Sustainable Outreach

Sustainability Awareness Grows

You can’t go a few hours any day of the week without reading or hearing another sustainability story that is based on one or all of the 17 Sustainability Development Goals. Businesses – small and large – can benefit from sustainability. You can help humanity and grow your business.

Wall Street Going Green

The corporate world is adopting green. Visit Goldman Sachs’ website and you’ll immediately spot this new direction.

You’ll be met with a background of lush greenery, along with a banner headline: “Our Commitment to Sustainable Finance.”

Goldman Sachs Group recently announced a $750 billion, 10-year initiative in nine areas such as clean energy, affordable education and accessible healthcare, and overhauled lending policies to exclude ventures like new Arctic drilling.

The multi-billion dollar commitment is earmarked for investing in, financing and advising companies that are pursuing sustainable goals like taking steps to reduce carbon emissions. Behind Goldman Sachs’ efforts is essentially one guy, John Goldstein - regarded as the “Forrest Gump” of the field, since he keeps popping up at key moments - who sold his firm, Impact Capital Advisors, to Goldman in 2015.

“Large companies are pushing sustainability up and down their supply chains. Governments are getting more active and engaged. You’re seeing it everywhere,” said Goldstein, now head of the firm’s Sustainable Finance Group, which was formed last July. “You can see and feel the acceleration going on.”

Goldman Sachs is hardly alone when it comes to big financial institutions buying into sustainability in a serious way.

Globally, sustainable and impact investing has skyrocketed to $12 trillion as of 2018, a 38% increase in two years, according to the US SIF Foundation.

Wegmans

Wegmans Food Markets plans to eliminate single-use plastic bags from all of its 47 New York stores on January 27.

Rochester, NY-based supermarket said that the decision follows a pilot launched in July in which the plastic bags were removed at two stores in Corning and Ithaca, NY. The retailer noted that it’s phasing out the bags ahead of a New York state ban that goes into effect on March 1.

“We learned a lot from the pilot that will help ensure a smooth transition out of plastic bags in the rest of our New York stores for our customers and employees,” Jason Wadsworth, packaging and sustainability manager at Wegmans, said in a statement.

Wegmans said since introducing reusable bags in 2007, the company has focused on educating customers about their benefits, notably extra convenience. A recent companywide survey found that 95% of Wegmans shoppers already own at least one reusable bag, and 87% have three or more. Among regular reusable bag customers, the top three reasons for choosing them over single-use bags — beyond the environmental benefits — were sturdiness, handles and ease of packing, the retailer said.

Perdue Farms

What to do with plastic packaging? Perdue Farms will start packaging some of its meat products in a more earth-friendly way with compostable foam made of cornstarch that disintegrates under running water, reported Parija Kavilanz of CNN Business.

The company said the new packaging is part of its commitment to a 30% reduction by 2022 in greenhouse gas emissions per pound of its product. The Salisbury, MD, family-owned business, which turns 100 years old in 2020, is one of the largest chicken, turkey, beef and pork processing firms in the United States.

“We’ve had significant conversations at the company in the past year about our sustainability efforts and what more we can do to reduce the impact on the environment,” said David Zucker, senior vice president of e-commerce and new ventures.

The new compostable foam is regarded as a sustainable solution: Even if people have concerns with pouring cornstarch down their drains, the foam will dissolve in a landfill. It will at first be available only to customers who buy online, but Perdue said it is exploring ways to continue to make its packaging across the whole business more sustainable.

All of the shipping packaging for the online orders will be recyclable or compostable, said Steve Levitsky, Perdue Farms' vice president of sustainability. The meat to be shipped is encased in a recyclable box and a foam cooler made from water-soluble cornstarch, which can be composted or disintegrated when mixed with water. Levitsky said some of the plastic wrap on the meat is also recyclable but first needs to be thoroughly washed and sanitized.

Going forward, Perdue Farms indicated that it aims to make all of its packaging recyclable.

Tourism

Society regulates safety, smoking, drinking and other activities. So how about tourism and sustainability. A couple of years ago, the United Nations coined the phrase ecological tourism.

