Blu Skye World

The 4 Toughest Environmental Challenges in Business (Fortune.com)

Thu, 09 May 2013 15:19:31 -0700

Industry experts offer fixes for some of the green world's thorniest issues: solar expansion, recycling, establishing standards, and feeding the world's growing population sustainably.

FORTUNE -- Sometimes the best way to make a real breakthrough is to set an impossible goal.

Think of President John F. Kennedy's 1961 speech in which he called for the United States to put a man on the moon by the end of the decade. Many dismissed the idea as preposterous. But, sure enough, by July 20, 1969, the Eagle had landed at Tranquility Base. The seemingly unachievable became reality.

The roughly 350 attendees at Fortune's Brainstorm Green conference last week participated in their own experiment in the power of audacious goal setting. They were challenged to come up with practical ways to make a quantum leap forward in four key areas of sustainability: solar power, recycling, measuring the environmental impact of products, and scaling up food production to match population growth.

The program was developed to give the conference-goers a chance to go deeper on important environmental topics -- to help create solutions rather than just talk about problems. Jib Ellison, founder and CEO of Blu Skye Consulting, helped design the "rapid prototyping" approach.

Blu Skye at Fortune Brainstorm Green 2013

Wed, 08 May 2013 09:52:11 -0700

SOLUTIONS SESSIONS

This year, Fortune Brainstorm Green, considered by many to be the best sustainability conference in the USA, added a twist to its time-tested formula: It included four action-oriented breakout sessions, each focused on solving a systems problem. Blu Skye had the privilege to design and facilitate two of the conference’s four sessions. As the website states about the sessions:

“Brainstorm GREEN participants are challenged with solving four big sustainability problems which, if solved, would result in significant business opportunities and environmental benefits. These facilitated 90-minute workshops will provide solutions-focused networking opportunities; enable rapid prototyping of ideas and solutions; and create the possibility for collective action on big sustainability issues”

Each session was introduced by CEO ‘hosts’ during their main stage interviews. David Steiner, CEO of Waste Management, set up Erin Billman’s Solution Session entitled, How do we double America’s recycling rate in five years? David Crane, CEO of NRG Energy, set up my session, How do we scale solar to be on 50% of the roofs in the US by 2018? Clarence Otis introduced a session on protein production and Sara Greenstein and Kara Hurst on sustainability ratings.

Unlike traditional breakout sessions, these Solution Sessions were designed to generate committed actions to reach the stated goals. Discussion leaders – subject matter experts tasked with generating the starting ideas and insights – read like a Who’s Who from their respective industries. In my solar session, we had solar industry CEOs, bankers, technologists, government and social media leaders.

The design principles I used were:

Start with a goal that is physically possible, but unlikely without a system-level breakthrough

Tap the ‘wisdom in the room’ and ensure that everyone has an influence in the final set of actions

Build collective energy, excitement and momentum to act

Put in place a structure for follow up

Have fun

For me, the great challenge was how to do all this in 85 minutes? Give Blu Skye this group of people for 3 days and we’d change the world. Limited to an hour and half after a big lunch with a nearby beach and lots of emails to answer, I faced a significant challenge.

SOLAR ENERGY BREAKTHROUGHS

Each of the four sessions were designed and run differently – and only the Solar Solution Session involved roving executives clad in blue Hawaiian shirts. The Solar Session distributed the 12 discussion leaders into four equal teams each representing a critical, yet distinct, part of any breakthrough: Policy, Customer, Technology and Financing. Prior to our time together, the teams aligned around a short set of practical actions which became the Solution Session’s starting point. For instance, in the weeks before they met in Laguna Niguel, Nat Kreamer, CEO of Clean Power Finance, Richard O’Day, Managing Director of the Global Market Solutions Group from Credit Suisse, and Ray Wood, Managing Director and Head of Renewables Group for Bank of America, worked together to align on three proposed actions in the area of finance that would be required (along with coordinated actions in Policy, Technology and Customer) to reach our 2018 target of solar on 50% of US rooftops. Each of the other three teams also arrived with hypotheses developed and ready to share.

