According to the Sustainability Dictionary: The Triple Bottom Line is an addition of social and environmental values to the traditional economic measures of a corporation or organization’s success. Triple Bottom Line accounting attempts to describe the social and environmental impact of an organization’s activities, in a measurable way, to its economic performance in order to show improvement or to make evaluation more in-depth.
Launch is a one-of-a-kind public-private partnership between NASA, USAID, US State Department, and Nike to use the “power of prizes” to encourage startups to develop an innovative solution that addresses the needs of the developing world. Next up: waste issues.
By: Ben Vivian Following a hectic day in London at Ecobuild and in a stakeholder workshop on research into a construction product framework, my thoughts centre on the triple bottom line (3BL). At the workshop, which had 25 or so people well versed in sustainability, we were asked to chose whether 3BL was split with [...]
Unless you’ve been hiding under a rock, you know that “collaborative consumption” is all the rage. Housing, transportation, service, or old clothing — they’ve all got peer-to-peer marketplaces. What challenges is the industry facing? What problems do you have to solve to be successful?
SJF Ventures and Citi Community Capital, Citigroup’s community lending and investment group, announced the closing of SJF Ventures III LP, the first nationally focused Impact Investment SBIC fund. Licensed by the US Small Business Investment Corp. (SBIC) under its new Impact Investment Initiative, the SFJ Ventures III fund will make equity investments in growth-stage cleantech and “positive impact” companies.
With the launch of a first-of-its-kind High Performance Sustainability Index for publicly listed US utilities, Target Rock Advisors has identified and ranked the top 5 and 15 US utilities across the three pillars of sustainable, Triple Bottom Line business practices and operations: environment, economy and society. Sure to spur interest among investors, Target Rock found that their shares, as a group, have outperformed the DJIA and S&P 500 over the past ten years.
Corporations, Triple Bottom Line, and how Local is the new Global
Forget the triple bottom line: the folks at Clif Bar manage for five separate objectives. Find out how they manage it.
The following post is part of the course work for “Live Exchange” the foundational course on communication for The MBA Design Strategy Program at California College of the Arts. The rest of the posts are presented here. By Sarah Anne White Why we should run screaming in the other direction from “Gala” or “Gift” Economics How many [...]
3p is proud to partner with the Presidio Graduate School’s Managerial Marketing course on a blogging series about “sustainable marketing.” This post is part of that series. To follow along, please click here. By Griff Foxley On October 26th, a beautiful video was posted on Vimeo of a murmuration of starlings. It was a rare [...]
Both Nike and Puma adopted a strategy of creating a movement around reframing the word “sustainability”. Although both movements were targeted towards demographically similar markets, the respective target customers have diverging sensibilities. What will be most interesting to see is how the PR of 2011 develops into the actions of 2012.
Social enterprises are picking up the where the system is leaving off, investing in human beings and equipping them with the tools to create a new world built around compassion, respect, innovation and imagination.
Can an investment help the pocketbook and the planet at the same time? Definitely, says R. Paul Herman, author of The HIP Investor: Making Better Profits by Building a Better World. Following is an excerpt from Herman’s book. Explore the options, and put your money on a wiser course… What frameworks are useful in evaluating real estate [...]
This post outlines key considerations for property owners to evaluate when leasing their land for renewable energy development. There are pros and cons to leasing your property to a renewable energy developer and/or owner to earn revenue. It is important to understand how to navigate the complexities of benefits and risks when dealing with newly emerging renewable energy development land leases.
Apple Skin Skies examines the idea that our atmosphere is thin relative to the size of the planet and the number of humans on its surface. A connection is drawn between the thickness of an apple skin relative to its diameter and how with this simple mental exercise it becomes more clear how human activity could bring about global warming.
McKinsey has a unique ability to frame a conversation. During the last decade when a price on greenhouse gases seemed imminent, every Fortune 500, government or startup’s GHG strategic plan featured McKinsey’s GHG Cost Curve. While the argument for carbon abatement may have fallen out of favor, leading companies discovered that sustainability initiatives create value [...]
By Richard J. Crespin Last week, President Obama laid out a modest plan to nudge job growth. I don’t fault his modesty. Given the government’s finances, he can’t do much. Real, lasting growth has to come from the private sector. “What makes the current situation so hard is that we’re trying to solve a long-term [...]
A “carbon” bubble exists and massive misallocation of capital is taking place in world financial markets as fossil fuel reserves and the shares of coal, oil and natural gas producers continue to be valued as if we can continue to burn as much fossil fuel as we want.
Christina Stembel started Farmgirl Flowers as a socially responsible alternative to the big guys. By working in close collaboration with stakeholders of all kinds, she offers fresh and affordable local flower delivery without the environmental and social issues commonly exacerbated by competitors.
This post is part of a series on Stakeholder Engagement sponsored by Jurat Software. By Mara Slade I consider myself a corporate change agent in training. As part of my preparation, I recently became a certified Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) reporter. For those of you who are curious about the GRI reporting framework, there are [...]
By Larry Bohlen The newest Fair Trade standard, gold and associated precious metals, made its debut a little more than a year ago. It promises to improve social and environmental conditions for millions of small and artisanal gold miners around the world. Brilliant Earth, the California-based ethical jeweler was one of the first to offer [...]
