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Leon Kaye updated us earlier this week about Hilton’s new science-based targets.

Following up on his article, during Sustainable Brands in Vancouver, I interviewed Daniella Foster, senior director of global corporate responsibility for Hilton, to dig deeper into the hotel giant’s plan to double the investment in social impact while cutting its environmental footprint by half. In this interview from earlier today, she shares with us her company's long-term objectives:

This is the first of a series of video interviews with CR and sustainability leaders from SB.  Check back soon for updates from Vancouver. You can also follow us via Twitter with hashtag #3BLMediaatSB18, and follow the events of the entire conference via the hashtag #SB18Vancouver.

By Kelly Vlahakis-Hanks

You drive a gas-guzzling vehicle, burn fossil fuels at home, and contribute thousands of pounds of waste to the local landfill each year. Yet you expect your employees and vendors to adhere to a green lifestyle? As a leader who espouses environmental stewardship, you must walk the talk. It’s not enough to set forth sustainability expectations for others. Those same principles (on everything from waste reduction to carbon neutrality) should guide your actions, day in and day out — professionally and personally. The success of any organization begins in the C-suite. For instance, I don’t simply give lip service to sustainability. As my company’s head brand ambassador, I help our team meet the stringent requirements to achieve what we call the "trifecta" of sustainable manufacturing: carbon neutrality, water neutrality, and platinum-level Zero Waste certification at all our facilities. However, I haven’t left it on a shelf; I encourage everyone to seek smarter ways to reduce, reuse, and recycle — and beyond that, to rethink. And I’ve adopted it for myself from living in an eco-friendly home to helping employees go green by offering financial incentives. But I'm certainly not the only one. Google, for example, is the poster child for green authenticity. The company is now powered 100 percent by renewable energy. But that's not the only eco-friendly move in Google's history. Eight years ago, the company began purchasing renewable energy at scale and is now the biggest corporate nonutility buyer of it. Additionally, Google saves millions of dollars managing its servers by regularly maintaining and using them as long as it can. Google offices also boast solar panels on their roofs and promote sustainable initiatives with employees. Activewear company Patagonia is in the same eco-friendly arena: In 2016, it donated more than $70 million to earth-friendly and sustainable initiatives as well as made its facilities more eco-friendly through LEED certification and the use of renewable materials. Patagonia also urged its employees to join its Employee Drive Less Program, which, like our company's program, provides incentives to employees who choose to carpool, take public transportation, or bike to work. But all this good doesn’t come just from words — it comes from committing, experimenting, and innovating. Rising to and Beyond an Eco-Challenge At this point, we’ve achieved platinum-level zero waste certification at all our facilities. However, that accolade wasn’t something we bought; it required total buy-in and daily effort from our entire team — starting with me. I took great care to follow the steps I wished to see in others: I drive a low-emissions car to work every day, and at home, we separate our recyclables and try to avoid the extra "stuff" that families tend to accumulate. We've even installed solar panels on our roof. To help my team achieve similar goals, I've implemented a financial incentive program to subsidize employees’ investments in buying greener cars or adding solar panels to their homes. At work, the leadership team and I encourage employee participation by creating a recycling-friendly environment. By making bins easy to find, we took away any pain points that might get in the way of diverting waste for recycling or reusing. Although it took time for everyone to catch the green “bug,” employees began to see how thoughtful, eco-friendly steps could improve their working atmosphere. Some workers became so accustomed to living greener lives that they took their newfound sustainability experiences home. Thus, the progress our company made not only boosted workplace engagement, but it also began positively affecting the staff’s communities and neighborhoods. If that’s not enough to excite any CEO to take up the green torch, perhaps the way consumers feel about the brands they choose will be. According to a study by Mintel, a third of consumers take environmental friendliness into account when preparing to make a purchase. Show the public your commitment to greenness, and you could tap into a $1.2 trillion marketplace. Of course, every new venture starts with a few first steps: 1. Vet your supply chain for sustainable practices. Working with like-minded vendors is imperative here. They reduce the waste that arrives at our facility; this factors into our Zero Waste certification and carbon neutrality calculations. Make a list of your current suppliers: How many are philosophically driven toward environmental stewardship? For those that aren’t, suggest tangible steps they can take to help meet sustainability goals if they want to keep your business. Don’t assume you’ll have to pay extra for a socially responsible vendor. Plenty of suppliers with thriving sustainability plans cost less than their wasteful competitors. 2. Adhere to sustainable processes across the board. Whether you’re looking at manufacturing practices or customer service, examine every step in the production or action chain. As you audit your processes, you’ll see places to reduce energy and water use, streamline more efficient workflows, or even cut significant costs like waste management. The U.S. Energy Information Administration notes that of all the national energy consumption, manufacturing takes up around 20 percent. If you’re in the manufacturing sector, look for ways to limit your energy uses to drive down negative effects on the environment (like carbon emissions that affect climate change or fossil fuel dependence). At ECOS, we use 100 percent renewable energy — not unlike Google — and much of that comes from our own solar panels. 3. Reward employees to build momentum. Your workers may not understand how important sustainability is to your company. Help them see the benefits by providing incentives for implementing sustainable practices at work and at home. For example, our “Sustainability Passport” allows employees to earn redeemable points for activities, perks, etc. What constitutes something that could boost a team member’s “Passport” points? Moving within 10 miles of the office, carpooling to lower gas emissions, bringing a zero-waste lunch to work, installing solar panels, and more. Use your best judgment to drive awareness and excitement among your people. At the same time, articulate your goals as well as how you’ll measure success to help employees understand how far-reaching their choices are. Take the lead today, and you’ll enjoy all the benefits of holistic sustainability for your company — and your personal journey. Kelly Vlahakis-Hanks is the president and CEO of Earth Friendly Products, maker of ECOS products, including its well-known laundry detergent, as well as more than 200 other plant-based cleaners.

