2019 in Review: The 10 Most Read Articles on TriplePundit

We weren’t planning for this year to fly by as quickly as it has, but now that it’s time to take a look at 2019 in review, we ran the numbers to present you with the most popular TriplePundit articles for this year.

In looking at trends for what resonated with our readers during 2019, a few things come to mind: Readers are responding to legacy companies determined to change how they conduct business; the concepts defining diversity and inclusion are changing; renewables will take root in the U.S. despite a hostile White House; and we have a long road ahead to ensure we have the best possibly prepared and trained workforce for the future. 

This all makes sense, because if we expect companies to become more responsible and sustainable, we need to ensure that they remain viable, too.

The following list was a great walk down memory lane. Enjoy! 

CEO Shares How Transparency Helps SC Johnson Address Global 'Crisis of Trust': 3p spoke with SC Johnson’s CEO to learn more about its industry-leading transparency program and how it helps the cleaning products giant maintain trust at a time when it's in increasingly short supply. Corporate sustainability professionals must have bookmarked this article like mad; this was our most read article during 2019, month after month. (Mary Mazzoni)

Offshore Wind Power Is Crushing Carbon Capture Dreams: Once Denmark’s fossil fuels titan, Ørsted rebranded and is now going all-in on renewables — and as it finds more opportunities to invest here in the U.S., proponents of carbon capture are finding less interest in what was at one time a much-ballyhooed clean technology. (Tina Casey) 

Tupperware: A Legacy Brand Embracing a Sustainable Future: To paraphrase those 1970s television commercials, the Tupperware lady has the freshest ideas for locking in . . . corporate sustainability. Read how a decades-old company that makes plastic products is planning for the circular economy. (Mary Mazzoni)

12 Plant-Based Foods Coming to Market in 2019: Like many publications, we write listicles and predictions in January — and quite often, come December, we hope no one reads or remembers them. But remember when the conversation about plant-based foods was all about Beyond Meat and Impossible Foods, only to see that months later, more companies now have (plant-based) skin in the game? Many of these predictions and trends have come to fruition. (Mary Mazzoni)

CVS Quit Cigarettes So Americans Would Too—And It Worked: Stop yourself if you clench your jaw at the local CVS while the register prints a receipt a mile long for the three items you purchased. Five years ago, this company stuck its neck out and stopped selling profitable tobacco products. Considering all the controversy over vaping the past few months, that 2014 decision was one of the smartest, and most forward-thinking decisions, a retailer ever made — and years later, everyone else in the industry looked like meek followers. (Patrick Grubbs)

New Plastic Pollution Solution May Produce Sustainable Fuel: We’ve yet to see whether those discarded PET bottles can be churned into transport fuel or electricity seamlessly, but we think this article by our clean tech guru resonated due to this simple fact: We’re trashing the planet with single-use plastic, and we’re realizing we need solutions to stall this crisis. (Tina Casey) 

Old Navy Makes Purple Patriotic for a Good Cause: Why would a story about a purple T-shirt resonate with readers? Well for one thing, there is far worse news marring the global fashion industry, and with the cesspit called political polarization in which we find ourselves, a message of inclusion struck a chord with our readers. (Megan Amrich)

Why Your Company Needs a Neurodiverse Workforce: The definition of diversity and inclusion is widening, as it should — and this article, part of a series underwritten by DXC Technology, was one of several stories that made the compelling case for hiring citizens on the autism spectrum. For our writers, the opportunity to work on this project was an emotional, uplifting and singular experience. (Amy Brown)

Can a Redesign Make the Airplane Middle Seat Your Favorite?: Well, we think this is obvious — we all hate the middle seat, and we gather this article came up often in internet searches once passengers realized they were stuck in a “B” or “E” seat. But for one of our newest writers, this was among several gems she contributed to 3p over the past several months. (Roya Sabri)

JetBlue Aims to Diversify the Aviation Industry Through STEM Partnerships: The Tuskegee Airmen flew more than 700 bomber escort missions during World War II. They were the first group of African-American aviators in the U.S. Army Air Corps as well as the only fighter group in the entire war to have a perfect record protecting bombers. But when they returned home, many couldn’t get a job in the airline industry. And decades later, African-Americans are still vastly underrepresented in the aviation sector. Here’s how JetBlue is striving to boost the career prospects for people of color who want to be pilots. (Maggie Kohn)

Image credit: Ørsted