Justin Francis, co-founder and CEO of Responsible Travel, probably raised a lot of eyebrows with such a suggestion in an In The Big Chair interview on PhocusWire. Francis called for regulation in the tourism sector.

PhocusWire wrote: “It is perhaps a far too Utopian point of view to suggest that regulation in travel, tourism and hospitality needs to expand massively to meet the biggest challenge the industry will ever face.

“We are now at the point where leaders in every corner of the sector need to collectively think about the future of their businesses - and their ability to serve their customers and maintain the fabric of the industry - from the perspective of sustainability.

“It wouldn't be unfair to say that if the industry put as much effort into regulating for sustainability as it did for security and safety, then it would at least be going some way to tackling many of the areas where it currently falls short.”

Strong Sustainability Culture

In order to integrate sustainability into the core of a business, it has to be a part of the company’s culture. For this to happen, a top leader must be willing and ready to go first and evolve, according to leadership advisor Sandja Brügmann. In other words, he or she must become a thought leader in this category, as I have written.

Indeed, if sustainability is part of a business, part of its bottom line mentality, then it is easier to foster and expand.

Brügmann has worked with sustainability, values-driven business and purpose for 18 years; and is the founder of The Passion Institute, which focuses on leadership development and sustainable business strategy. In January 2019, she launched the Sustainable Leadership Network.

According to Brügmann, leaders cannot successfully pursue sustainability if they don’t also work with a deeper consciousness regarding their underlying motivations.

“Think about the company as a tree, where the tree top is all that is visible in the form of KPIs, products and business strategy. At the trunk and below is the non-physical — our values, our feelings and our subconscious beliefs and actions — which are at risk of tripping us up; and at the root is where we find purpose and a deeper meaning that lies beyond the financial aspect,” Brügmann said.

“To solve the climate emergency, we must collaborate internally within organizations and on a global scale. As the business world functions currently, most leaders exhibit linear thinking in short-term KPIs and returns, but this thinking will never solve the climate emergency,” he observed.

“As a person or as a company, we usually only develop when something hurts and is so difficult that we need to change. Currently, a climate emergency related to sustainability is the most urgent change agenda in the world, because it is threatening the resources we all are dependent on. All of our money and our KPIs are worthless and pointless if the earth is destroyed,” he continued.

Brügmann views the 17 Sustainable Development Goals adopted by the United Nations as the North Star, guiding humanity toward a desirable way to think and act. “In my eyes, the business world has the deciding role to play if we are to succeed to live, consume and act within the planetary boundaries,” he added.

Brügmann’s 5 Ways to a Strong Sustainability & Purpose Culture

1. Move from being change-ready to change-driven

2. Become conscious of your own values and purpose

3. Empower and uplift each other

4. Sustainability is contingent on psychological development processes

5. A strong sustainability culture requires transparency and honesty

Footwear

Fabrizio Gamberini, who took over as global chief brand officer and president of footwear manufacturer Vibram, in October 2018, is reshaping the company’s future, which includes entries into new product categories and bolstered sustainability efforts, according to Footwear News.

How would you assess the outdoor industry’s attention to sustainable design?

Gamberini: “Sustainability, for everybody, is one of the top three strategic elements for the next three to five years. Within that time, we’re going to find [the industry aligned] on the most important pieces [in sustainability]. Those are waste, the consumption of water and sustainable energy. It’s also product that will break down in 20 years, it will step-by-step dissolve.”

What is the biggest issue concerning sustainability?

Gamberini: “There are chemicals still being used that are not in a sustainable format usable for the future. Overall, the approach is in the early stages. There are some making more noise but all of us, including ourselves, have quite a bit of path in front of us to become sustainable. We all have different ideas and are approaching it from different angles.”

Sustainability is the backbone of the outdoor industry. How effective is the market at promoting eco-friendly efforts?

Gamberini: “Most companies are still not talking about sustainability as they could or as they should. Learning how and what to communicate, and standardizing the format of communication is important. There are lots of different certifications, there are many different ways to talk about sustainability, but there’s not a standard format that looks after things like water or petroleum or energy. The quicker we can get to a standardized language the better it will be for everybody.”