Pictured: Loriun has received $80,000 over seven years from Grameen America, helping her expand her bakery, open an electronics shop, and set long term goals of opening her own restaurant.

By Alethia Mendez

Take a moment and think back to the last loan you applied for. Chances are, it was for a big investment—a car, a home, a college education. Now imagine if you couldn’t get that loan. For most of us, it would be impossible to afford these life-changing purchases or attain these milestones.

Most of the more than 40 million Americans living below the poverty line (defined as a family of four living on $25,100 or less), can’t access a conventional loan or life-changing capital. With microloans, entrepreneurs can receive small amounts of money—typically $500 to $50,000—at low interest rates to grow their businesses, and in turn, improve their lives and that of their families, and contribute to the success of their communities.

Curious if microloans have an impact on your community? Here are five ways these small loans are making a big difference:

1. Fostering entrepreneurship

Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, Jeff Bezos, Sara Blakely, Elon Musk—none of these influential entrepreneurs could have built their businesses without access to capital. Microloans provide entrepreneurs with money for the supplies, infrastructure, inventory, marketing, and more that they need to succeed. This means that even those without wealth, access, or privilege can turn a bright idea into a thriving, profitable business.

Take Joann, an entrepreneur who needed to raise awareness about her baking business. With a $1,500 loan from Grameen America, Joann invested in marketing materials that generated buzz and allowed her business to expand. When demand surpassed her capacity, a second loan of $2,000 allowed Joann to buy new baking pans so she could take on bigger orders and service larger food fairs.

2. Empowering women

Globally and in the United States, women still earn less, own less, and remain disproportionately vulnerable to poverty. Women are more likely to be excluded from the financial mainstream and are less likely to have a credit score or a bank account. Women receive only 4 percent of small business loans in the United States, but many want to launch or grow their small businesses. In fact, the number of businesses owned by women in the U.S. has more than doubled over the last 20 years. Providing microloans to women entrepreneurs is an effective way to create jobs and generate income where it is needed most.

3. Reducing poverty

Many people don’t have enough income to support their basic needs or the needs of their families. By equipping small businesses with capital, microloans enable them to grow and become profitable. The income generated by these ventures not only empowers the entrepreneur to begin to move out of poverty, it also creates opportunities for other community members to do the same. Research shows us that even small businesses with fewer than 20 employees have created more than 20 million jobs in a single year. 

4. Strengthening the local economy

• Buying from small, locally-owned businesses is a great way to invest in your local economy. While only 14 percent of money from chain store purchases recirculates in the community, 48 percent of each purchase at local, independent businesses stays local. By enabling more small businesses to thrive, microloans create more opportunities in local economies, creating ripple effects.

5. Creating healthier communities

• For many Americans in poverty, healthcare is a luxury they cannot afford. The highest-earning Americans spend more than three times on healthcare than the lowest-earning households, resulting in significant health discrepancies. Microloans enable businesses to succeed and generate income for entrepreneurs and their employees. With greater income comes a greater capacity to spend on health-related expenses, including preventative care. Research shows that investing in women entrepreneurs in particular has a multiplier effect, positively affecting the health of families and generations to come.

While microloans start with empowering an entrepreneur, the positive impact is soon felt by the whole community. By making capital accessible to all, microloans ignite a chain reaction that begins with successful businesses and results in empowered individuals, healthier families, thriving communities, and stronger local economies. To learn more about the impact of microloans and how you can get involved, visit www.grameenamerica.org.

Alethia Mendez is Senior Director, Operations and Program Strategy, Grameen America

Photo: Grameen

 

By Chris Jarvis

The private sector has direct access to financial and human capital. With the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as a framework to provide a shared lexicon and to guide decision-making, the private sector can lead a global social movement ­– and corporations are in a unique position to leverage existing resources to help save the planet. Through IMPACT 2030, which provides the platform for investing these resources, the private sector can collaborate with other investors and measure the long-term return. But, what do we mean by “resources”? And how do we leverage these resources through IMPACT 2030 to get closer to achieving the SDGs?

How the private sector can change the world

In 2018, we bear witness to a radical expansion in the role of the private sector in social and environmental arenas. Until a few decades ago, the idea that businesses in the private sector invest more than the bare minimum to ensure compliance and avoid risk-related cost was novel at best; more commonly, it was deemed foolhardy, if not a breach of contract with shareholders. Yet, now we see the private sector moving well ahead of governments on key issues such as carbon emissions, gender parity, green supply chains and diversity and inclusion.

Though the evolution of socially-conscious business practice contains its fair share of cautionary tales (BP, Wells Fargo and Volkswagen), this shift in social and environmental perspectives across the private sector over the past four decades is still hopeful. Corporations hold great power; a power that is increasingly scrutinized and held accountable as new norms are established. And, beyond a willingness to be held accountable to the highest standard of business practice, corporations are leveraging their dollars and influence to make society and environment sustainable and resilient for the future.

The UN’s Global Compact outlines the critical business considerations of prosocial behavior using the UN Sustainable Development Goals. The SDGs “provide a historic opportunity to unite all global stakeholders to end extreme poverty, fight inequality and injustice, and protect our planet.” In the resource titled How Your Company Can Advance Each of the SDGs, the UN offers a rationale for such a leadership role and provides research, tools and practical steps. Corporations across the world are taking action and developing CSR strategies that revolve around the SDGs, but it is no easy task – and it can come with significant cost. How do businesses mitigate this cost while still pushing toward these important goals?

