More than Yoga at GAIAM

Gaiam

GAIAM, Inc. is a leading company dedicated to the practice and lifestyle related to yoga, fitness and wellness products and content. Gaiam is a company dedicated to different practices such as yoga, fitness and wellness, making them accessible to all. However, for Gaiam, all these spiritual and health topics are not only thought for the people’s body and mind; the company has also a big sense of commitment to the environment in every work they do.

The importance of environment for Gaiam

The Conservation Fund

Environment for The Conservation Fund

By creating solutions that make environmental and economic sense, the Conservation Fund is redefining conservation to demonstrate its essential role in the future prosperity.  Top-ranked for efficiency and effectiveness, this Fund has worked in all 50 states in the U.S. to protect more than 7.5 million acres of land since 1985.

Gaiam launched the world’s first carbon-neutral product shipping program in 2006. Partnering with The Conservation Fund, the company created its Go ZeroSM program to involve its great number of customers in climate-change action and raised awareness about the impact of carbon dioxide emissions.

This committed company uses 100% recyclable and biodegradable eco-conscious packaging for all its products. Designed to make the smallest environmental footprint possible, the lightweight, tough and resilient packaging is made from 100% post-consumer waste and is printed with soy-based ink.

Organic materials for their products

Gaiam sources its 30% post-consumer waste paper from a sustainable forest managed by the Program for the Endorsement of Forest Certification (PEFC). PEFC is an organization known for being the world’s largest nongovernmental organization, which promotes sustainably managed forests.

Gaiam is also a company committed to zero-waste standards at its corporate office, adding composting collection to an already robust recycling program that includes materials not collected in most businesses. The company reuses shipping containers and also uses biodegradable packing at its distribution center. In addition to that, Gaiam provides opportunity for employees to join off-site stream cleanups and Habitat for Humanity projects.

The Gaiam lifestyle is a vote for individual health and sustainability of the Earth’s resources

Rafael Nunez Aponte: Timberland’s Corporate Social Responsibility in Every Aspect

Timberland's 2013 CSR Report Highlights Continued Environmental, Community Impacts

As many companies and brands we have shown before, Timberland has a great variety of activities and actions taken in order to benefit society and environment. All that can be verified in their different areas of responsible work: services, products, factories and climate. See more below.

Timberland’s commitment to sustainability was born nearly 40 years ago, and it continues today with the same effort, but with new and more initiatives and ideas. This is a core belief that business can create positive impact in the world.

Products and commitment:

Timberland's work in Haiti

According to Emily Alati, director of materials development for Timberland, the company tries to put the most environmentally responsible materials possible during the creation of their products. They have created material options to substitute for virgin raw materials where possible to meet this goal.

Factories and workers:

As part of Timberland’s Sustainable Living Environment (SLE) program, the supplier sustainability team of Timberland use important periods of time in interacting and giving prominence to factory workers and managers to understand if they are able to meet basic needs and if factory employment is helping to improve their lives.

Service:

Timberland's volunteerism

Engaging Communities. Once a modest family business, Timberland has grown into an important big company; and they owe a lot of success to the people and places around the world where they set up a shop. That is why engaging citizens, employees, and consumers through community service have always been a priority for this company.

Rafael Nunez Aponte: Learn How to Measure Corporate Social Responsibility

B Corp

There are some applications that measure the corporate social responsibility of companies. Some websites crowdsource opinions and facts on companies, while other sites use their own set of metrics to estimate social good. We show you below the tools that stand out among the rest, along with two issue-specific resources that can assist you with purchasing decisions:

B Corp

This tool created a ratings system in 2009 to measure the social and environmental impact of small to medium-sized companies. B Corp helps investors and consumers tell the difference between socially responsible companies and companies with great marketing. Certified B Corporations maintain an in-depth legal structure that expands corporate accountability so they are required to make decisions that are good for society, not just their shareholders, according to the non-profit's website.

JustMeans Insights

JustMeans Insights

JustMeans Insights helps investors, the media, practitioners and consumers measure a company's CSR, environmental impact and sustainability performance against its competitors. This toll provides the data visualization tools to compare these companies. They study the number of standards, dig through thousands of historical reports, and then pull all of that into a data visualization tool normalized to financials, employees, etc. The result is that anyone can then compare companies across industries, sectors, geographies along the same normalized metrics.

In addition to these applications, here are two issue-specific tools that can help you make purchasing decisions.

Eat Well Guide: the Eat Well Guide is an online directory of fresh, local, and sustainable food in the U.S. and Canada including farmers' markets, restaurants, grocery stores, family farms and more.

Monterey Bay Aquarium Seafood Watch: the MBAq sustainable seafood guide lists the most ocean-friendly seafood options by assessing fish populations in conjunction with fishing and fish-farming methods. You can use their online search tool, downloadable pocket guides, or mobile apps.

CSR

Rafael Nunez Aponte: Environment and Sustainability in Nike, Inc.

Environment

Nike, Inc. is an American multinational corporation that is committed in the design, development, manufacturing and worldwide marketing and sales of footwear, apparel, equipment, accessories and services.

The vision of the company is to help Nike, Inc. and its consumers thrive in a sustainable economy where people, profit and planet are in balance. To get there, the company is integrating sustainability principles and practices into everything they do: design; developing sustainable materials; rethinking processes; advocating for change in industry. To measure the progress, they set ambitious long-term targets and report on their performance.

Nike, Inc,

Environment Care. In Nike, Inc., they believe that the looming crises of climate change, water scarcity and quality, and other resource constraints are even greater long-term challenges than today's financial turmoil. Natural resources and ecosystem services have been undervalued, and the environmental impacts of business have been regarded as externalities. All this is changing and rightly coming into view as a priority for inclusion in the business planning of the company.

The Long Term. Environmental issues and considerations are the pressing business issues for both tomorrow and today. Taking environmental issues into account is critical for future financial success and for the long-term sustainability of the business. Doing this in a manner which does not compromise the performance of today's products and today's business results is the challenge of Nike, Inc.

Recycling Circuit of Ecological Notebooks for schools

Idea Verde

Idea Verde starts its first circuit of eco-sustainable notebooks which will allow 1,000 low-income children receive 5000 recyclable notebooks that they can recycle and reuse six times for six school years.

Idea Verde has made alliance with four educational institutions offering courses to low-income children in Caracas (Venezuela) which have informed and specified the need they have of counting with notebooks to the children’s degree and their materials.

A un cuaderno de ti

Once collected the financial resources for manufacturing 5000 notebooks, Idea Verde will start the manufacturing process for a month, and after that, the company will give the notebooks to the children on October 15th, 2015.

At the end of the school year, Idea Verde will collect the notebooks for processing them and then, the company will return the notebooks to the children, repeating this recycling process for six years.

The objective. Idea Verde aims to contribute to the educational development of the Venezuelan youth regarding its general aspects and regarding eco-sustainability. Idea Verde specifically wants to:

• Donate 5000 eco-notebooks to 1000 children and teenagers of one school and three nonprofit organizations on the date October 15th, 2015.
• Recycle and return these 5000 ecological notebooks to 1,000 children to create the first recycling circuit of notebooks for the next six years.
• Promote ecological values in the Venezuelan population in innovative ways.
• Collaborate to increase the chances that low-income children have of continuing their education process without interruption.
• Reduce expenditure on school supplies of low-income families.
• Contribute to the reduction of the deforestation.
• Recycle paper, cardboard and plastic.
• Contribute to the creation of a movement for eco-sustainability.

Support schools.

This project will benefit more than 900 families in the first year, and in the long-term it will benefit more than 300,000 families.