Plastic Packaging

In a dramatic move, the European Union recently voted to declare a climate emergency, reported CSO (Chief Sustainability Officer) magazine. This is considered a significant turning point, reflecting the rapid escalation of the climate crisis despite efforts to reduce damage to the environment. Indeed, while there are many factors influencing climate change, plastic pollution has become the ubiquitous symbol of the degradation of our natural environment and has brought the need for sustainable packaging to the front of public consciousness. 

Packaging serves many purposes: protecting content during transport and storage, promoting content to the customer, preserving content to lengthen lifespan and reduce waste.  So, how do you decide what is more important in the climate crisis? The need to minimize food waste, make fragile products such as medicines more accessible to people in remote places, or the need to reduce packaging to eliminate waste and CO2 emissions used when manufacturing packaging itself? 

Answer and ideas abound.

One company observed that it believes paper should be used wherever possible, and plastic only when useful. It continued: There is no doubt that plastic has an important role to play, for example, for medical applications and preventing food waste and associated resource loss (which is a significant contributor to climate change); where possible, using paper is preferable as it’s a renewable raw material that can be responsibly sourced and widely recycled.

As for fiber-based packing, the magazine said there is a widespread misconception about its usage that is driving deforestation and contributing to wider environmental problems. However, responsibly managed forests protect trees by giving them a value so that the land is not deforested to make way for other uses. Working forests actually play a critical role in ensuring the long-term health of our planet. Managed responsibly, forests producing fiber-based products can be part of the solution to the global climate crisis.

Chief Sustainability Officer noted in conclusion that the company in question, Mondi, at a time when the world is scrambling to reduce global waste, both paper and plastic packaging are necessary: one can’t wholly replace the other as they each have distinct advantages and uses. Mondi’s focus is on being sustainable by design, moving away from only thinking about materials to a broad approach of sustainable systems and circular economies.

Some Facebook users are giving up; but should you?

In the aftermath of Facebook’s recent credibility problems, many loyal users are caught between a hammer and an anvil. Should they continue using this social media platform or not? Should they market and advertise their products and services on Facebook or not? Should they disassociate their companies on Facebook or not?

Sorry, but it’s a hung jury. If people are really quitting Facebook, don’t panic. Stay the course. Investigate your options. Let Zuckerberg worry. Truthfully, Facebook offers benefits to users, entrepreneurs and small businesses depending on needs.

According to industry statistics, Facebook is by far the most popular social media platform. As of February 2019, 62% – not a paltry share – of 12-34 year olds in the U.S. log into Facebook, though truthfully that was a drop from the larger 79% in 2017, and represents about 11 million of the overall decrease. Facebook also boasts 1.37 billion daily active users – that’s a lot of exposure and potential customers.

The 35-54 age group has seen a 3% decline over the last two years, with 69% of people using Facebook now versus 72% in 2017. Incredibly, but fortunately for you if your business is targeting seniors, older persons on the platform are becoming more prevalent, with 53% of that demographic being active in 2019 versus 49% in 2017. While the U.S. population on Facebook shrinks, it is reporting overall growth globally.

From an advertising perspective, Christine Lagorio-Chafkin, senior writer, Inc., wrote that in reply to a November survey, 32% CEOs and other high-ranking executives found deficiencies in the social media platform and said they are now getting less for their marketing dollars than they used to. Twenty-seven percent said they mistrust Facebook’s use of their business data. In follow-up interviews, Lagorio-Chafkin found, several of the survey takers said they have slowed their use of Facebook marketing and advertising. While a few of them have pulled the plug altogether.

Even though Facebook says it poured great efforts into targeting and educating small businesses about advertising, several of the executives from business-to-business companies that told Inc. they have stopped it over the past year, saying they often can find customers more reliably on LinkedIn or through other marketing channels. Jack Wight, the founder of an electronics reseller, among others, advertised aggressively to individuals on Facebook in 2018 but pulled the plug on the effort the following year.