What Are the Costs?

Assuming a widespread leadership role for the private sector is, in fact, responsible and prudent, leaves the question: is achieving the SDGs even possible?

Estimates on the annual cost of achieving the SDGs (all sectors) range from about $US3.9 trillion to $US6 trillion. Given the current commitments of governments, and other organizations globally, this leaves a world-wide funding gap in the range of $3 trillion to $5 trillion annually. Ban Ki-moon’s, former UN Secretary-General, remarks at the at the 2015 UN Private Sector Forum ring with urgency:

“I am counting on the private sector to drive success. Now is the time to mobilize the global business community as never before. The case is clear. Realizing the Sustainable Development Goals will improve the environment for doing business and building markets. Trillions of dollars in public and private funds are to be redirected towards the SDGs, creating huge opportunities for responsible companies to deliver solutions.”

Is there an additional $US5 trillion in cash to be found to invest in achieving the SDGs on an annual basis? And if so, can financial capital alone solve global challenges? This is where human capital comes in.

A new way to invest: Human capital

While we typically rank financial capital as the primary and most important resource of the private sector for community investment, it is a distant second compared to human capital. Human capital refers to “the stock of knowledge, habits, social and personality attributes, including creativity, embodied in the ability to perform labor so as to produce economic value.”

While few would dispute the importance of human capital as a key asset, the return is difficult to measure – corporations need to know the benefit of their investment. Leon Kaye wrote for The Guardian:

Determining the actual value of this intangible asset is a difficult nut to crack. In 1978, 80% of a company’s value was easy to enumerate because it was mostly tangible assets such as factories and equipment. But now 80%of a company’s value is comprised of intangible assets such as brand value, intellectual property and, of course, people.

Despite the difficulty of measuring intangible assets, the importance of human capital is front and center on the world stage. At the World Bank Group’s 2017 Annual Meetings this past October, the World Bank Group President Jim Yong Kim, introduced the Human Capital Project.

“This year, for the first time, we are including human capital in our measurement of the wealth of nations,” Dr. Kim said. “Human capital is about 65% of the wealth in high-income countries and only 40% in low-income countries. We’re helping low-income countries overcome this – and there is a sense of urgency – not only because we’re facing several current human capital crises, but also because accelerations in technology will require countries to urgently invest in their people if they hope to compete in the economy of the future. (read more here).

This past April, Bill Gates joined Jim Kim to underscore the essential role of investing human capital for the future of the planet. The support is clear, but there is an immediate and obvious question that must be addressed: How? How can the private sector invest human capital to bridge the funding gap and achieve the Sustainable Development Goals by 2030?

Employee Volunteering as Impact Investment

Employee volunteering has tremendous potential as a key mechanism to access human capital as a positive vehicle for business involvement in local and international development initiatives. Employee volunteering is an evolution beyond traditional corporate philanthropy and a one-way flow of investment in communities to enable a more dynamic exchange between corporate employees and key stakeholder groups representing community and civil society.

Mobilizing employees to voluntarily take action in communities where they live and work offers companies multiple entry points to address the SDGs. Employees who volunteer create access to a massive array of social networks as well as the social capital represented across those networks. This enables businesses to operate beyond an organization-to-issue threshold typically represented in most collective impact projects whereby organizations are viewed as the primary actor in providing solutions. Employee volunteering, when done correctly, emphasizes the potential of mobilizing employees as primary actors, working together with multiple stakeholders and across multiple geographical scales. This approach to mobilizing human capital holds the promise of real progress towards achieving the SDGs.

What’s required is a formal mechanism that can help bring together these global assets across multiple companies in a way that can improve both the impact and the overall value of the asset being invested.

This necessitates exploring human capital through the lens of impact investing.

IMPACT 2030: An Immediate and Practical Solution

IMPACT2030 is the world’s first ever impact investment fund for corporate citizens. The investment is human capital and the impact is progress toward the Sustainable Development Goals. This is an exciting prospect, without which the potential value of human capital investments may not be fully realized in the global effort to achieve the SDGs.

What is impact investing?

Before the highly popularized term “shared value,” Jed Emerson advocated for a blended value approach to investment so both the community and the investor would receive a meaningful return on investments. Over the past twenty years, the term ‘impact investing’ has come to mean “investments made into companies, organizations, and funds with the intention to generate social and environmental impact alongside a financial return. According to the Global Impact Investing Network (GIIN), the $22 billion investments of 2016 by just 200 self-identified impact investors will explode by more than 20% to $25.9 billion in 2017 (read the report here).

How is IMPACT2030 an impact investment fund?

• It is impact investment. The goal of IMPACT2030 is to create an attractive return for investors while achieving meaningful social and environmental impact in the communities where those investments occur.


• It is a fund with investors. Unlike most other impact investment funds, IMPACT2030 represents corporate citizens.


• The fund invests human capital rather than financial capital. The potential return on investment in and through human capital is the only way to achieve the SDGs by 2030. The combined workforce of the IMPACT2030 investors is about 7 million people.


• The fund uses the SDGs as a universal currency. Given the variety of industries, economies and nationalities represented in IMPACT2030, the SDGs not only provide a unified vision and shared objectives, they also represent the potential for meaningful conversion of value across those same variables. Similar to the ability to convert currencies into other currencies using foreign exchange rates, the SDGs may act as a globally accepted valuation for all types of human capital investments.


