By Janet Pomeroy, President of the Green Chamber of Commerce One of the major themes in President Obama’s State of the Union speech was the need to maintain our economic strength by out-innovating other nations.  “In America, innovation doesn’t just change our lives,” he said. “It is how we make our living.” The president put [...]

Our current economic and financial systems sanction obscene excesses at the expense of society. It’s easy and therapeutic to rant. It’s more helpful, but more challenging, to propose viable alternatives. In my last three blogs, I reviewed Hazel Henderson’s, Michael Moore’s, and David Korten’s thoughtful proposals on how to repair our economic and financial systems. [...]

By Christina Bianco, B Lab Ratings Associate This month, Edelman released the 2010 goodpurpose® study, an annual global research study that explores consumer attitudes around social purpose, including their commitment to specific social issues and their expectations of brands and corporations. The survey was conducted in 13 countries among more than 7,000 adults. The study [...]

MD State Senator Jamie Raskin recently wrote an insightful blog post concerning the importance of passing Benefit Corporation legislation.  Jamie Raskin represents Silver Spring and Takoma Park, MD.  He introduced SB 690, which became, in April 2010, the first Benefit Corporation law in America. In his post, he states, “There is a structural cause for [...]

Several items in Forbes‘ Special Report, “2020: What Happens Next,” caught my eye, all related  to the future of our food systems. Surely in North America we can always count on access to good food, right? By now you’ve likely read about the delicacy of the just-in-time system we’ve created over the past several decades. It [...]

Calling all sustainable business leaders. You are officially on notice. If it wasn’t clear before, it is crystal clear now. If you want to maintain the social mission of your company, don’t incorporate in Delaware. In a Sept. 9 decision in eBay’s legal fight with Craigslist, the Delaware courts affirmed that stockholder wealth maximization is [...]

In his New York Times article, “Banks Grow Weary of Environmental Risks”, Tom Zeller Jr. describes recent trends by a number of global banking conglomerates to reduce their exposure to environmentally destructive borrowers.  While unable to commit to a complete cutting of the umbilical cord with companies that are “blasting off mountaintops to reach coal” [...]

The Outdoor Industry Association (OIA, home to such brands as Adidas, Levi’s, and Nike), recently launched its benchmarking Eco Index worldwide, hoping to cement it (and itself) as the leading sustainability measurement tool for apparel and more. In fact, this group clearly has its sights set on taking this tool beyond its own industry boundaries. Although [...]

Is your “Conflict Free” diamond really conflict free? If the situation in Zimbabwe is any indication, there’s good cause for doubt. Yet there’s also reason for optimism as mission-driven companies and organizations rally to revolutionize how diamonds are traded in response to consumer demand for fairness and transparency. For years, Human Rights Watch and others [...]