BSR Insight Articles About Environment

Re-Scaling for the New Local

Linda Hwang, Former Manager, Research

In the next decade, rapidly growing urban regions will need redesigned infrastructure, goods, and services to match peoples’ needs and work within planetary constraints. New efforts to track well-being and happiness, ecological systems under stress, and community and culture shocks like forced water restrictions and food-safety scares are driving people to pursue more resilient solutions such as low-impact housing, off-grid water and energy, seed-sharing programs, and community-supported agriculture. Read more →

Posted: October 25, 2011 | Topics: Community Engagement & Development, Consumer Products, Energy, Environment, Food, Beverage & Agriculture, Health Care, Information & Communications Technology, Toxicity & Product Design, Transportation, Travel & Tourism, Water

The Evolution of Environmental Performance Expectations

Linda Hwang, Former Manager, Research By Linda Hwang, Research Manager, BSR, and Sissel Waage and Kit Armstrong, Co-leads for BSR’s Ecosystem Services Working Group

Four years ago, BSR convened a group of leaders from the private sector as well as several academics and NGO representatives to discuss a new approach to scenario planning that considered the esoteric concept of “ecosystem services.” In particular, we were interested in how major capital decisions could undercut the flow of ecosystem services—the measurable benefits such as adequate supplies of clean water and protection from natural disasters provided by healthy, functioning ecosystems—across wide swaths of landscape. The rationale for action was as unclear to many as was the concept of ecosystem services itself. Could we place appropriate values on ecosystem services, based on the value they represent to society and their relative scarcity, so that they are viewed not as liabilities but as assets that should be protected and restored? Would knowledge of the importance of ecosystem services result in better stewardship of natural resources? Read more →

Posted: October 11, 2011 | Topics: Ecosystem Services, Environment

Using Wireless Technology to Protect the Environment

Peter Nestor, Manager, Advisory Services

A new report by BSR and CTIA —the Wireless Association examines opportunities for companies in the transportation, utilities, agriculture, and government sectors to use wireless technology to help protect the environment. Highlights include: Read more →

Posted: October 11, 2011 | Topics: Energy, Environment, Food, Beverage & Agriculture, Information & Communications Technology, Strategy & Integration, Transportation

OECD’s Business Guide to Sustainable Growth

The OECD’s new Sustainable Manufacturing Toolkit helps businesses—particularly small- to medium-sized companies and supply chain firms—grow more sustainably by improving their operational efficiency, reviewing the materials they use for production, rethinking their products’ benefits and challenges, and supporting continuous improvement in their teams. Read more →

Posted: September 27, 2011 | Topics: Environment, Supply Chain

Walmart: The Greatest Sustainability Story of Our Time?

Eva Dienel, Associate Director, Communications

In Pulitzer Prize-winning author Edward Humes’ latest book, Force of Nature, Walmart is the unlikely hero in a tale about the environment and sustainability, which Humes calls “the most important story of our age.” I spoke with Humes—who will discuss sustainability storytelling at the BSR Conference 2011—about what makes Walmart’s story so compelling, how to make your business’ sustainability story part of company lore, and how to avoid the trap of “mego” (shorthand for “my eyes glaze over”) when chronicling your own experience. Read more →

Posted: September 6, 2011 | Topics: Environment, Reporting & Communications, Strategy & Integration, Toxicity & Product Design