So, our Not-So Dirty Dozen were ready when the doors flung open after lunch and the 50 participants rolled in. The first half of our session had the 50 gathering in small groups around a category presenter, listening to the ideas, providing further refinements or new ideas and then, after 10 minutes, rotating to another station. In this structure, each participant would have a chance to influence the deliverable from each of the four teams. The discussion leaders from each team were charged with taking the feedback and looking for new ideas while being willing to shed their old ones. It was a high-energy and physical exercise. But what about the Hawaiian shirts? In order to ensure that there was connectivity between the groups – that the Customer Group wasn’t committing to an idea that ran counter to ideas being refined by the Policy Group – each team had a 'Rover' whose job it was to bring back intelligence from the other groups and to influence them as well. And they were well dressed for the job.

When the dust settled after a boisterous chaotic 45 minutes, we listened to the refined 3-4 ideas that emerged from each team. 22 participants then enrolled in following up to do more work together. A 3-day “System-in-the-Room” multi-stakeholder working session had been successfully condensed into 90-minutes of controlled chaos.

Each of the other three Solution Sessions (Recycling, Proteins, and Labeling) similarly generated new insight and momentum toward their respective goals. It appears that this new Solutions format will be a fixture of future Fortune Brainstorm conferences, which will not only educate participants, but also inspire practical multi-stakeholder action and innovation.

Eggs, Manure, and the Power of Relationships

Mon, 22 Apr 2013 15:31:52 -0700

Recently my colleague Julie Menter and I were fortunate to join Hal Hamilton and his team at the Sustainable Food Laboratory’s annual summit. One of the most inspiring stories there came from a panel of three farmers in Michigan - Ben Sattelberg of Bayshore Farms, and Jon Findlay of Clearwater Farm, both crop farmers, and egg grower Greg Herbruck, of Herbruck's Poultry Ranch. All three are part of Costco's supply chain.

What did we learn?

Community-based partnerships are solving business, and sustainability needs.

The technical solutions exist. Precision technologies can enable less fertilizer application and less wasted energy. Organic practices can increase soil quality without compromising yield. What’s unique about these three farmers is that they are embracing change, both individually and in relationship with each other, within their community. Not only are they adopting more sustainable practices on their own farms, they are building partnerships with each other to solve their challenges. For instance, what to do with the chicken manure? Greg pelletizes it and provides it to Ben and John for fertilizer for their crops.

This got us thinking. Solutions exist to drive the change we need toward more sustainable practices. But without people, change will be limited. Add people to the equation, and change can grow exponentially. People, in relationship with each other, in a community based on trust, can make all the difference.

But the challenge in today’s society is that we are losing the art of being in relationship with each other. Time is short, and transactions trump interactions. We are losing the soft skills of conversing, of building connections based on authenticity and transparency, of building foundations of trust that are the necessary precursor to change.

This is a topic Julie and I will be exploring more in August at the FMI / GMA Sustainability Summit, as we talk about the art of being in relationship and building enrollment as a lever for broadening and accelerating change toward more sustainable practices, both in our food systems and beyond. We hope you’ll join us.

Glen Low discusses Blu Skye's Unique Approach to Solving Systemic Sustainability Issues during Net Impact Issues in Depth Call

Thu, 11 Apr 2013 13:32:22 -0700

Many of the sustainability challenges facing the world today can't be solved by just one company. These issues require true collaborative action, focused on creating real value for system participants.

During a recent Net Impact Issues in Depth call, Glen Low discussed Blu Skye's experience and process for engaging multi-industry stakeholders and creating breakthrough impact.

Find the webinar and more Net Impact Issues in Depth calls here (note: Net Impact membership required to view some content).

In Praise of Sports

Wed, 13 Mar 2013 15:10:52 -0700

By Stephen Linaweaver, Blu Skye

Last month’s GreenBiz San Francisco Forum was a great combination of visionaries, corporate sustainability leaders, entrepreneurs, and storytellers. I was fortunate to moderate a “Sports in Sustainability” panel with Jill Savery, Jennifer Reagan, and Michael Lynch, representing the America’s Cup, AEG (one of the largest sports and entertainment companies), and NASCAR, respectively.

We all know the Superbowl attracts a lot of people. But the sheer reach of these three companies surprised me. AEG entertains 50 million guests annually. The America’s Cup is broadcast to 250 million people. And NASCAR not only has 65 million fans in the US, but is translated into 20 languages and shown in 150 countries.