• The human capital investments are voluntary. The key to ensuring a high quality of human capital investments is by committing to invest only through the voluntary actions of employees. This means that the private sector cannot dictate that employees contribute discretionary time to achieving the SDGs. All human capital contributions must be made by means of voluntary employee activities.

What are the benefits to investors?

• Access to human capital assets. Companies around the world have difficulty accessing the value of human capital – especially when it’s voluntary. While voluntary participation is more effective and valuable than required participation, it is also more complicated. Realized Worth, as a Founding Partner of IMPACT2030 regularly offers insight, workshops and other forms of support to IMPACT2030 Partners and Stakeholders to ensure they are able to mobilize a greater number of employees on a voluntary basis throughout the year.


• Regional priorities. Although a company may have operations in thousands of locations around the world, it remains incredibly difficult for managers responsible for employee volunteering to understand how to invest in regionally relevant ways while generating universal value to the brand. By working at a hyper-regional level across the globe through Regional Voice Leads IMPACT2030 is able to offer unparalleled insight for optimal impact investment of human capital. A great example of this is the meeting in Dubai, which addressed how best to align employee volunteering efforts with regional priorities.


• Measuring the return on the investment. Better data on financial performance is the number one desire of impact investors. (As reported by Calvert Impact Capital). Simply put, measurement is hard. With the new frontier of the intangible asset of human capital, this kind of measurement becomes exponentially more difficult. IMPACT2030 is working on a multi-faceted approach with its partners to design a framework that will offer key insights as to the value of the human capital investment as well as a meaningful return for both the communities and the companies.

Join the IMPACT2030 Human Capital Investment Fund

Support people and the planet with us

This unique and historic impact investment fund represents a tremendous opportunity to help achieve the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals through employee volunteering. Tim Mohin, the CEO of the Global Reporting Initiative (a Founding Stakeholder of IMPACT2030) states:

“At a time when the revenues of large companies exceed the GDP of many countries and supply chains stretch around the world, the private sector plays a vital role in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).”

Consider the following action steps:

• Partner with IMPACT2030 and invest the human capital of your company together with us to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals. Contact the interim CEO of IMPACT2030, Sue Stephenson, suestephenson@impact2030.com, for more details.


• Invite your local leaders of community investment or CSR to attend an IMPACT2030 Regional Voice Forum and invest with us for a better return. Email Sabrina Viva, sabrina@realizedworth.com, to find out where the upcoming Regional Leadership Forums will occur.


• Find out more about IMPACT2030 on the website.

Chris Jarvis is Chief Strategist, Realized Worth.

Photo: Realized Worth

Originally published on Realized Worth and distributed by 3BL Media.

 

 

By Devika Narayan

More than 500 corporate, nonprofit and agency professionals working at the intersection of profit and Purpose convened in Chicago on May 23-24 to share insights and best practices at the 16th annual Engage for Good conference.

With a theme of “Creating Change in Changing Times,” discussion focused on how companies and nonprofits can generate compelling brand Purpose in today’s environment of rising consumer and employee expectations. With notable speakers like The Obama Foundation’s Michael Strautmanis, REI’s Laura Swapp, and Save the Children’s Carolyn Miles, and a series of educational breakout sessions, #EFG18 combined inspirational conversations with actionable insights for practitioners.

This year’s conference left me with a few key takeaways:

• Preach what you practice. A recurring theme throughout the conference, brand activism emerged as the new breed of Purpose marketing. While more companies are advocating for social justice issues like gun control and immigration, Bank of America’s Sue Burton reminded the audience to be thoughtful and deliberate when deciding what issues to have an authentic voice on. To minimize backlash and foster trust with customers, employees and other stakeholders, a brand should only take a stand that reflects its Purpose, values and, most importantly, its operational practices. Saying “no” can be hard, but it’s sometimes the right thing to do.


• Tech continues to amplify good. From traceable supply chains to permanent identity for refugees, Accenture’s Stef Milczarek shared how the world’s latest technology is helping organizations pioneer more efficient processes that are both sustainable and scalable. A powerful example comes from Akshaya Patra, a nonprofit supplier of cooked meals for schoolchildren in India. The organization explored how technology could help them do more with less in a pilot project with Accenture’s Tech4Goodprogram. Using a combination of artificial intelligence, connected IoT devices and blockchain technology, Akshaya Patra realized significant efficiency improvements in its meal preparation and distribution. In fact, estimates suggest that if these technologies were implemented across all its kitchens, the nonprofit would save nearly $500,000 annually – translating to over 30 million additional meals every year.


• When it comes to employee engagement, companies should think globally and act locally. Gary Levante, Vice President of Corporate Social Responsibility, shared that while Halo Award winner Berkshire Bank’s overall engagement strategy is set at the corporate level, its regional employee volunteer committees ultimately ensure the program’s success. These regional committees are established in each of the company’s major geographic markets and are comprised of members from various offices and departments. This approach allows for local decision-making that empowers employees to identify, select, plan and execute projects that resonate the most in their own areas within the context of the Bank’s overall strategy.


• Don't give and run after disaster strikes. Just because a disaster is no longer in the headlines, it doesn't mean recovery is over. JetBlue’s Director of Business Continuity and Emergency Response, Penny Neferis explained that although immediate relief needs are real and pressing, long-term rebuilding is a critical component of disaster efforts. Companies should be prepared to be involved for the long-haul, working closely with disaster partners to identify the most pressing needs and offering essential support for reconstruction.

This year’s Engage for Good continued its legacy of creating an inspiring space to connect with other like-minded socially responsible organizations, celebrate creative campaigns, share and combine collective expertise and forge new partnerships. I am hopeful that the ideas shared during the two-day event will fuel the world’s leading social impact practitioners for months – and years – to come.