“We weren’t making any money on those people by the time we paid for the advertising,” said Wight, the chief executive of Buyback Boss, which is based in Tempe, AZ. “The marketing cost was just higher than other channels.”

Other business segments and executives are not so dismissive of Facebook.

Interestingly, or perhaps strategically, the majority of the users leaving Facebook in 2019 are going to Instagram, which is a Facebook-owned entity. Jay Baer is the founder of Convince & Convert, a Hall of Fame keynote speaker and emcee, host of the award-winning Social Pros podcast, even predicts that Instagram will surpass Facebook this year.

There are three reasons why users are turning their backs on Facebook.

Distrust of Facebook. The mainstream media has consistently covered Facebook’s role (or at least complicity) in the world of “fake news.” Consequently, you end up with an environment where the users of the platform may not fully trust the motives and judgment of those that operate the platform.

Given that Facebook has access to many of our most important personal data points, photos, and feelings, a drop in trust could create a drop in usage.

Increased Discord on Facebook. As a Facebook user, you’ve seen this in your News Feed: someone who says they are logging off of Facebook for good because of the rampant negativity present on the platform. In a climate of polarization, when you express an opinion on Facebook, you must defend that opinion from segments of your “friends” who are now “the opposition.” This squeezes the fun out of Facebook. I have seen friends unfriend friends and criticize friends for their comments.

Increased Disinterest in Facebook. Reduced trust in our Facebook overlords along with reduced willingness to argue among ourselves on Facebook contribute to this first-ever reduction in usage in America. Some suggest this drop represents a natural shifting of users to other parts of the Facebook ecosystem. While Facebook’s usage declines, Instagram’s usage continues to march upward, as does the number of people consistently using Facebook Messenger and WhatsApp.

Based on Facebook’s distrustful behavior, entrepreneurs and small business owners should take to heart that violating trust in cyberspace will come back to haunt you.

On the other hand, Facebook advertising is considered useful because of its custom audience targeting features. Businesses pay not only for prioritization of their brand content, but for Facebook’s marketing tools, too. More than that, the platform offers a series of advertising tools that provide an opportune way to design a strong online presence.

But the extent of this usefulness varies upon your business’s needs. For example, Facebook could be an ideal marketing platform for a small business like a hardware store looking to DIYers who enjoy tinkering around the home with new tools, but possibly less fitting for a business telecommunications company targeting tech start-ups. Different types of businesses may find different social media more or less relevant to their business’s marketing strategies. This means that you should first do your homework before venturing out into cyberspace. Know your customers and where they congregate. Therefore, Facebook is particularly useful for B2C companies because they deal with people, but less so for B2B companies.

Facebook Marketing for Small Businesses. Here’s where it still shines. Small business owners have the opportunity to build and nurture captive audiences for their companies—their products and services. You can post photos and information for free about your business. Simply put, if people have an interest, it is part of Facebook. A user just has to enter a topic, such as “video games” or “new technology,” or your small business or its products into the search box and then hit the “search” button. Up to 1,000 profiles are displayed, 20 at a time, starting with people in the user’s network.

You’re probably aware that building a strong online presence is essential for your small business – but what does that actually mean? Put simply, your online presence refers to the way you present yourself and your brand. And you know what kind of audience you need to build. A strong presence will help your business appear more professional, and may increase conversions and traffic as a result. As a small business owner, you will establish your thought leadership in your industry. Your discussions and engagements will promote you and your product or services up and down your supply chain and to your customers. You will become the go-to authority on issues pertaining to your industry and marketplace.

Your company’s website plays a central role in establishing that presence. Indeed, your social media participation, including Facebook, should be aligned with your website so that they feed and promote each other’s content and therefore your products and services. Businesses with well-designed and useful websites, which are the treasure chests of everything their executives have thought about and built, tend to appear more credible to users. Visitor trust has a significant influence on how many conversions you receive, and the internet is now the first place most people look to learn about a new company and its executive who are the thought leaders.