All told, these three companies reach the equivalent of a country with a population second only to China and India. This exposure is a great opportunity, and Jill, Michael, and Jennifer all have impressive programs that not only reduce their own footprint, but also communicate directly with fans and guests. One of AEG’s goals is to ensure that 100% of their facilities include environmental messaging. This is significant. What if 100% of Proctor and Gamble products contained environmental messaging? They would be lauded for such a public commitment to the environment and shifting citizen behavior.

Of course with this opportunity also comes responsibility. Should sports and entertainment companies do more? Could they involve athletes more in the messaging? Certainly.

And I am confident they will, assuming the ethos is genuine and authentic to the athlete. In fact, I propose that sports will be one of the greatest levers for change in the next five years when it comes to achieving a more sustainable economy. Why?

First of all, each NASCAR race or America’s Cup event is like launching a new product or reinventing a city. Teams, venues, sponsors, and management groups can try something at every game or match. If it does not work, they can revamp for the next week or the next season. Fast failure and innovation are inevitable.

Secondly, sports teams and venues have a captive, highly passionate audience. As Jennifer Reagan mentioned to me, sporting events are “about the moment, about possibility. People want to be at a game live because they want to be there when the impossible happens.” If you are like me and have a sleep-limiting addiction to SportsCenter, you’ll know that the impossible happens every single day. In the past week, four high school teams have won basketball games on last second shots taken from over 75 feet away. That defines impossible.

Sports creates a community that is at fever pitch, visualizing possibility, and living in the future of a winning season, a championship, a turn-around from the previous year, or an underdog knocking off a school ten times its size.

It is the combination of community, possibility, and passion that will help us to create a future different than the one that lies directly before us now. Sports, from sailboats to stock cars and every high school gym in between, can lead the way.

Blu Skye at GreenBiz Forum San Francisco (Feb. 26-28)

Tue, 19 Feb 2013 09:18:10 -0800

Join Blu Skye at GreenBiz Forum San Francisco in February. We have the pleasure of participating in this year's Forum to discuss multiple topics from sports to industry and value-chain collaboration. We hope to connect with you there!

Thursday February 28, 9:45 AM - 10:15 AM: Sustainability in Sport
From motor cars to yacht races and everything in between, sport has a unique impact on its audience. This panel will explore strides major sports teams have made and the next wave of activity in engaging their widespread audiences.

Presented by: Jill Savery Head of Sustainability, America's Cup Event Authority; Mike Lynch Managing Director, Green Innovation, NASCAR; Jennifer Regan Global Sustainability Director, AEG

In conversation with: Stephen Linaweaver, Principal, BluSkye

Thursday February 28, 2:45-3:45 PM (Workshop): Finding Millions Downstream: How To Successfully Collaborate Across Your Value Chain
Requests to join initiatives of cross-industry collaborations on sustainability are becoming more common. Done well, they can unlock millions of new dollars within value chains. Done poorly they can lead to inaction, greenwashing, and wasted time and money. Drawing from our experiences with the Sustainable Apparel Coalition, the Corporation for Battery Recycling, and Alcoa’s Action to Accelerate Recycling, join Erin Billman, Principal at Blu Skye as she discusses how to identify the characteristics of good collaborations, how to design them, and tips on how to make the most of your participation. The workshop will close with a brainstorm on what kinds of collaborations could be most useful in audience industries and how you might begin to enroll your peers’ support.

Presented by: Erin Billman, Principal, Blu Skye

Check out the full GreenBiz Forum San Francisco program here.

Blu Skye at GreenBiz Forum New York (Feb. 19-21)

Tue, 19 Feb 2013 09:18:10 -0800

Wednesday February 20, 1:30-2:30 PM (Workshop): Collaboration as a Driver of Breakthrough Change: Lessons from the US Dairy Industry

This session will explore the successful multi-year efforts of the US Dairy industry to drive unprecedented sustainability innovation across the dairy value chain while creating business value for dairy farmers, processors, and others in the value chain. The effort aligned CEOs representing 80% of the US dairy industry around a joint commitment to a 25% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions of fluid milk by 2020.

The collaboration launched a set of initiatives to drive progress on emissions reductions while delivering an estimated over $200 million in business value. Many leading dairy processors and producers have piloted the projects, set goals, and found that sustainability builds on the heritage of stewardship and makes “cents” – reducing costs and creating new sources of revenue.

