussing the details of this convention.

“The process at the UN allows for public accountability,” Ryding said. “The negotiations are live-streamed, and we can be in the room.” This is in stark contrast to the OECD tax negotiations, which are held behind closed doors.

IGF has also showcased and analyzed innovative tax policies and other revenue tools used around the world. Ecuador, for example, adopted a sovereign adjustment mechanism in its 2008 constitution that guarantees the country at least half of all financial benefits from mining projects. 

How the business community can support responsible taxation

While the issue of taxes is generally something that governments handle, stakeholders still have the ability to apply pressure on companies.

“I always say that tax should be part of the ‘G’ in ESG,” Lassourd said. Environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues are reported and considered by many businesses and investors. The practice provides investors insight into how businesses are managing risks and impacts related to ESG issues.

“Investors have actually started raising concerns and taking action,” Ryding said. “Sometimes we see governments get so frustrated with big corporations making a lot of money in their country and not paying adequate taxes. This can prompt governments to take unilateral action, and it can turn into legal battles and a lot of uncertainty for companies and their investors.”

This story is part of our investigative solutions journalism series exploring the hidden human rights costs of the low-carbon transition and potential interventions to prevent the negative impacts of mining as we race toward the net-zero energy transition. Read the rest of the series here. 

Sama put increasing the number of women in the technology industry at the center of its mission. Now, women make up 53 percent of the company’s workforce, and half of the senior managers and the executive team are women. 

Sama produces computer data solutions that power artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning models for Fortune 500 companies. And it’s giving people in Africa — particularly women and youth — a seat at the global AI table by providing meaningful work to lift them out of poverty.

“We have a belief that talent is distributed equally, but opportunity is not,” Sama CEO Wendy Gonzalez told TriplePundit. “And our goal is, basically, digital upskilling and full-time employment in underserved communities with the intent of sustainably moving people out of poverty by providing financial independence and work skills to get into the formal economy. By formal economy, I mean jobs that have salaries and benefits.”

The company’s commitment to gender equality includes continuously assessing its practices, policies and culture to identify areas for improvement and implement necessary changes. It uses third-party, unbiased evaluation to do so where appropriate. Sama also offers mentorship programs, leadership development and skill-building workshops, and incorporates gender balance, equal opportunities and pay policies from the hiring phase onward. 

Gonzalez explained that Sama’s business mission is to develop more accurate and effective AI models for larger companies by providing training data and curation solutions. 

“We basically help improve and drive accuracy in the data that AI models are built upon, and we do that through a combination of technology as well as a ‘human in the loop’ workforce,” said Gonzalez. “Those are our teams that are based in east Africa that help improve the quality of the models that you might use today, whether it be in your phone or on the internet, etc.”

Women make up less than a third of the world’s workforce in technology-related fields, according to a report by The World Bank. In the United States, science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) jobs represent just 25 percent of the total labor force, according to the Women Tech Network. Thirty-five percent of the employees in those fields are women. And in 2023, 35 percent of the country's tech jobs, specifically, were held by women. 

Sama recently announced plans to further its work removing barriers for women in technology at all stages of their careers. Those plans include hosting lectures at secondary schools, spearheading thought leadership and tech roundtables with influential women in the tech industry, and sharing stories of inspiring women within the company and throughout the industry.

“When we started this company we were really looking at financial independence and work as the right solution towards poverty alleviation,” Gonzalez said. “We had women at the center of it because when women succeed, communities succeed. So we started with the goal of hiring at least 50 percent women. It’s not a regular practice, and it’s certainly not a regular practice in a tech company, but I’m really proud to say that 53 percent of our workforce identifies as female.”

Sama has a women’s tech employee resource group that meets regularly to support each other and discuss available resources, Gonzalez said. There’s also a mentorship program within the company that is open to everyone, not just women. Company leaders engage in discussions at universities, and Gonzalez herself often gives talks at institutions like Harvard Business School and Kenyatta University in Kenya.

Regarding talent acquisition, Sama’s talent team ensures a balanced set of candidates by focusing on inclusivity, including gender and people of color, Gonzalez told 3p. Hiring managers make the final decisions, but they receive a comprehensive list of candidates. Metrics are tracked monthly to ensure diversity goals are met without compromising the hiring managers’ autonomy to choose the best fit for the company, she said.