As I’ve written in the past, just having a website isn't enough. Businesses require all forms of media — new and old, digital and paper to succeed and grow. Fortunately, the wide world of social media is excellent way of getting attention and promoting trust. Creating and maintaining active profiles and updates is a must, along with conducting frequent customer conversations.

It is axiomatic that social media platforms make marketing your business easier. Put simply, social media is one of the best ways to reach your desired audience, to establish yourself as a thought leader and to promote your wares. In fact, recent research has shown that most people in every age group use at least one social media site, and 30% of young people say they engage with a brand on social media at least once a month.

Some tips about Facebook advertising. With the decrease in public perception of the Facebook brand, whether good times or bade times for Facebook, as an entrepreneur or small business owners, you should still consider it a viable marketing platform. But you should know what it can and can’t do for you. If you’re launching a new marketing campaign, here are some of the things you may need to consider:

Nearly 2 billion people actively use Facebook every month despite its trials and tribulations. It continues to be the biggest social media platform by far. But that’s not necessarily good for everyone. If your business operates in a niche and you require access to a smaller segment of the market that’s more passionate about your offering, Facebook might not be the best call. Facebook is still a great platform for certain businesses, but not all. You still have to solicit friends and allow them to enter your circle.

Facebook is meant to be fun and personal, both of which are not ideal for B2B businesses. Selling to other businesses is a lot more appropriate on formal platforms like LinkedIn, considered as the adult version of Facebook. Most B2B marketers say they prefer Twitter or LinkedIn over Facebook for marketing results. Some prefer YouTube for visual content and self-promotional videos. However, Facebook is better for consumer brands that need to get their content out to a more casual audience. Because you allow access to “friends,” you are free to establish a rapport with them.

Facebook is still the king of social media based on the absolute number of users. However, your business marketing strategy needs to go beyond simply catching momentary attention. Facebook’s grasp on the public is slowly slipping and younger users are growing up with newer, more diverse platforms like Instagram and Snapchat. To create an audience and drive engagement, your business needs a targeted marketing strategy deployed on niche social platforms.

According to Kentico, 39% of Facebook users, your customers, say that they follow Facebook Business Pages because they want to receive special offers. Consider this when launching such a page. There was a time when the print media proposed special offers but not anymore.

While having a high number of likes on your Page is important, the Facebook users who like your Page won’t do the work for you. You, as the thought leader—the executive, need to produce engaging posts about your industry and knowledge, no matter how many likes you have. Don’t sell. Leave that to the sales department. The more you understand about generating engagement, creating conversations and spreading knowledge through your posts, the better.

Other points to keep in mind. It is noteworthy that 47% of Facebook users only access the site through the mobile app. That means that almost half of all Facebook users see your ads and posts on their phones. Additionally, mobile app fans are arguably more frequent users, as they have Facebook right in their pockets 24/7 rather than just when they can access a laptop or desktop computer and they can join the conversation or click to buy whenever they want to.

That also means that your content needs to be mobile-optimized. In addition to making sure any landing pages your ads point to are mobile-ready, consider posting more vertical photo and video content, and keep long-form posts easy to read, limiting the use of the “read more” button.

If you’re posting video, it has about three seconds to capture viewer attention. That sounds like nothing, but your video has a ton of opportunities to grab potential customers in that small amount of time.

Similar to post titles, ensure the first three seconds of your video are informative and instill in the viewer a genuine fear of missing out—FOMO. A bit of suspense, or the idea that your video isn’t revealing everything right away will give your viewers incentive to keep watching.

Finally, shorter posts get about 23% more interaction than longer Facebook posts. Keep it short and sweet. Again, your audience is likely consuming on the go, so you need to get their attention quickly – and trust that your subsequent landing page will hold their interest beyond that.

The long and the short of Facebook is if you have accumulated thousands of followers, you must be doing something right despite others users’ dissatisfaction with the platform. You have a solid audience, a marketplace that seems to be interested in your thought leadership, products and services. Keep doing what you’re doing. It’s not costing you much.

Sustainable Outreach

Sustainability Awareness Grows

Not surprisingly, with all the hype about it, sustainability has come of age over the past decade.