This session will focus on how dairy successfully engaged a broad cross section of the industry and a cadre of stakeholders and partners to drive breakthrough change. The industry’s sustainability effort has subsequently been expanded to include water and other sustainability metrics, and the industry is currently developing the Stewardship and Sustainability Guide for U.S. Dairy, along with a suite of Smart Tools to provide the entire supply chain, from grass to glass.

In this session John Whalen, Principal at Blu Skye Consulting who worked with the industry to design and launch the initiative, speaks with Erin Fitzgerald, Senior Vice President, Sustainability at the Innovation Center for U.S. Dairy, who has led the industry collaboration effort, and Doug Young, Owner, Spruce Haven Farm and Research Center near Syracuse New York, one of the leading innovators in sustainable practices at the farm level.

Check out the full program of GreenBiz Forum New York

Individual Matter- Glen Low in Conversation about Action and the Environment at the Commonwealth Club

Thu, 14 Feb 2013 17:06:26 -0800

If you missed Glen Low speaking at the Commonwealth Club about what actions we can all take to solve the world's most pressing environmental challenges, listen to the Individual Matter 2/12/13 podcast here or read a summary of the event.

Glen Low in Conversation about Action for a Sustainable Future at the Commonwealth Club Tuesday, February 12th

Mon, 11 Feb 2013 09:38:17 -0800

Environmental advocates urge individuals to start reducing their carbon footprint by taking one simple action. If everyone did that the carbon savings would be substantial, the thinking goes. Are such starter steps the beginning of a lifelong journey or actually deceptive and even counterproductive?

Glen Low, Principal at Blu Skye, joins a Climate One discussion focused on what actions we can all take individually and collectively (as society, companies, government, etc) to solve the world's most pressing environmental challenges.

Date: Tuesday, February 12

Time: 5:30pm check in; 6:00pm program

Location: The Commonwealth Club, SF Club Office, 595 Market Street, San Francisco

Find more details and RSVP here

Climate One Clean Clothes Podcast- Listen Now!

Tue, 29 Jan 2013 10:57:09 -0800

Listen to Climate One's Clean Clothes January 25th conversation between Levi’s and Patagonia on making America’s clothing industry more sustainable.

“No one company, no matter how big it is, can change the world itself on an issue this complex,” says Chip Bergh, CEO of Levi Strauss & Co. In efforts to reduce the footprint of the clothing industry, Patagonia and Levi’s are calling for conscious consumerism. “We want to encourage our customers to use [our product] as much as they can as long as they can,” said Rick Ridgeway, VP of Environmental Affairs at Patagonia, “capitalism based on growth is not sustainable.”

Catch the full television broadcast March 24th at 11 am KRCB TV 22 on Comcast and DIRECTV.

Climate One Clean Clothes Panel

Mon, 28 Jan 2013 10:36:09 -0800

Blu Skye had the privilege of sponsoring an excellent Climate One event, “Clean Clothes with Levi’s and Patagonia” Friday, January 25^th. With a sold-out crowd of 150+ audience members, Climate One’s Greg Dalton facilitated a thoughtful and wide-ranging panel about the apparel industry’s environmental sustainability.

Levi’s was represented by CEO Chip Bergh and Patagonia was represented by Rick Ridgeway, VP of Environmental Programs and Communications.

For me, a clear take-away from the panel was that achieving a “sustainable” apparel industry will be difficult and the challenges are complex. However, I found Levi’s and Patagonia to be inspiring examples of companies that are making headway with strategies that include innovation, collaboration and long-term planning.

Given that 95% of Levi’s products are cotton-based, it’s no surprise that the topic of cotton came up throughout the panel. One part of the conversation that I found entertaining was when Rick walked the audience through Patagonia’s decision-making process on cotton sourcing. First, to alleviate issues with pesticides and fertilizer, Patagonia committed to sourcing only organic cotton 10 years ago. However, they felt that organic did not necessarily address issues of water use (particularly in areas of water scarcity) so Patagonia shifted towards rain-fed cotton farms with abundant rainfall. While solving that problem, they learned that some of their suppliers’ practices were keeping rainwater from natural aquifers so they had to adjust their sourcing choices yet again. This resonated with me because it demonstrates how complex and squirrelly sustainability issues are-- solving one problem often reveals two more issues.