“It’s kind of a belt-and-suspenders approach,” Gonzalez said. “It’s provide for the right diverse candidates, let the managers do what they need to do to hire effectively, and then track that data so we can make sure we’re not getting off track.”

There are still areas where there is room for improvement, such as engineering roles, where achieving diversity is challenging, she said. 

“We strive to source as many diverse candidates as possible, but the pipeline is not as robust in this field compared to others,” Gonzalez said. 

To address this, Sama considers not only candidates with extensive experience but also junior candidates, she said. 

“This approach helps us balance our business objectives with diversity goals, allowing us to bring in a more diverse range of candidates,” Gonzalez said. “This is one way we thoughtfully drive diversity within our organization.”

It may surprise some to learn that more than 10 million U.S. workers own a piece of their employers. Employee-owned companies paid out more than $175 billion to their teams in 2021, the most recent year for which data is available. 

Sometimes criticized as "not quite capitalism," employee stock ownership plans (ESOPs) are picking up steam as a way to center companies around core values and worker wellbeing, rather than the pressure of external stakeholders. As the U.S. lights up our fireworks and lets our flags fly for the 4th of July holiday, we're saluting just a few of the employee-owned companies that took a chance on independence and reaped the rewards.

WinCo Foods

Headquartered in Idaho, budget supermarket chain WinCo Foods operates around 140 stores in Western states including California, Oregon, Washington, Texas and Nevada. With a staff of more than 20,000, it's also one of the largest employee-owned companies in the United States. 

If you thought the size of WinCo's workforce would mean employees only get a few bucks a year from their stake in the company, you'd be wrong. The online magazine Strixus published a boldly headlined profile of the company back in 2022 — "How WinCo Foods Turns Its Employees Into Millionaires" — and the stories it reported are striking. One employee named Cathy indeed amassed over $1 million in WinCo stock after working on the shop floor from the ages of 19 to 42. Though she could afford to retire, she told the publication she planned to keep working at WinCo for at least another decade. 

The company says the value of employee shares increased by an average 18 percent compounded annually since its ESOP in 1986. "That means an employee who received a company contribution of $5,000 worth of stock in 1986 now has stock worth almost $863,000 from that one year alone," WinCo's website reads. 

Along with stake in the company, WinCo offers resources like manager apprenticeship programs, free online training courses, and tuition assistance for local community colleges to help employees grow in their careers. “WinCo’s employee owners are our greatest business asset and our most potent resource for growth," a message from CEO Grant Haag on the career page of WinCo's website reads. "We want smart, motivated people who want to work hard, own the company and take us into the future.”

Black & Veatch

Black & Veatch is a global consulting, engineering and construction company that specializes in infrastructure, and it's entirely employee-owned, with more than 12,000 professionals globally. Black & Veatch also provides free financial planning services for employees, along with career development and continuing education programs, wellness benefits, and volunteer matching. 

Operating under the mantra #WeOwnIt, Black & Veatch says it sees employee ownership as a way to ensure the company will continue to grow as a business while staying true to its values around community and the environment. The Black & Veatch Foundation, which is powered by gifts from the company and its employees, has donated more than $20 million to nonprofits focused on humanitarian aid, economic empowerment, and science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) education, and the company is a leading donor in its hometown of Kansas City, Kansas. 

“Employee-ownership is more than a financial interest in our company — it’s a financial interest for each and every professional that benefits when the company does well,” said Black & Veatch Chairman and CEO Mario Azar. “Through our employee ownership, we
 all share in the company’s success — and together, we are building long-term wealth for each other.” 

King Arthur Baking

With roots tracing back to 1790, King Arthur Baking is a favorite of fans across the U.S. for flours, baking ingredients and cookware — and some may have noticed the brand's signature red and blue packaging proudly proclaims, "100% Employee-Owned."

"As employee-owners, we're not beholden to outside shareholders who care only about the bottom line," the company's website reads. "We have the freedom to emphasize other values, like social and environmental responsibility, and the wellness and satisfaction of our employees." 

The company emphasizes a "culture of belonging" and offers impressive benefits like wellness incentives, donation gift-matching to nonprofits, and 40 hours of paid time off each year to volunteer. King Arthur also supports dozens of nonprofits and community groups focused on food access, sustainable agriculture, and helping young people of all backgrounds find fulfilling jobs in the food and agriculture space. Its free outreach program Bake for Good teaches K-12 students science and math skills through baking bread, and it spreads "the power of baking" by sharing family recipes from different cultures on its website.

