Office building green roofs tend to be a ‘spectator sport’: look but don’t touch. Telus, one of the Big-Three telecom in Canada, launch their participatory rooftop garden in their downtown Toronto building where staff are encouraged to seed, water, weed, and harvest the vegetables. I talk to Sameer Panjwani, National
Continue readingAuthor: Derek Wong
Carbon49 - Sustainability for Canadian businesses: Green Buildings Bring Vertical Forests to the City
Visually stunning and environmentally progressive condo buildings and office towers are appearing in Europe and Asia in recent years, including the Bosco Verticale in Milan, Hearst Tower in New York, and Urban Cactus in Rotterdam. Corporations and condo developers take note … whoever construct the first of this type of
Continue readingCarbon49 - Sustainability for Canadian businesses: The Transformational Company: CBSR Summit
The 11th Annual Summit by Canadian Business for Social Responsibility brought together an international panel of leaders to address how corporate social responsibility practitioners can lead their companies onto a transformational path. Keynote speaker John Elkington showed how enterprises can set and achieve bold goals that touch their core business while
Continue readingCarbon49 - Sustainability for Canadian businesses: How Small Green Team Can Transform Large Corporation
Small green teams tasked with transforming large corporations, governments, cities, and neighborhoods face some tough challenges. TD Bank’s three-person green team employed a range of strategies to inject sustainability thinking into 27,000 employees dispersed in 1,300 locations. I find four of their tactics very smart and can be readily adapted
Continue readingCarbon49 - Sustainability for Canadian businesses: Sustainability: Canada’s Strengths and Weaknesses
A large scale study by OfficeMax Grand & Toy comparing Canadian companies to their world peers finds Canada leads in capturing cost reduction from sustainability initiatives but lags global leaders in driving profitability through collaboration. Broader collaborations with customers, suppliers, government and policy makers may be a key to unlocking the
Continue readingCarbon49 - Sustainability for Canadian businesses: The State of Impact Investing: Green Living Business Forum
What is the state of impact investing? The panel of experts from large institutional investors to small foundations at the 2013 Green Living Business Forum share their thoughts on the growth potential, risks and opportunities, and the valuation of social and environmental factors. Six common threads emerged from the discussion chaired
Continue readingCarbon49 - Sustainability for Canadian businesses: The Real Price We Pay for Fossil Fuel Energy
Did you know our government spend money subsidizing fossil fuel energy to keep prices artificially low? A new International Monetary Fund study uncovers just how much these subsidies are and urge our governments to stop these market distortion practices. I calculate the real price we pay for fossil fuel energy and
Continue readingCarbon49 - Sustainability for Canadian businesses: Obama’s State of the Union Address on Climate Change
“If Congress won’t act soon to protect future generations, I will,” says Obama in his 2013 State of the Union address which devoted a substantial portion on climate change. Direction is set for more oil and gas drilling, but also more funding for electric cars and energy efficient buildings. The
Continue readingCarbon49 - Sustainability for Canadian businesses: A Cardboard Box and Green Business Strategy
Each day offices across Canada and the U.S. receive thousands of shipments in cardboard boxes. Once unpacked they go straight to recycling depots or landfills. Office supplies chain Grand and Toy and its US parent OfficeMax launch their reusable Boomerang Box to help their customers go green and reposition themselves
Continue readingCarbon49 - Sustainability for Canadian businesses: Oxford Properties Building New RBC Headquarters
Can your landlord help your business attract talents, reduce environmental footprint, and foster team collaboration? Royal Bank of Canada aims to achieve all that with its new Canadian headquarters in Toronto being built by Oxford Properties. I take a look at the special features custom designed for sustainability, employee engagement,
Continue readingCarbon49 - Sustainability for Canadian businesses: Ontarians Want More Sustainable Communities
Eight-nine per cent of Ontarians feel their communities would benefit environmentally and economically by incorporating green alternatives, according to a new survey conducted by Research House. Green product manufacturers and suppliers may look into upcoming community development projects such as public parks and community centres for potential collaboration opportunities. The
Continue readingCarbon49 - Sustainability for Canadian businesses: Send a Growable Card to Clients
I recently received a wonderful greeting card from Walmart. It is made of special seed paper that can be grown into a plant. For a company on the sustainability journey, the card itself delivers the message. I love it so much that I tracked down the card manufacturer. When I got
Continue readingCarbon49 - Sustainability for Canadian businesses: TD Greening from Inside Out
While some ‘green’ businesses do little more than changing light bulbs and focus on greening their reputations, TD Bank take a long term view and green themselves slowly and steadily from the inside out. In this exclusive interview, TD Chief Environmental Officer Karen Clarke-Whistler explains how this long term approach
Continue readingCarbon49 - a blog on sustainability for Canadian businesses: Three CEOs in One Room: Walmart, Coca-Cola, Unilever
Some of the biggest CEOs in Canada come together for the Walmart Green Student Challenge. I took this rare opportunity to ask them: Where is sustainability going for Canadian industries? Walmart, Coca-Cola, and Unilever already share best practices for their common goals in sustainability. Now they want to see more
Continue readingCarbon49 - a blog on sustainability for Canadian businesses: How Third-Party CSR Ratings Impact Share Price
Being added to external corporate social responsibility indices enhances a company’s reputation and can affect its share price, but not always in ways expected. This article examines how the stock prices of 121 companies changed after being added to or removed from the Calvert Social Index. Socially responsible investing has
Continue readingCarbon49 - a blog on sustainability for Canadian businesses: CDP Canada 2011: Key Highlights
Carbon Disclosure Project releases its Canada 2011 report today at the Toronto Stock Exchange. More Canadian companies than ever publicly report their greenhouse gas emissions. Contrary to the common believe that going green slows growth, businesses who take the lead into a low carbon economy deliver twice the financial return compare to their peers.
Continue readingCarbon49 - a blog on sustainability for Canadian businesses: 12 Ways To Turn Green Intentions Into Green Actions
82% of consumers have good green intentions, but only 16% are dedicated to fulfilling these intentions, according to an Ogilvy study. This puts 66% in what is called the ‘Middle Green’, a group that is neither active environment crusaders nor anti-greens. How do we turn mainstream consumers’ green intentions into green action?
Continue readingCarbon49 - a blog on sustainability for Canadian businesses: How To Embed Sustainability Into Corporate Culture: A Cheat Sheet
93% of CEOs see sustainability as important to their company’s future success, as found by a UN-Accenture study. But how does one embed sustainability into a company’s core culture? Dr. Stephanie Bertels of Simon Fraser University conducted one of the most extensive researches in this subject. Her findings in the 74-page report are distilled into a core framework diagram. This cheat sheet will guide you through the key points.
Continue readingCarbon49 - a blog on sustainability for Canadian businesses: Coca-Cola: A Case Study In Sustainability
How does Coca-Cola integrate sustainability into their operations? For several years its facility in Brampton, Ontario, one of its largest in North America, has been transforming its manufacturing and distribution to save energy, reduce carbon footprint, water usage, and material usage. In this case study we look at the goals, implementation, and progress of the programs put in place by this $20 billion food and beverage giant.
Continue readingCarbon49 - a blog on sustainability for Canadian businesses: Top Talents Attracted By Corporate Social Responsibility
Talents are key to success in today’s business. How much would a company pay to lower staff turnover rate by 12%? Best Employers in Canada winner LoyaltyOne achieved this through going green. I talked to Chief Sustainability Officer Debbie Baxter to see how embedding sustainability into their corporate culture changes the company.
Continue reading