On the topic of cotton, Chip spoke about Levi’s commitment to the Better Cotton Initiative. Interestingly, this choice has not been driven by marketing; in fact, Levi’s does not market their use of Better Cotton because they are not yet convinced that the designation will be meaningful to customers. Instead, Levi’s is committed to better cotton because of the company’s commitment to “do the right thing.”

Prompted by Greg, the panelists discussed some of the reasons why Levi’s and Patagonia have been able to demonstrate sustainability leadership in such a difficult context. Rick and Chip mentioned a few particular traits that have helped contribute to their companies’ success:

Like most other apparel companies, Levi’s and Patagonia face the frequent challenge of choosing between commitments to quality/performance and commitments to minimal environmental impacts. I appreciated how neither viewed this tension only as a hardship, but also had strategies to turn it into a driver of value and innovation.

Though the conversation covered challenges and obstacles facing the industry, it also highlighted reasons for optimism. Both speakers spoke highly of the power of collaboration to address issues that one player cannot resolve on their own and create tools (like the SAC’s Higg Index) that will enable movement towards a sustainable industry.

The duo also spoke positively of the power of government mandates to inspire positive developments, though Chip gave the caveat that it’s critical for governments around the world to be consistent. Rick built on that point, explaining that the SAC is working hard to convene companies and figure out the right approach so that they can inform governments of the best, consistent and implementable approach. The intent is to prevent a proliferation of conflicting, impractical mandates from hundreds of legislations around the world. He believes “private regulation” will lead to a more informed mandate that will be better for the environment and better for consumers.

The audience was full of thought-leaders and innovators representing the strong northern California sustainable apparel community. With so many smart, dedicated people working on this issue, it’s hard not to be hopeful for the prospects of a more sustainable apparel industry. As Rick said in his closing thoughts about whether he was optimistic, “I think of my friend, the author David Quammen when asked that question. As he put it, ‘The trouble with despair as a response is that it is useless – it provides no solutions and it is no fun either.’ Hope, at least, is fun. In committing to collaboration, we have hope.”

Coalitions and Clean Clothes: What Works and Why

Fri, 25 Jan 2013 20:45:37 -0800

I just left a workshop held prior to Climate One’s Clean Clothes event at the Commonwealth Club in San Francisco, where for the first time in my life I had the feeling that the apparel industry is going to lead us to a sustainable economy.

Others will have more to say about Climate One’s event . I would like to focus on the pre-event workshop hosted by Blu Skye and attended by over 20 sustainability leaders from various industries.

The workshop focused on the Sustainable Apparel Coalition, or SAC, and its role in vaulting apparel towards leadership as an industry. As a relative newcomer to Blu Skye, I will admit that before today I did not know as much about the SAC as my colleagues. There are a lot of coalitions out there, and a lot of acronyms, and it is easy to get confused, exhausted, and slightly apathetic.

The workshop gave me an opportunity to speak to several SAC members and I realized that the SAC is unique, in both approach and impact. The Coalition tried a few things differently, and they worked.

We can all learn from their approach. From what I can surmise, there were three things most critical to the SAC’s success:

Pledge No Governance until Action. Instead of spinning its wheels on who would lead and how it would be organized, the SAC focused on first agreeing on the primary actions to take, I found this principle the most interesting. All of us have been part of groups that never get off the ground because no one could agree on the org chart or decision-making processes. While they admit that this created “early chaos”, SAC members said that this was the key to moving fast and proving their value before others could question it.
Set the Bar High for Objections. When faced with objections from members, the SAC asked a simple question: “Is this make or break for you, or can you live with it?” This meant the group could build momentum early by not sweating the small stuff. It also meant that, over time, companies would only object to issues that really mattered to them – the dealbreakers. This created more meaningful discussions that reinforced trust and collaboration.
Relentless focus on one thing. There are a lot of things coalitions can do. The SAC focused on measurement. In the words of one member, “It is amazing what a lot of measurement does to inspire action.” By rigorously focusing on measurement, the SAC provided a benchmarking window, allowing companies to look at themselves in comparison to their peers for the first time. This surprised some companies- even ones who thought they were leaders – and created a “race to the top”, which is exactly what the early, anchor members of the SAC had hoped it would do.