Along with doing good in the community, the brand is pursuing aggressive environmental targets around regenerative agriculture and renewable energy, along with a 30 percent cut in supply chain emissions by 2030. 

Recology

Fun fact: The waste management provider responsible for San Francisco's 80 percent recycling rate is also 100 percent employee-owned. The company pursues "a world without waste," providing waste collection, processing and recovery services to more than 2.5 million people in California, Oregon and Washington. 

Along with stake in the company, Recology's 3,600 employees receive supplemental retirement plans alongside their 401(K) or pension. The company also runs a volunteer program for employees, and its "Waste Zero teams" provide education and outreach in the communities Recology serves with the aim of driving sustainable behavior shifts that reduce waste.

Bob's Red Mill

Founded by Bob and Charlee Moore in 1978, Bob's Red Mill grew from a purveyor of flours and specialty grains to an impressive product lineup including all sorts of pantry staples beloved by shoppers across the U.S. 

On Bob's 81st birthday back in 2010, rather than receiving gifts, he decided to give his greatest gift away: his business. He surprised all of his employees by giving them ownership of Bob's Red Mill through an ESOP. The company crossed the milestone of becoming 100 percent employee-owned in 2020. 

"It was just the right thing to do," a statement from Bob on the company's website reads. "I have people that have worked with me for over 30 years, and each and every one of them deserve this." Bob passed away earlier this year at the age of 94, but his legacy lives on in the form of generational wealth opportunities for employees and a culture rooted in the company's purpose to "inspire joy with wholesome foods made with care and consideration."

That takes the form of sourcing fair trade ingredients, publicly disclosing its carbon footprint, donating to nonprofits, and founding an environmental restoration project in its hometown of Milwaukie, Oregon, among other efforts. 

Editor's Note: This story was updated on July 31, 2024. 

A new business-led pledge may test the limits of corporate backing for lawmakers who fail to support election integrity, including former U.S. President Donald Trump. The new pledge was released last week under the umbrella of the Leadership Now Project, a bipartisan nonprofit organization that advocates for American democracy.

Called the Federal Candidate Pledge to Respect Elections, the document calls on candidates for president and other federal offices to uphold the basic democratic guarantee of free and fair elections. The pledge cites six specific commitments for candidates, including respect for individual voting rights, ensuring the safety of election officials and, above all, supporting the peaceful transfer of power.

More than 125 business leaders co-signed by the time of the announcement on June 26, including LinkedIn Co-Founder Reid Hoffman. "As we prepare for the general election, it is critical that candidates reinforce confidence in our democratic processes, as election instability threatens business operations and economic stability," Hoffman said in a statement.

Other signatories include “senior executives in tech, finance, consumer products, and other industries from 23 states, including swing states like Wisconsin and Arizona, which are experiencing unprecedented threats to election administrators,” according to Leadership Now. 

A litmus test for candidates (and business leaders)

Leadership Now sent the Respect Elections Pledge to both major-party candidates for president and others running for federal office in 2024. First and foremost, though, the pledge is a test for other business leaders. It sets the bar of democratic principles at a fundamental level that everyone with even a passing knowledge of American history should be able to endorse.

Simple as it is, the test will be a difficult one for business leaders who continue to provide financial support to Trump and other Republican office holders linked to one of the most anti-democratic events in American history, the attempt to force a second Trump term by a violent overthrow of the U.S. government on January 6, 2021.

That attempt failed, but the work of undermining trust in elections continued, aided by the financial support of prominent businesses. On June 4, for example, the nonprofit organization Center for Responsibility and Ethics in Congress catalogued 1,796 corporations and industry groups that continue to provide financial support to members of Congress linked to anti-democratic actions including the failed insurrection. The independent newsletter Popular Information also tracks corporate support for “election deniers,” totaling more than $23 million in donations from some of America's largest companies since January 6, 2021.

The business case for democracy

Trump’s ability to attract allies in the business and inherited wealth communities was on full display in recent weeks, including a high-profile appearance at the influential organization Business Roundtable and a $50 million commitment from the mega-donor Timothy Mellon. “Wall Street executives and business leaders, after backing many of Trump’s primary rivals, have slowly warmed to him since he clinched the nomination in March," political correspondent Sara Dorn reported for Forbes last month. 