“There has been what I call a ‘sustainability shift,’” Steve Ashkin, president of The Ashkin Group explained in Facility Executive. “More companies now realize that sustainability, cost savings, risk aversion, and business growth, all go hand in hand.”

Ashkin detailed what was accomplished in the past 10 years to provide insights into where sustainability will go in the next decade. The following are among the sustainability accomplishments he listed:

• 10 years ago, only about 20% of the S&P 500 Hundred companies published sustainability reports. Now, that is closer to 90%.
• The 2019 Business Roundtable released a new “Statement on the Purpose of a Corporation,” asserting that U.S. companies should transition from focusing primarily on profits to “supporting communities and protecting the environment by embracing sustainable practices.”
• A decade ago, only about 40% of U.S. adults believed protecting the environment was a top priority. Today, that number is closer to 60%.
• By 2019, power generation in the U.S. from renewable energy sources surpassed power produced from coal.
• The U.S. Energy Information Administration reports that U.S. coal mining output has declined 27% over the past decade; coal is a significant contributor to greenhouse gas emissions.
• Power generated by renewable energy sources increased 26 times from 2009 to 2019, reducing carbon dioxide emissions by two billion tons in 2019 alone
• Recycling and composting in the U.S. has gone from just over 75 million tons in 2010 to nearly 100 million tons today.
• The number of Americans employed in the U.S. solar industry has more than doubled since the beginning of the decade. There are now more people working in solar power industries than in oil, coal, or gas.

Ashkin concluded: “Simply put, sustainability is where the jobs are. In the next 10 years, we will see sustainability become one of the leading drivers of the U.S. economy.”

Entrepreneurs and Sustainability

Entrepreneurs and startups are searching high and low for investors to fund their dreams of launching sustainable businesses – small or large. Why? Because entrepreneurs and investors are confident in a great return on their investment.

According to Alex Gold, CMO of Myia Health, writing in a recent edition of Entrepreneur, at a Demo Day event in Silicon Valley several months ago, “Nearly every entrepreneur was discretely focused on building an outwardly sustainable enterprise. From alternatives to plastic packaging to next-generation milk replacements, this crop of entrepreneurs placed sustainability benefits front and center as a product attribute. Additionally, they were looking for investors that shared their vision of a more equitable and sustainable world.”

Gold offered these stats to prove his case: From 2007 to 2008, venture capitalists poured more than $6 billion into clean-tech enterprises, on top of the Federal government’s investment of $40-plus billion in tax breaks and subsidies. One firm alone, Khosla Ventures, recorded in excess of $1 billion of related investments. 

Furthermore, as the climate crisis becomes more acute, consumer attitudes toward sustainable businesses are fundamentally shifting toward the positive side and compelling businesses to take action. They are supported in this trend by state and local governments that have jumped on the sustainable bandwagon, for example, by banning plastic bags and straws.

Gold continued: “And as a new crop of entrepreneurs rapidly start businesses with sustainability as a foundational tenet, there is much we can learn. Chief amongst these is creating a product that consumers will not just like, but love. By focusing on product first and foremost, entrepreneurs will be able to convince consumers of an attendant sustainability-value proposition. Second, entrepreneurs should partner with sustainability-focused organizations that provide crucial third-party credibility.”

However, there’s a caveat. Businesses can’t merely claim they’re sustainable. Consumers aren’t gullible and naïve. Quite the opposite. They’ll certainly spend money with a sustainable business, but it has to prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that it’s sustainable. “The easiest thing for entrepreneurs to do is partner with leading organizations, nonprofits and advocacy groups to substantiate the environmental and sustainability benefits of their product. It is not enough to just claim that you are sustainable, you have to prove it and make a commitment to doing so over the lifecycle of your company. This could involve significant supply chain audits, certifications and other mechanisms by which entrepreneurs can prove the conscious nature of their organization,” Gold pointed out.

In other words, entrepreneurs must develop products that consumers love and then to substantiate any claims of sustainability, they need to partner with leading sustainable organizations in their supply chain.

