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The Difference between Green, Sustainability, and What is Driving Both

Submitted by The Natural Ste... on May 17, 2011 - 2:31pm

Thanks to Julie Urlaub of Taiga Company for helping explain the emerging buzz words sustainability and green.

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Two emerging buzz words have accompanied growing eco awareness in our society:  Sustainability and Green.  Do they mean the same thing and why are they the new buzz words?

Environmental Leader: Nike, AEP Win in Ceres Environmental Reporting Awards

Submitted by The Natural Ste... on May 16, 2011 - 2:08pm

Congratulations to The Natural Step partner Nike for being recognized as a sustainability leader! You can read our case study to learn more about Nike’s sustainability journey and how The Natural Step helped them apply the principles of sustainability to its business operations. Nike has also won an award for their Corporate Responsibility Report. Please read the following article highlighting Nike's sustainability achievements from the Environmental Leader.

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Corporate Social Responsibility is dead

Submitted by Kelly Hawke-Baxter on May 12, 2011 - 8:00am

There is a new consciousness emerging that Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is dead. It’s not enough to be adding environmental and social priorities to a business-as-usual agenda. It’s not enough to be doing less bad by being more eco-efficient, but still headed in an unsustainable direction.

More and more people realize that our urgent and growing sustainability crises are not isolated issues, but are interconnected. Climate change, water shortages, pollution, toxicity: they are the result of a way of thinking whose time has passed. While the “take-make-waste” industrial age has brought great progress, people are realizing that the side effects are inherently unsustainable.

Why you shouldn’t be a sustainability leader

Submitted by The Natural Ste... on May 9, 2011 - 4:58pm

As you think about your career, there are many reasons why you shouldn’t be a sustainability leader. It’s hard, it involves extra work, and it goes against the grain of the cultural reality we are living in. So what’s the difference between strolling along with the crowd vs. being a sustainability champion poised and focused at the start line?

A champion has a fierce passion, a clear vision, and never considers failure. Have you ever let ‘failure thinking’ stop you from getting what you want? Most people have at some point. Here are some examples of rational reasons to not even try to move your company toward sustainability:

Macleans.ca: Canada’s greenest employers

Submitted by The Natural Ste... on May 6, 2011 - 12:57pm

The Natural Step Canada would like to congratulate our partners ISL Engineering and Land Services and The Co-operators (as well as Co-operators Life Insurance Company) for being named to Canada’s Green 30 list for the second year in a row (see our 2010 congratulations). It is wonderful to see these businesses receive the prestigious recognition they deserve for their amazing sustainability vision and leadership.

International Society of Sustainability Professionals Announces Finalists for Inaugural Pinnacle Award

Submitted by The Natural Ste... on May 3, 2011 - 3:41pm

Congratulations to The Natural Step Founder Dr. Karl-Henrik Robèrt and The Natural Step Canada Board Member Bob Willard for being named finalists for the International Society of Sustainability Professionals’ inaugural Pinnacle Award.

4 Reasons It’s Time to Raise the Standards Bar for Companies

Submitted by Bob Willard on May 3, 2011 - 11:00am

Thank you to Bob Willard—a Member of The Natural Step Canada’s Board of Directors and a true giant among sustainability thought leaders—for this inspiring and thought provoking piece. Please read his latest blog below and visit his web site, Sustainability Advantage, to learn more. Indeed, Bob, let’s raise the bar!

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Daily Exchange: Renowned artist unveils designs and photographs for new sculpture collection for sustainability education

Submitted by The Natural Ste... on April 27, 2011 - 11:21am

The Natural Step Canada is proud to be the educational partner for the GLASSLANDS Collection project. Working with renowned Canadian crystal artist, Mark Raynes Roberts, we are jointly developing an exciting new strategic sustainability education program uniting art with nature. The initial designs for the collection are being unveiled this month at an exhibition near Toronto.

Thank you to the Daily Exchange Magazine for broadcasting the following announcement.

e-Global Travel Media: Ziptrek picks up Qualmark Enviro-Gold

Submitted by The Natural Ste... on April 19, 2011 - 3:57pm

Back in 2008, The Natural Step Canada worked with Ziptrek Ecotours in stunning Whistler, British Columbia, Canada, to help embed sustainability into their high-flying operations. Tour guides are educated in The Natural Step Framework for Strategic Sustainable Development and use the organization's science-based understanding of sustainability to educate guests. Please read our case study to learn more about Ziptrek's sustainability achievements in Whistler.

We are excited to see that Ziptrek has expanded their sustainability commitment to their global operations, including in New Zealand. Please see the following article from e-Global Travel Media announcing Ziptrek's sustainability award in New Zealand.

The secret to employee engagement on sustainability: Aim big and focus on the core of your business

Submitted by The Natural Ste... on April 13, 2011 - 6:22pm

Many organizations are trying to uncover the secret to successful employee engagement on sustainability. What we know for sure, is that sustainability efforts that only touch the periphery of the organization will have limited success with employee engagement. For most organizations, so-called greening the office is the road most-travelled, primarily because it’s a fairly simple approach. Deeper change that will engender more meaningful employee engagement is much more challenging.

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