In an email message shared with media on June 26, Leadership Now insisted most CEOs and other executives do not share that opinion. The majority view, the organization argues, is one that recognizes the symbiotic relationship between a healthy democracy and a thriving economy.

Noting that “some CEOs endorsing Trump, like Blackstone’s Stephen Schwarzman, has given the appearance that business is rallying behind the former president en masse,” Leadership Now emphasized that the Respect Elections pledge “underscores that many business leaders recognize the importance of safeguarding our elections to support the integrity of our economic environment.”

On its website, Leadership Now further draws out the relationship between democracy, private enterprise and corporate social responsibility, stating that “a framework of accountable and sturdy democratic institutions” is the foundation for businesses to “thrive, innovate and contribute to societal well-being.”

Pledges are a dime a dozen these days, but Leadership Now has backed up its words with action. The organization filed an amicus brief in the Supreme Court election interference case Donald J. Trump v. United States of America to hammer home the point that, in a democracy, everyone is accountable to the law.

“For over 230 years, the American business community has relied upon our founding governmental principle that no one is above the law as the essential guarantor of business investments and expectations,” explains Daniella Ballou-Aares, CEO of Leadership Now.

The U.S. Supreme Court handed down its decision this week, extending unprecedented immunity from prosecution to U.S. presidents and passing the case back to the trial judge to determine if Trump's actions in particular are immune. 

Climate impacts may compel more leaders to weigh in

Overlaying the democratic and economic risks noted by Leadership Now is the looming climate crisis. Advocates warn that Trump’s “Project 2025” plan, a document produced by the conservative organization Heritage Foundation, aims to roll back the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act along with other federal climate action steps.

"Repealing the law has become an obsession among many conservatives, including the authors of the Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025, widely seen as a far-right road map for the early days of a second Trump administration,” James Temple, senior editor for energy at the MIT Technology Review, reported earlier this year. 

Far-right agenda aside, climate risks are beginning to cross party lines as a rising series of heat waves, wildfires and destructive storms sweeps across the United States, leading to crippling insurance costs for homeowners and businesses alike.

When risk talks, people tend to listen. Whether or not business leaders listen hard enough remains to be seen. Nevertheless, on the heels of the first presidential debate, Leadership Now plans to collect more signatures from business leaders and commitments from political candidates into the weeks leading up to Election Day, putting more pressure on candidates — and the business community — to defend fair elections and a peaceful transfer of power. 

ESG (environmental, social and governance) and DEI (diversity, equity and inclusion) programs may have come under fire lately, but that’s not stopping top-earning companies from linking the outcomes to executive compensation. The practice of linking DEI metrics to compensation among S&P 500 and Russell 3,000 companies increased by at least 20 percentage points over the last two years, according to the nonpartisan think tank The Conference Board. Likewise, the use of climate metrics by Russell 3,000 firms increased by 100 percent between 2021 and 2023, and it more than doubled among S&P 500 companies in the same period, from a quarter of firms to just over half.

Of course, how companies are integrating and measuring the metrics varies. TriplePundit spoke with Monica Batchelder, chief sustainability officer at the software and technology company Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE), about the company’s unique, strategic approach to implementing key performance indicators (KPIs) based on climate action. 

“Linking ESG metrics to executive compensation isn’t necessarily new,” she said. “It’s a growing trend, probably for like the last five years.”

Going beyond Scopes 1 and 2 to make a real difference

When HPE began instituting a climate-based management model, most of the companies that adopted ESG metrics for executive compensation focused more on social and human capital, like workforce diversity and talent retention, than environmental measures, Batchelder said. Those that did include the climate and environment were more centered on operational emissions, with eyes on Scopes 1 and 2.

“The problem with that is that for most companies the vast majority of your carbon emissions, your climate footprint, is linked to your Scope 3 emissions, which are outside of your direct control,” Batchelder said. “Our Scope 1 and 2 emissions are less than 3 percent of our total carbon footprint. So we didn’t feel it was a credible sort of strategy to link our carbon footprint to that. We wanted to go broader.”

A three-year plan for knowledge-based action

In order to do so, HPE took a three-part approach, rolling the process out over a span of three years. It used the first year to understand what needed to be done by giving executives the foundational knowledge for the action they would need to take, Batchelder said. Vice presidents and above were given training to develop this knowledge base, and completing the training served as their metric for that first year. Ninety-six percent of them did so. The second year was used to develop action plans, and 100 percent of the executives met the metric.