Devika Narayan is Account Supervisor, Cone Communications 

Photo: Engage for Good

Originally published by Cone Communications and distributed by 3BL Media.

 

Global hospitality giant Hilton recently conducted research that the company says indicates consumers going away on business or pleasure are increasingly focused on environmental and social sustainability – and want the companies with which they trust their travel dollars to reflect these concerns.

To that end, TriplePundit recently caught up with Maxime Verstraete, Hilton’s vice president of corporate responsibility and ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) compliance, and asked him a few questions.

3p: What are some big findings of this research?

Hilton: We recently surveyed 72,000 of our guests about whether they research a hotel company’s environmental and social efforts before booking. The results suggest a resounding “yes” and that social, environmental and ethical considerations are central to their buying preferences – especially for those younger than 25 years old.

More specifically, 33 percent responded that they actively seek information on hospitality companies’ sustainability practices before booking. And, of that cohort, 60 percent conduct their own research into companies’ social, environmental and ethical practices, even if the information is not easily accessible.

3p: How is Hilton working with travel partners to ensure that travel is becoming more responsible?

Hilton: Being responsible social and environmental stewards is engrained in our culture and who we are as a company. In April, Chris Nassetta, our CEO and newly appointed chairman of the World Travel & Tourism Council, joined Patricia Espinosa, Executive Secretary of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, to issue a call to travel and tourism industry leaders in a “common agenda” to take action on climate change, implement the Paris Climate Agreement, and adopt science-based targets to reduce carbon emissions.

We find ourselves in the Golden Age of Travel, as research continues to show the links between tourism and climate change. According to a recent University of Sydney study, global tourism’s carbon footprint contributes about 8 percent of all emissions—more than double the previous estimate from the World Travel Organization. In that light, the viability of our industry depends on our ability to adapt and to protect the resources that will support and sustain our growth. With the launch of our 2030 Goals, we’re in a quest to redefine sustainable travel and tourism and hope to lead the industry by example and encourage others to follow.

3p: How are you communicating this need to travel responsibly with consumers?

Hilton: The 2030 Goals reflect our efforts across the Hilton portfolio and global supply chain to halve our environmental footprint and double our investments in social impact. With the launch of these commitments, our guests can be confident that they are traveling responsibly when they stay with Hilton. As we execute our 2030 Goals, we will also work to expand opportunities for our guests to easily make additional sustainable decisions. Today we are testing some things such as including a hotel’s efforts on our Wi-Fi connection pages and through digital displays in public spaces. We also try to engage guests through programs like Meet with Purpose, our Digital Key technology and Connected Room in the future. 

3p: What are some of the science-based targets that your company feels are most important at this point?

Hilton: Our science-based targets will enable us to reduce carbon emissions intensity by 61 percent, in line with the Paris Climate Agreement and approved by the Science Based Targets Initiative (SBTi). This is the equivalent of taking 23.5 million cards off the road.

We’ve also committed to reducing water consumption and produced waste by 50 percent. To date, we have already saved 1.8 million gallons of water in the US using advanced technology linens that use less water to clean and have 2,700 hotels within our portfolio that use low temperature laundry technologies—delivering 40 percent water reduction with every wash.

We’re also committing to doubling our social impact investments, with partners including minority-owned suppliers, women and youth empowerment programs.

Our ability to track progress towards these commitments is equally important to us and to our brand. Since 2008, the company has reduced carbon emissions and waste by 30 percent, and energy and water consumption by 20 percent, saving more than $1 billion in operating efficiencies. LightStay, an award-winning performance measurement system calculates, analyzes and reports the environmental impact at each of Hilton’s more than 5,300 hotels. Hilton will use LightStay to track its goal of reducing carbon emissions by 61 percent across its portfolio by 2030.

Image credit: Hilton

By Dr. Alison Blyth and David Evans

In an inner city street a fox melts into the night in search of a meal. Maybe it will catch a rat, an animal equally at home among the trash cans and concrete alleys. Across the world, some animals who once lived among fields and forests are following the human trend for city living.

For other animals, our fondness for towns and roads, industry and parking lots spells decline and death.

What do these changes mean for conservation and how can we make the best of our changing environment?

An Urbanized World

 

Urbanization – the process of converting undeveloped land into cities and towns – has been described as “one of the most ecologically destructive forms of global change”. However, urban areas are also the world’s fastest growing category of environment. While wilderness and even farmlands are declining, cities and towns are spreading as human populations grow.

Urbanization affects every facet of a natural environment. Land cover, drainage, and nutrient cycles are all fundamentally altered, and even parameters such as temperature can be changed as buildings replace vegetation.

Natural habitats for many species are destroyed, degraded, or broken up into pockets. The remaining areas of vegetation are often fragmented, disconnected, and lacking in the mature complexity of a long developed natural area – all factors that reduce biodiversity and wildlife resilience.

Unfortunately, the areas where we centre settlements are also areas rich in wildlife – we, just like other animals, seek good environmental resources. We seek out running water, good soils, liveable climates, access to coasts and transport routes. These optimal environments are often also those with the highest biodiversity. Our most destructive form of change is preferentially affecting some of our most environmentally precious lands.

If you can’t beat them, join them

Despite urbanization’s potential for negative effects, some ecologists see the fight against the concept as a lost cause.

“As a species, we want to urbanize”

explains Bill Bateman, a behavioral ecologist specializing in urban wildlife at Curtin University, Australia.