By Ryan Cabinte Daniel Altman and Jonathan Berman’s recent paper, The Single Bottom Line, caused a stir in sustainability circles last week, partially fueled by coverage in the New York Times. The paper argues that focusing on profit—the single bottom line—is a more efficient and sustainable way to promote social benefit than emerging frameworks like [...]
By Matt Evans Aron Jakab runs Fruit of Care, a social enterprise selling high quality design home decor like fruit scented candles produced by people with disabilities employed in workshops across Hungary. Aron is a savvy entrepreneur now, but a few years ago, the talented designer had no knowledge and expertise in business management, finance [...]
by Nancy Roberts From financial system meltdown to Arctic ice meltdown, the detritus of a capitalist system gone off the rails is all around us. On June 15, four panelists with differing levels of optimism gathered to speak to an engaged crowd in San Francisco about how, if, and when Capitalism might be redefined. California [...]
The glass ceiling is alive and well, especially for start-up entrepreneurs. According to American Express Open 29% of all US businesses are owned by women and their numbers are growing by 1 and a half times the national average. “There are over 8.1 million women-owned businesses in the United States, generating nearly $1.3 trillion in [...]
As foreshadowed by GE’s Ecomagination reach-out to start-ups, it is expected that start-ups and not large corporations will lead the clean tech revolution. As these small companies work to improve the future of humanity, they will need the support of clean tech incubators well versed in the intricacies of sustainable business development.
This post is part of a blogging series by economics students at the Presidio Graduate School’s MBA program. You can follow along here. By: Lindsey Kauffman A commonly heard, and personally experienced, critique of the sustainability movement is the relatively high cost of green products compared to traditional products. I can spend .99 cents on [...]
I take little credit for the intelligence of this post. Indeed, I give all that might be due to Werther & Chandler’s 2011 text, Strategic Corporate Social Responsibility: Stakeholders in a Global Environment, as well as to my Green Mountain College MBA Triple-Bottom-Line Management Course, in progress. Through these studies, the five below drivers have [...]
No one ever said green would be cheap or easy. The sad truth of the matter is the average consumer’s commitment to greenness is mostly tied paradoxically and perversely to the cost of a gallon of gas. So when pundits across the pond wonder whether Fair Trade is still a useful eco-brand, the question answers [...]
A settlement between the Environmental Protection Agency and the Tennessee Valley Authority will resolve alleged Clean Air Act infractions at 11 TVA coal-fired plants in Alabama, Kentucky and Tennessee. Under the settlement, which includes a $10 million civil penalty, TVA will invest an estimated $3 to 5 billion on new, upgraded “state of the art” [...]
This post is part of a blogging series by marketing students at the Presidio Graduate School’s MBA program. You can follow along here. By John Lehnert What does the future hold for the EPA? From what I’ve observed, it’s trying to build sustainability into its foundations—and to reflect that shift in its branding. As I [...]
Best Practices in Corporate Volunteering
Communicating Corporate Responsibility with AHA
The Future of Fair Trade with Fair Trade USA
Bard College MBA in Sustainability
Sustainability Ratings and Key CSR Topics
How to Invest for Income and Impact
Energy Options: Pros and Cons from Solar to Nuclear
[coming soon] The Green Beer Series 2012
San Diego: June 4-7
Sustainable Brands 2012: Join us as the Sustainability, Brand Strategy and Innovation Communities convene to shape the future. Discover and participate in the sustainable brand revolution by collaborating to shift consumer demand, drive heretical innovation, and evolve the business case. 20% Reader discount with code "nwtripsb12".
Webinar: June 5
Running an Effective Corporate Volunteer Program with AngelPoints: Key clients discuss how they put the AngelPoints Volunteering solution to work for them. Attend this webinar to learn best practices, tips & tricks - and how to get an effective volunteer program off the ground at your organization.
Seattle: June 11-12GRI Certified Training: Demand for sustainability experts is growing rapidly as companies look for proven professionals. For companies, GRI trained employees mean faster implementations and better use of the GRI Sustainability Reporting Framework. Join our partner ISOS group for this two day session. Early bird discounts apply!
Portland & Seattle: June 13 & 14
Sustainable Industries Economic Forum:
NYC: June 27-28Responsible Business Summit USA: Discover how to fully embed and integrate CSR in your organization. Learn how to collaborate with key stakeholders and establish competitive edge using proven CSR strategies. Hear best practices from GAP Inc, Timberland, Lockheed Martin, Life Technologies, Campbell Soup and many more.
Minneapolis: July 19-20GRI Certified Training: Demand for sustainability experts is growing rapidly as companies look for proven professionals. For companies, GRI trained employees mean faster implementations and better use of the GRI Sustainability Reporting Framework. Join our partner ISOS group for this two day session. Early bird discounts apply!
Boston: Sep 13-14GRI Certified Training: Demand for sustainability experts is growing rapidly as companies look for proven professionals. For companies, GRI trained employees mean faster implementations and better use of the GRI Sustainability Reporting Framework. Join our partner ISOS group for this two day session. Early bird discounts apply!
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