“Every member of HPE’s executive committee was tasked with evaluating how their team-specific remits could reduce the company's carbon intensity,” Batchelder said. “My team could have given each business unit a plan to execute, but our thinking was that having them self-develop their own plans and KPIs with our guidance actually caused them to do the mental gymnastics, so to speak, to figure out how to not just set a goal but actually operationalize it and put an action plan together … The approach [that we've taken] is unique in that every member of our executive committee is responsible for their specific contribution, as opposed to our overall climate targets as a company.”

HPE is currently in year three of the rollout, which means the executive teams will see their variable compensation tied to the KPIs in their action plans this year. Instead of measuring their performance-based pay by numbers, it will be based on how well executives execute their action plans. By looking at the metrics this way, leaders can’t rely on growth or chance to get them to their goals, Batchelder said. 

Can this strategy work for other businesses?

While shareholder expectations might influence linking ESG metrics to executive compensation, implementing this strategy is not correlated with increased profits, according to a 2023 study in the Journal of Accounting Research. Although this could potentially have a negative effect on the long-term inclusion of such KPIs, it’s not a given. After all, stakeholders’ expectations for corporate climate action are on the rise. But can HPE’s model be expanded to other companies and industries? That depends.

“There are certain industries where we have a better handle on the sort of maturity and evolution of our corporate carbon footprint, to the point that our executives feel confident tying their compensation to that and seeing their efforts reflected in the calculations that we report each year,” Batchelder explained. But, “in some industries … corporate carbon footprints are evolving in maturity, and that varies based on industry, as well. And it is challenging to tie executive compensation to metrics that continue to get re-baselined, and evolve, and that executives may not feel confident with.”

A stake in the game increases the likelihood of success

“Localized accountability ensures that all of our leaders are focused on the most impactful actions that they can take within their own domain, and it makes a strategy more actionable to them,” Batchelder said. “Because if you are just to say, ‘I’m going to link your compensation to a 50 percent reduction in emissions,’ that doesn’t mean anything. I don’t know how to action that if I’m an executive. I’m not a climate expert.”

Since emissions reductions are not linear the way other KPIs are, the action plans promote multi-year effort, she said. This is especially important considering the focus on Scope 3 emissions throughout the value chain versus the more easily controlled — and minimal in comparison — carbon footprint of the company’s facilities alone. 

The overall success of HPE’s strategy won’t be evident until the end of the fiscal year in October, but it appears to be a solid approach that’s motivating executives toward measurable outcomes by giving them ownership of the process.

“What was really important to us was that every executive in our company had skin in the game and also saw their unique role and ability to influence their climate KPIs,” Batchelder said. “Too often in this space inaction is a result of not understanding what you can do or feeling like the task of what needs to be done is too daunting for you to be able to make an impact on it.” 

Hearing the words “sustainable shopping” and “online” in the same sentence might raise red flags about emissions and packaging waste, and rightly so. But online shopping can be better for the environment. When done right, it has the potential to replace multiple car trips to stores with one delivery vehicle, which addresses the biggest environmental impact of shopping: the carbon footprint.

By consolidating orders, sticking to slower delivery options, and replacing — not supplementing — in-person trips, you can cut the impact of your online orders and gain access to better-for-the-planet products that might not be at your local stores. These sustainable sites can help you get started. 

EarthHero

EarthHero is a one-stop shop for household goods, cleaning supplies, pet supplies, and personal hygiene and beauty products. Every product featured on the site meets the store’s sustainable sourcing pillars. That means the products are made with sustainable ingredients and materials, the brands are ethical and treat employees fairly, the packaging and waste generated are as minimal as possible, and the purchase somehow gives back to people or the planet. EarthHero also emphasizes working with female-owned, BIPOC-owned and LGBTQIA+-owned brands in an effort to improve representation in the sustainability space. 

EarthHero is a B Corp, a certification awarded to for-profit businesses that use their profits and growth to benefit society and the environment. It’s also a member of 1% For The Planet, a group of companies that commit to donating at least a percent of their annual sales to environmental initiatives and organizations. And EarthHero became Climate Neutral Certified in 2021, which means the store offsets its yearly emissions and is lowering its overall emissions with the goal of eventually reaching zero. 