“Humans have been congregating in settlements and later in towns and cities since the earliest stages of our history. The majority of people want to live close to resources and facilities.”

Bateman argues that, since we can’t avoid urbanization, the priority is to make the process work hand in hand with preserving biodiversity and wildlife.

“This is one of the most important challenges facing conservation today.”

Embracing the new

The first key in building conservation minded cities is understanding exactly what effects these changes have on different wildlife populations.

“People assume urbanization is negative across the board, but there is actually huge variation in response depending on the animal in question”

Bateman explains. One crucial factor is that although cities represent highly changed environments, they also represent new environments – and sometimes these “novel ecosystems” provide exactly what an animal needs.

Bateman’s favorite example of this is urban predators. Work undertaken with Trish Fleming of Murdoch University showed that urban environments can provide hunters with new advantages – for example, new and increased numbers of prey species as animals such as rats and mice exploit their own urban niche; and improvements to hunting patterns allowed by anthropogenic structures.

It isn’t just predators who can gain surprise benefits from human changes to their environment. Recent work by Euan Ritchie and his team at Deakin University showed that southern brown bandicoots, an endangered Australian marsupial, are defying expectations to thrive on the outskirts of Melbourne. An extensive monitoring project showed that the small mammals were more successful in new and altered sites consisting of parks, gardens and road verges than they were in sites reflecting their natural environment.

A key facet in a species’ ability to thrive in new and changed environments is their adaptability, and especially their flexibility of diet. Bandicoots for example, mostly eat insects, but aren’t that fussy. Like their northern analogue, the hedgehog, they’ll happily scarf down dog and cat food if they come across it. Likewise, the red fox, one of the ultimate urban predators, will happily top up from trash bins if a fresh meal isn’t handy.

Greening the city

Although urbanization will always have negative effects on some animals – known as urban avoiders for their inability to live in human altered habitats – development doesn’t always have to be bad news. Provided, of course, that it is planned with one eye on conservation.

A major aspect in improving urban environments is increasing green space. These spaces may be planned parks but can also be easily forgotten areas such as road verges and railway corridors. Ritchie’s bandicoots were frequently found nesting in the blackberry bushes alongside roads. The simple presence of thick vegetation, even in this case an invasive weed, enhanced the conservation value of this human dead space.

Increasing green spaces is beneficial to humans living in urban areas too.

The WHO notes that access to urban green spaces such as parks has a positive effect on physical and mental health, while there are also pragmatic, economic benefits. Increasing tree cover in a city mitigates the heat island effect where reflection of sunlight from buildings and hard surfaces increases urban temperatures. And shade from street trees can reduce energy bills from air conditioning.

Urban vegetation also improves drainage and water run-off, reducing flooding risks. And of course, retaining local and regional biodiversity is not an abstract benefit. Humanity is dependent on ecosystem services such as pollination, and we unbalance that ecosystem at our peril.

Unfortunately, this message has not got through to all urban managers. Parks are closing because they take up precious building land or because councils can no longer afford maintenance.

Building trends lean more and more towards block filling fence-to-fence building design, maximising internal space but squeezing out green gardens in favour of a limited entertainment space. In cities across the US, trees are under attack due to maintenance demands, or complaints about the inconvenience.

The frustrating thing about this for scientists such as Bateman is how simple many steps to improve urban conservation could be.

“Road verges and railways corridors are an obvious easy win. We literally don’t have to do anything, just let nature take its course. We’d even save money on maintaining them!”

Encouraging gardens, planning for communal green spaces, encouraging green building design and permeable land coverings are also all obvious options.

As Bateman says,

“Achieving more wildlife friendly urban spaces is easier than we think if we embed awareness of conservation and biodiversity as a normal part of life. We just have to want to do it.”

Dr Alison Blyth is a geochemist working in earth and environmental sciences.

David Evans is an environmentalist and the co-founder of Tern Goods – A reusable alternatives company specializing in recycled and repurposed shopping bags invented to replace single use plastics.

Image Credit 1) ecosystemsunited.com

Businesses that use electric vehicles get good marks for helping to fight air pollution, and now, auto manufacturers may be on the verge of giving them an even better opportunity to flash their green cred. At least two startups are planning to offer EVs that generate their own electricity on the go from built-in solar panels, and more may be on the way.

Solar panels on trucks are already a thing, but they are generally meant as an add-on, providing an auxiliary source of electricity for lifts, lighting, air conditioning and other accessories. This new crop of solar powered passenger cars takes it up to the next level by providing motive power.

An electric vehicle with built-in solar panels

Not too long ago, electric vehicles with built-in solar panels would have been a pipe dream: too expensive, too heavy, and too inefficient to be practical.

Well, that was then. Solar panels are now lighter, less expensive and more efficient, and Sono Motors is one startup jumping on that opportunity.

The built-in solar angle also benefits from advances in the new lightweight materials used in auto manufacturing. Lighter autos mean that EV batteries can provide longer range. Here's the rundown on Sono's "Sion" model:

The full efficiency of the Sion is guaranteed by the lightweight design. The exterior is mainly made up of rust-proof polycarbonate [a type of plastic resin]. It further is scratch-resistant. The most unique feature in the body work are the solar cells, which are located on the roof, on both sides as on the hood and the rear.

The Sion will have 330 integrated solar cells in all. Wear and tear would be a major consideration, but Sono states that the polycarbonate shell provides a shatterproof, weather resistant cover.

According to Sono, when weather conditions are right the solar panels alone can provide the car with a range of 30 kilometers, or a hair over 18 miles.