If you’ve leaped onto the sustainable bandwagon with your new business, don’t keep it a secret. Share the news with others in your market, community, town and supply chain. And when it comes to marketing, Gold suggests working with organizations that get it like The Lonely Whale Foundation, whose Museum of Plastic provides sustainable organizations the opportunity to drive valuable earned media while consciously raising awareness of the challenges of single-use plastics.

“But there is no doubt that the opportunity to thrive economically and conscientiously is riper than ever before,” Gold said.

So, if you’re looking to launch a new businesses – sustainable business – there’s money to be had from investors that know the sustainable business is very likely to do very well.

Samsung Leads in Sustainability

Electronics giant Samsung has started off the new decade by winning three prizes sponsored by several organizations that reflect the company’s commitment to pursuing sustainable recycling, upcycling and waste management practices.

At the 2019 Sustainable Materials Management (SMM) Electronics Challenge awards ceremony, hosted by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Samsung received the Champion and Tier Awards, and at this year’s Consumer Electronics Show (CES) Innovation Awards, Samsung was recognized as this year’s winner for promoting efficient resource use.

The SMM Electronics Challenge, hosted since 2014, is the EPA’s annual awards ceremony recognizing participants for their commitment to sustainable materials management and the responsible recycling, honoring those companies who, in the US, voluntarily engage in recycling programs. In the Champion Award category, Samsung received its third Cutting-Edge Award since the award’s creation in 2016, which recognizes participants for pioneering ideas in electronics sustainability. The company was recognized for the Galaxy Upcycling project, a project dedicated to reusing end-of-life mobile phones for both environmental protection and societal gain. The award-winning Galaxy Upcycling project transforms obsolete mobile phones no longer in use into internet-of-things (IoT) devices with the power to benefit underserved communities.

In the Tier Award category, Samsung has, for the sixth year in a row, been awarded Gold, an honor bestowed upon only those companies that send at least 96% of all used electronics to certified third-party recyclers. Samsung was recognized for collecting and recycling 60,000 tons of waste electronics in 2018, along with once again only making contracts with only those vendors certified by e-Stewards, a third-party certification management program for electronics recyclers. Furthermore, the company actively participates in eCycling, a voluntary e-waste collection program for companies organized by the CTA (Consumer Technology Association).

At this year’s Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Samsung received a wide range of honors at the CES Innovation Awards, with products and services from display technologies to mobile devices awarded for standing out in the industry as leading, innovative solutions. Among these, Samsung’s The Serif Eco-Packaging design has been recognized for promoting the efficient use of resources. The Eco-Packaging design allows consumers to upcycle the packaging of a product into small, versatile pieces of furniture.

Small Business Extracurricular Activities

In addition to the United Nations and its various agencies, departments and programs as well as multinational corporations, schools and businesses can also play a crucial role in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals. Small businesses can help with this process by educating students and employees about sustainable development and the SDGs. By reaching out to grammar schools and high schools, small businesses can help train a new generation about the importance of the SDGs. Including the SDGs in a school’s curriculum is a great way to use students’ passion and youthful energy to point them toward opportunities to help their community.

Diversity, Inclusion and Multiculturalism

Related & Important but not Identical

Nowadays, the business community understands the value of subscribing to sustainability and the business-building benefits it presents companies that do.

Thanks to scientific, professional and consumer articles on the topic, customers are favoring businesses that have a demonstrated commitment to sustainability.

The United Nations, countries and local communities have adopted the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as guides to creating a world in which everyone can participate equally, profitably and constructively without damaging the present and future. As I have already written on numerous occasions, businesses are earmarked to earn trillions by embracing sustainability. The SDGs have the potential to unleash innovation, economic growth and development at an unprecedented scale and could be worth at least $12 trillion a year in market opportunities and generate up to 380 million new jobs by 2030.

Major multi-national corporations as well as neighborhood stores tend to benefit from this trend as consumers seek out likeminded retailers and spend their hard-earned money with those that are sustainable.

The 17 SDGs evenly address not only top-of-mind environmental issues like forests, water and pollution but also lifestyle matters.