Thrive Market

Thrive Market dubs itself an “online, healthy grocery store” that wants to make healthy foods affordable for everyone. The certified B Corp ships organic and sustainable products to all 48 of the lower United States. It’s the first online-only retailer to accept electronic benefits from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and offers a price-match program if you find a cheaper price elsewhere. 

Thrive has an evolving list of over 500 ingredients that it will not allow in the products it sources, either because it deems them unhealthy for people or the planet or because their impacts aren’t well understood. The store is also Climate Neutral Certified, with the goal of reaching negative overall carbon emissions by 2025. All of its warehouses are TRUE Certified for Zero Waste, which means that it recycles or repurposes at least 90 percent of the materials that enter its warehouses every year. 

Unfortunately, Thrive is a membership-based store, so shoppers must sign up for a membership at a fee of $60 annually or $12 monthly, which the company says is “to protect our brand partners who are not comfortable with our deeply discounted prices being publicly visible.” Though, Thrive has donated over 2.8 million memberships to families in need. 

Made Trade

If you’re searching for ethically made, sustainable furniture and housewares, Made Trade is a woman-owned company specializing in just that. The more than 130 brands, small businesses and artisan collectives with products featured on the site were vetted based on equity, sustainability and transparency. The company also verifies safe working conditions and livable wages along the supply chains. 

Every product meets at least two of Made Trade’s eight core values: Fair Trade certified, handcrafted, made in the United States, BIPOC-owned, made with sustainable materials, upcycled or recycled, vegan and women-owned. And the store was Climate Neutral Certified in 2021. 

Wear Pact 

Calling itself “Earth’s Favorite,” Wear Pact offers certified sustainable clothing. The store works with Fair Trade Certified factories to ensure safe working conditions and support for workers and the local community. The rigorous, global certification focuses on improving the lives of factory workers, protecting the environment and building transparent supply chains. 

On the environmental side, Pact measures and offsets its carbon emissions through SimpliZero and is certified by the Global Organic Textile Standard, which means its clothing is made of organic fibers on farms that maintain and build soil health without using pesticides or synthetic fertilizers. 

Pact also partners with Give Back Box to take back your gently used clothing, either in the box your order came in or any other box, and give it to nonprofits that need it. 

Back Market 

Back Market is a platform where vetted refurbishers can sell restored tech like smartphones, laptops, and gaming consoles. The certified B Corp ensures refurbished devices are high-quality and resold at fair prices to fight e-waste. You can also sell them your old tech instead of sending it to a landfill. 

On average, “a refurbished smartphone uses 91.3 percent less raw materials, 86.4 percent less water, generates 89 percent less e-waste, and puts 91.6 percent less carbon emissions into our atmosphere compared to brand new,” according to Back Market. 

This story is part of Shopping Month in TriplePundit's Sustainable Living Challenge, where we explore simple ways to buy less, keep things longer and shop sustainably as needed. Learn more and take the challenge here.

The global skincare space is booming, with personal care companies expected to make more than $180 billion from skincare products this year. But the popularity of multi-step skincare routines packed with products is problematic for skin health as well as the environment, says Dr. Angelo Landriscina, a board-certified dermatologist and medical researcher better known on TikTok and Instagram as @DermAngelo.

Along with skincare tips and product reviews, Landriscina regularly shares information about sustainability in skincare with his hundreds of thousands of followers.

"I started to notice that some of the things I was seeing as ‘trends’ that I felt were not good for the public as far as their skin health were also not good for the environment," he says. "For a while, there really was a movement toward using more and more products, to consume more, and always to have the hot new thing. Quite often, people were causing more harm than good by creating irritation, skin barrier impairment, and sometimes making conditions worse when they were trying to improve them. At the same time, you're buying more and more products, and you're creating more and more waste."

We spoke with the self-proclaimed "skincare sustainability nerd" about how everyone can consider the environment more in their skincare shopping and daily routines. 

Avoid single-use skincare products

"Another thing that has been really spreading recently is the rise of single-use products," Landriscina says. "It used to be sheet masks. Now it's toner pads, and you'll even see on social media single-use face towels to dry one's face." 

Single-use masks, serum packs, sponges and towels may look aesthetic online, but from a skincare standpoint, they serve no purpose, he explains. "If this was doing something, it might be worth it, but if it's not, then why are we trying to promote this as a product?"