The battery can also be charged from an outside source for a range of 250 kilometers. That's important because in less than optimal weather—in winter, for example—the solar panels may only cover as little as three miles of travel.

Even at three miles, that's quite an improvement over another recent iteration of built-in solar panels. Last year, Panasonic announced a rooftop solar system for sedans, but it's more on the order of an efficiency booster than a means of making the car go.

An auto mechanic in every garage

The Sono battery is designed to be bidirectional, meaning it can be used to power any common household electronic device. That could provide some interesting opportunities for local businesses at street fairs and other community events.

Another point of interest is that Sono offers a lease option for the battery. Batteries account for a major portion of the cost of an electric vehicle, so the battery lease would help reduce the up-front cost of the car.

What really makes the Sono business model interesting, though, is the repair plan.

An electric vehicle power train is relatively simple compared to conventional engines, and Sono has taken advantage of that benefit to design a car that can be repaired by novices -- at least, in theory.

To be sure, you would have to be handy to begin with, but according to the company you can order most spare parts online and follow step-by-step tutorials:

With the help of our step-by-step manuals, everybody should be able to repair the Sion, single-handed and for free. We will offer the instructions as videos and texts. If you do not feel like repairing the Sion by yourself, just bring it to the next auto shop. Since we will unveil the complete workshop manual, every mechanic in the world should be able to repair the Sion.

Solar panels on cars: everything old is new again

The next couple of years could be a breakout season for solar panels on electric vehicles, and it has been a long time coming.

Mazda is acknowledged to be the first to attempt it back in 1992, but the results were disappointing: too expensive, and not very effective.

By 2009, Toyota, Audi and the now-defunct startup Fisker Automotive were on board with the concept.

However, MIT Technology Review took a good look at the on-board electricity generation angle back in 2008 and threw some cold water on the subject. High costs were among the obstacles cited by MIT article:

“I think it’s more a marketing gimmick,” says Andrew Frank, a plug-in hybrid pioneer at the University of California, Davis, and chief technology officer for UC-Davis hybrid-vehicle spinoff Efficient Drivetrains. “It takes kilowatts to really drive the car.”

MIT also noted that the small surface area, sub-optimal angle and lack of a sun-tracking feature make car bodies less than ideal places to put solar panels. Researchers modeled out a car with the most powerful solar cells available on the market, and the results were still disappointing.

The conclusion was that it made more sense to put more money into improving battery range and simply charge electric vehicle batteries by plugging into stationary solar panels, rather than adding solar panels to cars.

On the other hand, the article included this parting observation:

Frank says that, even if onboard solar is a marketing gimmick, it could advance the electrification of transportation by advertising the possibility of replacing gasoline with renewable energy. “Whether it’s perception or real doesn’t matter,” he says, “because it creates public awareness.”

Solving the EV charging conundrum

That certainly was a prescient observation. Rooftop solar panels are generally hidden from view, but putting them on cars and trucks bring them down to eye level.

Companies like Ford have already noticed that the high visibility of small wind turbines can have branding value, and the same could be said of vehicles that are literally solar powered.

Solar cells are more efficient, energy storage technology has also improved, and innovation in both areas is ongoing, leading to future drops in weight and cost. EV electrical system integration is another area in which efficiency has improved. All together, this has created the opportunity for solar-integrated electric vehicles to leap from failed concept to a functioning reality.

Sono plans to start production in 2019, and the Dutch startup Lightyear is also taking orders for its solar-integrated EV, so it seems that companies looking for trendsetting clean power branding opportunities will have some new alternatives in the coming years.

Image: via Sono Motors.

 

 

By Samantha St. Pierre

When people find out that I advise companies on responsible sourcing of forest products, most immediately light up with excitement to share how their workplace is "green."  Usually without fail, what makes these workplaces "green" are initiatives to go paperless. And we've all received emails that include a line at the bottom encouraging you to think before you print. These policies and initiatives are, of course, all grounded in the best of intentions. And I can agree, you should think before you print, but in a different way.

To understand why going paperless isn't always the best option, we must take a close look at the forestry industry. In this article, I will focus on the North American forest landscape. The important procurement regions of Brazil, Indonesia, Chile and others represent different realities.

Though it may seem counterintuitive, one of the most effective ways to protect forests is through responsible forest management; in other words, responsible and careful harvesting of trees to make forest products can serve conservation goals while contributing to a thriving local economy for forested regions. This is true for the forests that produce pulp for home and personal care products, like paper towels and tissues, as well as for timber products such as wood furniture.

The relationship between the forest products industry and forest conservation can get complicated, but there a few common-sense reasons that illustrate the link between healthy working forests, conservation, and the challenges of going paperless.

1. Trees are a renewable resource: When forests are properly managed according to rigorous forest management principles, such as those established by the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC®), periodic harvests help keep a forest ecosystem healthy. Responsible, planned harvests open the forest canopy so that younger trees can grow strong and healthy with better access to sunlight and rain. Periodic harvests can also reduce the risk and severity of large scale forest fires. From a practical perspective, forestry companies need forests to stay standing to stay in business, so it is in their interest to manage forestlands appropriately. Sustainable management has a lot of benefits, including the promise for the continued success of a centuries-old industry.


2. A working forest is a valued forest: One of the biggest threats of deforestation in North America is urban development. Populations and cities continue to grow, and forests near these urban areas are at a high risk of being cleared to make way for the next suburb or shopping mall. However, if the forest is a working forest delivering economic value to the community, the risk of conversion for sub/urban development is much lower. Besides the benefit of providing jobs and contributing to the local economy, a working forest can also offer the added value of recreation for the community and visitors. As one example, old logging roads can be converted to recreational trails that provide an escape from the nearby hustle and bustle of the city.


