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In This Issue
Editor's Note
10 Social Media Rules for Social Responsibility
In a world where social media is changing faster than a YouTube video can go viral, what are the rules for using social media for corporate social responsibility? Maybe, as Kathleen Edmond of Best Buy posits, "It's a fair amount of risk-taking." Study it too long, and you'll "be left in the dust."
Following last week's article on trends in how companies are using social media for CSR, this week we offer some rule that will help you connect—in a real way—with your online audience.
We also look at recent recommendations on how the OECD should update its guidelines on responsible supply chain practices and a new index aimed at helping companies in the apparel and outdoor industries improve the life-cycle impacts of their products.
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In Depth
10 Social Media Rules for Social Responsibility
By Eva Dienel, Associate Director, Communications, BSR
Following last week's article profiling how three companies are using social media in their corporate social responsibility (CSR) efforts, part two of our series looks at 10 best practices for social media and CSR.
Read more →
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Spotlight
Recommendations for the OECD Guidelines on Responsible Supply Chain Practices
By
At a recent workshop on responsible supply chain practices to inform the yearlong process to update the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises, representatives from government, business, the investment community, civil society, and trade unions provided the following recommendations:
- Clarify companies' responsibilities for social and environmental impacts in their supply chain.
- Encourage stable, direct, and long-term relationships with suppliers.
- Build on existing industry requirements to avoid duplicative or conflicting standards.
- Emphasize the importance of workers' organizations to ensure the protection of workers' basic human rights.
- Stress the importance of engaging with government to advocate for the stronger enforcement of laws related to responsible business.
Read the complete summary of the roundtable, or the discussion paper that was prepared in advance of the event. To learn how you can contribute to the revision process, contact Cody Sisco.
Toolbox
New Eco Index for Improving Product Life-Cycle Impacts
The Eco Index—a new web-based environmental assessment tool created by the Outdoor Industry Association’s Eco Working Group—is aimed at helping companies in the apparel and outdoor industry understand (and ultimately improve) a product's impacts at different life-cycle stages.
The index framework contains:
- Guidelines and management best practices for how companies and their suppliers can continually reduce their environmental impacts.
- Indicators—including a comparative scoring system—to help companies score individual products by answering questions related to materials, packaging, manufacturing and assembly, transportation and distribution, use and service, and end of product life.
- Metrics to help companies collect quantitative data on product-specific information related to land-use intensity; impacts on water, waste, and biodiversity; impacts on people and the environment from chemicals and toxics; and energy use and greenhouse gas emissions.
The tool is currently in a beta phase and will be completed by early 2011. Visit the index's website to provide feedback on the tool.
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Leaving Heathrow in mid-July, I picked up two novels for my summer vacation reading. One, Ian McEwan's Solar, was an obvious choice. What could be better than seeing one of my favorite authors, anointed by many as the reigning champion of English-language fiction, take on the topic of renewable energy? The other book, Financial Times columnist Lucy Kellaway's In Office Hours—her latest take on businesspeople behaving badly—was ostensibly a light read, with little link to sustainability.