The results? Since its 2010 inception, the SAC already has 80+ companies, representing over a third of the global revenue for the sector, signed up as members to achieve a simple vision: “An apparel and footwear industry that produces no unnecessary environmental harm and has a positive impact on the people and communities associated with its activities.” The Coalition has agreed on a supply chain index (The Higg Index) that is in use today, and several other industries are already trying it.

The Sustainable Apparel Coalition is not just a platform for “Clean Clothes”, it is, in the words of one SAC leader, “a vertical industry transformation blueprint.” Said another way, it is a model of progress for all industries. Not exactly how I considered t-shirts and jeans when I walked into the Commonwealth Club this morning.

Hats off to all the SAC’s dedicated founding members for making it happen.

CEF Member Challenge 2013

Fri, 18 Jan 2013 17:18:12 -0800

CEF Sustainability Leadership Development Program
“Building and Leading Collaborations for Sustainability”
Middle Fork of the Salmon River, Idaho
August 22-25, 2013

CEF will sponsor 5 winning employees from member companies to attend an all-expenses paid* prestigious sustainability leadership development program led by Blu Skye CEO Jib Ellison-- trusted sustainability advisor to corporate leaders and a class V river guide.

Find out more details and how to apply here

Chicago Booth San Francisco Event- A Discussion on the Future of Social Entrepreneurship (Feb 5)

Fri, 18 Jan 2013 11:36:54 -0800

Well established as a hub of innovation, finance, and social consciousness, San Francisco has emerged as an attractive home for social enterprises. Join Chicago Booth in San Francisco for a discussion with Booth alumni and social entrepreneurs who will share their expertise and perspective on the current environment.

Hear their take on the future of social entrepreneurship as Glen Low of Blu Skye moderates a panel which includes John Goldstein, Managing Director, Imprint Capital Advisors, Dan Macklin, Co-Founder & VP of Business Development, SoFi and Richard Fahey, Chief Operation Officer, Skoll Foundation.

Date: February 5, 2013
Time: 7:00-9:30pm
Location: Hotel Vitale, 8 Mission St, San Francisco
Cost: Free

Register and more information

Jib Ellison addresses the Oregon Environmental Council

Thu, 17 Jan 2013 18:03:12 -0800

On January 10, 2013, Oregon Environmental Council presented a breakfast Business and Environment Forum, Sustainability 3.0: The Next Generation of Sustainable Business Practices. In the video below, Jib Ellison delivers the morning's keynote.

Click here to download a pdf copy of Jib's presentation slides.

Clean Clothes with Levi's and Patagonia (Jan 25)

Wed, 09 Jan 2013 08:47:02 -0800

A Climate One Event - From organic cotton to recycled zippers many clothing brands are trying to establish their bona fides with consumers who care about the health of their bodies and the planet. In a world of increasing transparency about environmental and labor practices consumers expect to know more about the clothes they wear. What lies ahead for product labeling and making the $200 billion US clothing industry more sustainable? Are efforts encouraging consumers to wash their clothes less a smart move or a retailer dodge? Do U.S. brands really monitor their factories in China? Join us for a conversation with leaders in the effort to run sustainable companies that make durable and responsible products.

Chip Bergh, CEO, Levi’s
Casey Sheahan, CEO, Patagonia

Date: Friday, January 25
Time: 11:30a.m. check-in, 12p.m program, 1p.m. networking reception
Location: The Commonwealth Club, SF Club Office, 595 Market Street, San Francisco
Cost: $20 standard, FREE for members, $7 students (with valid ID)

The speakers and audience will be videotaped for future broadcast on the Climate One TV show on KRCB TV 22 on Comcast and DirecTV.

Click here to purchase tickets.

Behind the scenes at the Sustainable Apparel Coalition (GreenBiz.com)

Thu, 26 Jul 2012 14:47:54 -0700

The story of the Sustainable Apparel Coalition begins with a letter designed to get the attention of even a busy CEO. At the top: the logos of Walmart and Patagonia. John Fleming, who was then Walmart’s chief merchandising officer, and Yvon Chouinard, Patagonia’s founder, signed the letter, which invited chief executives of some of the world’s biggest clothing companies–fierce competitors, ordinarily -- to join together to develop an index to measure the environmental impact of their products.

Their pitch, in part, read like this:

Creating a single approach for measuring sustainability in the apparel sector will do much more than accelerate meaningful social and environmental change. Standardization will enable us to maximize sustainability benefits for all buyers without investing in multiple sustainability technologies and certification processes, and ultimately empower consumers to trust claims regarding sustainably sourced apparel.

