Sustainability Blog

More Sustainable Packaging from Amazon

Written by Jon Templeman Monday, 25 October 2010 00:00

We reported a little while ago that Amazon has taken steps to improve the sustainability of its packaging by cutting out unnecessarily complex and unrecyclable boxes and containers in favour of simpler, less wasteful options.

Greenbiz Forum #4

Written by Robert W. Kuhn Thursday, 21 October 2010 00:00

Yesterday was so full of mind-stretching information it was impossible to find time to write. The morning started with a great discussion about innovation inside companies: incremental changes and breakthrough transformations. How reliant the incremental changes are on process-based knowledge and technical skills and how game-changing innovation requires something completely different. Let's call it "ignorance management."

Greenbiz Forum #5

Written by Robert W. Kuhn Thursday, 21 October 2010 00:00

Yesterday afternoon included a group of deep-dive worshops intended to unearth barriers, enablers, opportunities and key ideas in several areas: employee engagement, supply chain management, sustainable consumption and engagement with NGOs. Fascinating stuff with some common threads ... "It's complicated," "Leadership is needed," "Collaboration is key," "Too many, conflicting standards," "No price assigned to externalities" and "Separate innovation from the P +L." Parellels were drawn between innovation in sustainability and the innovation that was required by the quality movement of the 1990s.

Greenbiz Forum #3

Written by Robert W. Kuhn Wednesday, 20 October 2010 00:00

Yesterday ended with a lengthy visualization exercise...a real stretch for us left-brain folks. I've used these in strategy sessions before and know the feeling of situations where there are a group of folks that look like deer caught in headlights. Been there? Well, as someone suggested this morning, what if we used that particular moment of awareness of the uncomfortableness as a signal that we're onto something. Call out the general level of discomfort in the room and make it an "ah ha" moment.

Today, a look into consumer products, business models and the power of disruptive upstarts. Watch this space.