As a result, societal interest in multiculturalism, diversity and inclusion is growing based on SDG 5 – Gender Equality and SDG 10 – Reduced Inequality. Or, perhaps because of people’s innate interest in being fair and humane. Large and small businesses as well consumers globally and locally feel comfortable with these topics, search for them and promote their participation in them. Obviously, the more people that are involved in commerce – producing, buying and selling – the better the economy and livelihoods will become.

But there’s a caveat that businesses that are on the starting line or growing should take into account. Yes, focus on diversity, inclusion and multiculturalism because the marketplace, suppliers, consumers and society come from that salad bowl, in which all of the ingredients are individually tasteful, but to be genuine in your intentions you must simultaneously practice all three concepts. Why? Because while they are related, they are not identical.

“A strong D&I program is necessary for corporations to build an organization that reflects the society and marketplace they operate in. Diversity helps in bringing the right representation, and inclusion is a must to having these voices heard at the decision-making level,” noted Isaac Mizrahi in an article last fall in Forbes.

“An effective D&I program can serve as a springboard for an inclusive approach across all stakeholders, including not only employees but also suppliers, retailers and consumers. And precisely because retailers, and consumers should be engaged in this effort, the multicultural marketing discipline and its expertise is required.”

To be sure, diversity and inclusion are incomplete without a well-developed multicultural marketing program that addresses all or as many as possible segments of society, and multicultural marketing is insincere if your business doesn’t include in all positions and responsibilities representatives of as many segments of society as possible.

The difference is belief and practice.

Mizrahi quoted Gonzalo del Fa, president of GroupM Multicultural, as saying:

“Some marketers believe that having a D&I corporate program can replace having a multicultural marketing strategy. Unfortunately, that is not true. D&I is an internal effort that a corporation commits to encouraging a work environment that inspires diversity of representation and thought, promotes and celebrates inclusivity, and provides equitable opportunities to all.

“Multicultural Marketing is an external effort for a corporation to promote and sell products or services, including market research and advertising to one or more audiences of a specific ethnic background.

“We have proof that D&I is a source of tremendous benefit for organizations because differences in background, experiences, and thinking lead to increased innovation and insight. However, those innovations and insights need to be communicated to multicultural consumers in a relevant and authentic way, and that is only possible by having a proper multicultural marketing strategy.

“A D&I program is always welcome for a corporation to create an inclusive working environment, but a multicultural strategy is imperative for a business to grow.”

Internally, your human resources team should be intimately involved with diversity and inclusivity leadership programs that create value and hopefulness for all of your employees.

“It can shape our opinions of ourselves and the people around us for better or worse,” Monique Nelson, and Doug Freeman, from Uniworld Group, told Mizrahi.

In other words, your company, executives, all employees – your most valuable asset, supply chain partners and consumers should be tuned into this campaign because, basically, they’re all humans who in the course of their lifetimes can be sellers and buyers.

“To ensure that advertising is truly representative means that businesses, when engaging consumers, suppliers, distributors, and employees, must understand and share a common goal that we all exist together in our communities, in our companies, and on this common planet,” Nelson and Freeman observed.

Luis Miguel Messianu succinctly summarized the issue for Mizrahi that is worth remembering: “D&I is about values, and multicultural marketing is about driving value.”

In New Jersey, visit the Small Business Development Centers (NJSBDC) or the New Jersey Sustainable Business Registry (or your state’s ASBDC center) about becoming sustainable, helping the planet and growing your business.

Sustainability can boost your business. So join the conversation or start one about small businesses and sustainability. Tell your trading partners, customers, media and local officials about your activity to help your neighborhood. You may be surprised by the number of people you will quickly attract as followers.

I’d also like to invite you to visit my Thought Leadership website:

http://thoughtleadership.yolasite.com/              

If you’re looking for advice on recruiting, company handbooks, immigration policies and other human resources topics, I’d like to suggest to you this interesting website:

http://hrtiebreaker.yolasite.com/

Scroll through my blog to read about more ways to promote yourselves and boost your outreach.