Finally, as an industry, we will benefit from the unique opportunity to shape policy and create standards for measuring sustainability before government inevitably imposes one.

…The time is right and the need is great for the apparel sector to move forward now, without further delay, in unison, with strong partners like you.

It was a risky proposition. What if it turned out that a competing company had a better sustainability story to tell? Would consumers be given access to the index? NGOs? Regulators? Most big retailers knew that they had very little visibility deep into their supply chains. Did they really want to find out, for example, that a supplier to one of their suppliers, in a factory they had never visited in China or Vietnam, exploited workers or dumped pollution into a nearby river? Any meaningful index would require companies to ask tough questions and, eventually, face demands from others to share what they had learned.

The letter went out on October 1, 2009. Less than three years later, despite those risks, the apparel industry has made major progress towards creating a global sustainability index, the Higg Index, to measure and score products, factories and companies. A first version was released today by the Sustainable Apparel Coalition, the nonprofit group that developed the index. Read the full story at GreenBiz.com.

The Sustainable Apparel Coalition and the Next Industrial Revolution

Thu, 26 Jul 2012 10:53:38 -0700

In just over two years the Sustainable Apparel Coalition has grown from an unlikely partnership to an organization representing roughly a third of the global apparel industry. Leveraging decades of work by companies like Nike, Levi’s, the Outdoor Industry Association and Patagonia, it has delivered an apparel sustainability index that is driving innovation and will ultimately enable consumers to make more informed, sustainable choices. Now this groundbreaking example of precompetitive collaboration is paving the way for similar efforts in other industries and a future where sustainability performance of all products is measured and managed across the supply chain.

By John Whalen, Principal, Blu Skye

A little over two years ago an intriguing invitation went out to eight major companies with key roles in the apparel industry as well as to a handful of non-profits and academics with an interest in sustainability and apparel. The letter was on joint letterhead bearing the logos of Wal-Mart and Patagonia, and was jointly signed by then chief merchandising officer of Wal-Mart, John Fleming and Patagonia Founder, Yvon Chouinard. The signal was clear: this was no ordinary invitation. This unlikely pairing was enough to get the recipients to read the letter, which invited their peers to send representatives to an exploratory meeting in New York. At that meeting the group committed to pursue an ambitious, some would say impossible, vision. They agreed to work together to develop a single, industry-wide standard for evaluating the sustainability performance of apparel products and the value chain that produced them – a sustainability index for apparel.

Over the past two years Blu Skye has been privileged to support the genesis and development of the Coalition and the creation of the apparel index. During that period the SAC has grown to a global group of over 60 organizations representing all phases of the apparel value chain from raw materials to retail. It met its initial goal of completing a prototype index within one year of formal launch. And after a pilot, extensive member and stakeholder feedback, and iteration, that index has now been formally released and is available for public use on their website and is receiving attention from the press.

The SAC is now a non-profit industry association, with a talented executive director, Jason Kibbey, a strong staff, and a board committed to real industry leadership and innovation. The SAC recently received the C.K. Prahalad Award for industry collaboration from the Corporate Eco-Forum, and a case study [pdf] on the coalition has been written by the Center for Responsible Business at the University of California Berkeley’s Haas School of Business.

Much work remains to be done to fulfill the promise of this success and have the index adopted and used at scale: a data platform to enable index data to be aggregated and shared, a data validation framework, and eventually, a mechanism for communicating index results to consumers must be built.

But even at this early stage of the journey, the index is already creating value for coalition members, in a purely business-to-business context. It is enabling new conversations about sustainability performance within individual companies’ value chains. Brands are briefing their senior executives about how they stack up against this new industry standard. Retailers are building the index into their supplier scorecard along with financial, quality, and inventory management indicators, making environmental performance a new category of competition in the supply chain. Factory managers are using the index as an input into the design of new facilities to ensure that they will score well. Product designers are assessing the raw materials they select, and comparing the pattern efficiency of their designs to those of other designers to help reduce fabric waste. “What’s gets measured gets managed” is a hoary adage, but it holds true. And the apparel index holds the promise of driving a wave of innovation and continuous improvement across a global supply chain. It holds the promise of making sustainability measurement efficient for suppliers, as they can collect and report performance data once for all their customers. It holds the promise of focusing the attention of manufacturers on a consistent set of priorities for improvement, and creating aggregated demand for those improvements from a broad base of customers. And, through working together to create the index, the organizations making up the coalition have built an unprecedented framework for collaboration. The SAC currently represents over a third of the apparel produced in the world; by year end it may represent half. What draws organizations to join is not simply the index but the leadership commitment and the sense of promise of what this group of companies can do together to make a real difference.