 

 

 

 

View this post on Instagram

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A post shared by Angelo Landriscina, MD, FAAD (@dermangelo)

Choose serums, masks, toners and eye creams in multi-use packaging to cut down on waste, and don't be fooled into thinking single-use comes with benefits for health and hygiene. "A lot of it comes from people who either suffer with or are afraid of acne, and I think it comes out of a fundamental misunderstanding of what acne is as a disease process," Landriscina says. "Acne is not from being dirty. It's not something you can catch from a towel or from other people."

If you're still worried about your towel aggravating a specific skin concern, buy a set of reusable face cloths and launder them after each use. "That's most likely going to have a lower impact on the environment than single-use towels, because you'll be able to use them for years," he says. "If you are using a clean towel, there is no issue with it."

Skip the gimmicks

Beyond creams and serums, the sector has seen an explosion in skincare accessories that claim to boost up skin benefits in one way or another. Brands and influencers claim things like jade rollers can de-puff the face, exfoliating brushes smooth skin texture, and electronic facial devices delay the onset of skin aging, to name just some examples. 

The market for these devices is already in the billions of dollars, but evidence to support their benefits for the skin is often lacking. Too often, they simply end up in the trash after the user failed to see a meaningful difference or grew tired of the extra steps.

"If you're blowing through a few of these a year, whether it be an LED mask, a pore vacuum, a cleansing brush, these are things that are going to end up in landfill," Landriscina says. "Even there was a trend of skincare fridges, which I hated. If you have the disposable income to buy a skincare fridge, I would guess that you most likely already have a refrigerator running in your house. If you want your products to be cold, put them in there."

Learn how to recognize sustainable attributes in packaging

"People will often come into my comments when I talk about sustainability and give me the whole, 'It shouldn't be about personal responsibility. It's about industry.' And I have to explain to them that skincare is an industry and we are the people creating the demand, so it's something that we should think about," Landriscina says. 

In any industry, when people purchase more sustainable products, they signal to brands that sustainability is something consumers care about and value. Landriscina regularly tips his hat to brands as they release products in sustainable packaging and encourages his audience to look out for certain product attributes as they shop. 

 

 

 

 

View this post on Instagram

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A post shared by Angelo Landriscina, MD, FAAD (@dermangelo)

"What I've been doing is trying to use my tiny little microphone to lift up the brands that are doing good things," he says. "Kiehl's now has these big refill pouches. Neutrogena is selling a cleanser that comes as a powder in a packet that you reconstitute yourself. Brands are using less plastic on their flip-tops. All those little things, I try to bring that to my audience and say, 'Look, less plastic. I would go for this one if it were on the shelf,' to use whatever influence I have to try to entice people to look at packaging and think about it."

As more skincare products become available in refillable packaging, Landriscina also uses his mic to educate both brands and consumers about what has the most impact. "One thing I've been talking about a lot lately and am trying to pressure brands to do is that if they're doing a refillable pump bottle or pump jar, the pump should be part of the keepsake component. That's one thing that I'm telling everybody to look out for," he says, because the pump component on packaging is generally not recyclable. 

 

 

 

 

View this post on Instagram

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A post shared by Angelo Landriscina, MD, FAAD (@dermangelo)

Practice "intentional skincare" by thinking before you buy

"One thing I always try to preach is intentional skincare," Landriscina says. "It’s become such a hobby for people, even at this point for teenagers. Before buying something, I try to get people to think about the purpose the product is going to serve in their skincare routine: What is it supposed to do for me, or am I just excited by something that's shiny and new?"

It's a message that resonates with Landriscina's growing community of followers. "It's funny because my platform has actually grown a lot since talking about this," he says. "It's almost to the point where people are seeing this stuff and they're starting to become rightfully disgusted by it. They see how excessive this is, and I think they've realized that it's not real and they're starting to resent it — not just for the environmental impact, but also for the expectation that somebody's going to spend that much time on skincare every day or that it would even be good for the skin." 

Paring down your skincare routine to the essentials and being mindful as you shop is ultimately better for your skin, as well as the planet, he says. "The things I hammer home are just use what's necessary and not more than that, really be mindful of the packaging, and educate yourself a little bit about some choices you can make in your everyday life," he says. "If I can make a little bit of a difference there, then I'll be happy."

This story is part of Shopping Month in TriplePundit's Sustainable Living Challenge, where we explore simple ways to buy less, keep things longer and shop sustainably as needed. Learn more and take the challenge here.