3. We're talking about your neighbors: The forestry and logging industry has been employing people within our communities for over a hundred years. From the landowner who relies on the income from the trees in their backyard to send their kids to college, to the logger who logs the land for their livelihood, to the woman working in HR at the local paper mill, to the owner of the general store in a rural logging town, the forestry industry touches peoples’ lives. Oftentimes, the jobs that the forestry industry provides are found in small, rural towns where the economic success of the town depends on the success of the local paper mill. Choosing to replace forest products with other materials or technologies can have a significant impact on these communities. Being from a small paper mill town in Northern Maine myself, I have seen this impact in real life.

Responsible forest use imbues our forests with economic value, recreational value, and helps move the needle on conservation. Paper products are one way to help keep forests standing.

 

But I'd like to come back to the point of thinking before you print. Not all paper is equal, and there are some bad actors in the forestry industry that are not managing this renewable resource in a renewable way. You need to be a discerning consumer, whether for business or personal purchasing. When selecting forest products, choose those that carry the FSC® label and be confident that the forest from which the product originated was managed in a responsible and renewable way.

Think also about those tissues on your desk and the paper towels you used to clean the microwave. These come from forests, too. Examine your purchasing choices, and trace it all back to the companies who are producing the things you use every day. Reward the companies who are contributing to healthy forests and a sustainable business model.

As with most things in life, the use of forest products is all about a healthy balance -- both in the forest and at your printer. So, if you really need to print that document, go ahead, but be sure to print it on FSC-certified paper and be part of the solution, not part of the problem, of a more sustainable forest products industry.

Samantha St. Pierre is a Manager of Markets Transformation at the Rainforest Alliance. Samantha is an expert in chain of custody certification and auditing, legality verification, policy setting, conducting supplier training and assessment, and corporate reporting. In her near-decade with the Rainforest Alliance, Samantha has conducted more than 100 chain of custody audits and brings over 7 years of experience in sustainable sourcing.

Image source: Adobe Stock 

Costa Rica is known world over for its eco-tourism programs. Its sustainably managed hotels, many of which integrate renewable energy and composting in remote settings, and its eco-conscious tours have helped to set a bar when it comes to educating the public about endangered ecosystems.

But it wasn’t always that way in Costa Rica. Massive logging projects in the 1980s gutted the country’s tropical forests. By 1983, Costa Rica’s woodlands had been reduced by more than 50 percent, leaving just a quarter of its forests viable.

Today, that environmental loss is being reversed through a mix of conservation, national policies and creative funding programs that not only help protect the ecology but support poverty abatement programs around the country.

This month, the nation’s newly elected President Carlos Alvarado took yet another step in cementing its sustainability record: he set the goal to be the first carbon-neutral nation in the world – and to do so by 2020.

Now, I know what you may be thinking: It’s far easier to convert a country’s tourism sector to renewable energy and educational platforms than it is to transform the nation’s energy dependency.

And for Costa Rica, a country that for decades has survived neck-in-neck on its fossil fuel industry and its lush tropics, that’s particularly true. Its exports of fossil fuels to the U.S. has waxed and waned over the years, but it still depends on that currency to some extent.

While Central America’s most sustainable country now gets 98 percent of its energy from renewable sources – a feat that no other country has been able to accomplish and sustain – it continues to face an ironic challenge: the more popular its ecotourism becomes, the more demand there is for fossil fuel-powered transportation.

Plus, as a vital link on the Pan American Highway, Central and South America’s main transportation network of roads, outlawing fossil fuel vehicles within its borders would be just short of economic suicide. It would be akin to the state of Colorado banning all trucks from using its highways to cross Colorado’s mile-high mountain ranges. Some battles are bigger than the rhetoric they foster.

So, lofty as Costa Rica’s goal sounds, going 100 percent carbon neutral won’t be easy. And the country knows it.

Its vow to reach a zero-emission record goes back to 2007 and was thought of as remarkable, if not peculiar even then. By 2015 Vice President Ana Helena Chacon was forced to admit before the UN Climate Change Summit in Paris that that the country would have to back off its goal by some 64 years.

But that same year, the country managed to accomplish something amazing: it launched the public-private Alliance for Carbon Neutral (Alianza para Carbono Neutralidad) and quickly gained notoriety. The initiative was designed to spur zero emissions in the business sector and promised to do so by providing facilities, mentorship and other support mechanisms to interested members. Today, more than 90 companies are part of the alliance, fueling further discussion about sustainability and the need for a biodiverse Costa Rica.

Costa Rica also isn’t alone in its bid to the first to go carbon-zero. Iceland and Norway are among the closest contenders, and both have laudable track records.

Maldives also launched its bid in 2007, but by 2017 the newly elected government had changed directions. “We need a lot of investment,” explained Maldives’ housing minister, Mohamed Muizzu, as the country mulled over selling an atoll to Saudi Arabia and luring in developers to boost tourism. More than half of Maldives is forecast to be under water by the end of the century.

Costa Rica may still be the world’s best bet for becoming the first carbon neutral country. Its heavy dependence on renewables, its fortunate biodiversity and its renewable social net programs that are fed by its ecotourism reputation all point toward a pathway to nixing carbon emissions from its record.

Can it get rid of cars? Likely not for a while. But there’s an infectious power to becoming the first to reach an otherwise unattainable summit. Costa Rica’s success, like its accomplishments in ecotourism, may be just the impetus the world needs to solve its environmental problems.

Flickr image: kansasphoto; Christian Haugen