Moreover, their effort is already bearing fruit beyond apparel. The SAC members who sell shoes are creating a version of the index customized for footwear. In the outdoor industry, a group of companies is adapting the index for equipment. And retailers and manufacturers from several other industry sectors have expressed an interest in adapting and adopting the index. The SAC, recognizing the potential impact beyond apparel, wisely chose to give the index a brand that can be applied globally and in any context: The Higg Index. The name echoes the Higgs Boson, the elusive subatomic particle that gives mass to all other particles: one might say it is the common foundation that makes all things measurable. With the apparel index, and the collaborations that will be built on its foundation, the industry that started the first industrial revolution is poised to lead the next industrial revolution, one where sustainability performance is measured and managed across the supply chain. It is clear that the index is already going beyond apparel and that additional categories are not only probably, but inevitable. We are honored to have worked with this remarkable group of people and wish the SAC great success.

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Wondering how the successes of the Sustainable Apparel Coalition might be applied to your industry? We invite you to join the conversation on Blu Skye's Facebook page.

Duracell, Energizer, Panasonic and Rayovac Join Forces for Battery Recycling and Seek Partner Org to Run Program (PR Newswire)

Tue, 10 Jul 2012 13:12:25 -0700

The Corporation for Battery Recycling (CBR), a non-profit organization comprised of Duracell, Energizer, Panasonic and Rayovac, the four largest US battery companies, issued a request for proposal that seeks a business partner to steward the collection and… Read the full story at PRNewswire.com

Helping U.S. Farmers Increase Production and Protect the Land (Yale Environment 360)

Thu, 05 Jul 2012 09:19:31 -0700

American agriculture is steeped in a chemical-intensive system that wastes money and pollutes the environment. But by making use of new technology and innovative approaches, farmers can boost production and profits — while at the same time improving soil quality, enhancing biodiversity, and protecting habitat.

by Julie Menter

In California, farmers can go online and access detailed data on evapotranspiration from a state network of weather stations, helping them calculate the optimal amount of water to apply on a given day to irrigated crops in their region. In a pilot study, growers using the California Irrigation Management Information System (CIMIS) reduced their water use by 13 percent while increasing their yields by 8 percent. Still, despite these benefits, farmers use CIMIS data on only 5 percent of irrigated cropland in California, the U.S.’s leading agricultural state.

In Iowa, the U.S.’s top producer of soybeans, farmers can participate in a program that assists them in conducting research on their farms to improve soybean yields, reduce use of fertilizer and pesticides, and increase profitability. Soybean farmers participating in the On-Farm Network of the Iowa Soybean Association have reduced fertilizer use by 33 pounds per acre, allowing them to save $16 per acre without reducing yields. Although this environmentally beneficial program is expanding in the U.S., farmers tilling far less than 1 percent of U.S. cropland are taking advantage of it.

Unfortunately, as these programs demonstrate, innovative farmers are the exception in American agriculture today. Although much of the technology, tools, and know-how to usher in the “farm of the future” exist, these reforms have not been widely adopted, even when they provide positive financial returns. As a result, many farmers — steeped in a system focused on selling them more fertilizer, more herbicides and insecticides, and more equipment — waste money on excessive chemicals and nutrients that pollute the environment and weaken the ecosystems farmers depend upon: clean water, healthy soils, beneficial insects, and more.

U.S. agriculture has been far behind the curve in adopting the principles of “lean manufacturing,” which has seen businesses as varied as Toyota, General Electric, and FedEx use key performance indicators, statistical analysis of outcomes, and goal-setting to improve profitability — and protect the environment. But the good news is that enormous opportunities exist to turn the situation around, creating profitable farms across the U.S. that produce an abundance of healthy food while improving the soil, enhancing biodiversity, and protecting habitats. Such farms might seem like an impossible dream today, but they are not. Read the full article on the Yale Environment 360 blog: e360.yale.edu.

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