BSR Insight Articles About Sustainable Consumption

Using Games to Spur Greener Behaviors

While companies struggle to find new ways to get customers to embrace sustainability, one industry expert has arrived at an engaging approach: games. The Rocky Mountain Institute’s Ben Holland recently blogged about how companies can use gaming to spur customers and consumers into greener behaviors. Holland pointed out that some companies already have had success embracing this approach; through a special website, for instance, GM has enabled owners of the Chevrolet Volt electric cars to track mileage information and benchmark data against each other. During a telephone interview, Holland said he was inspired by technologies and ideas he observed at the recent South by Southwest Interactive conference in Austin, Texas. _“People always have been competitive with one another in a friendly way, and games are great to get people to reflect on energy use. Nobody really thinks about how many kilowatt hours they’ve used in the last month. When you create a game environment, all of a sudden the process becomes fun.”_ —Ben Holland, project manager, Project Get Ready, Rocky Mountain Institute (April 5, 2012) Read more →

Posted: April 10, 2012 | Topics: Consumer Products, Information & Communications Technology, Media & Entertainment, Sustainable Consumption

KPMG Report Picks 10 Sustainability ‘Megaforces’

Population growth, material resource scarcity, climate change, and energy and fuel are among the issues in sustainability that could have significant impact on the business landscape over the next 20 years, according to a recent report by KPMG International. The “Expect the Unexpected: Building Business Value in a Changing World” report outlines 10 global sustainability “megaforces” that are putting the world on a development trajectory that is “not sustainable.” Others on the list include water scarcity, wealth, urbanization, food security, ecosystem decline, and deforestation. (The report is 180 pages; the executive summary is here.) The report notes that all of these forces are interconnected, and insists that in order to manage the risks, businesses must use a systems thinking approach that addresses the ways megaforces relate to each other. Specific recommendations include: * Companies should turn strategic plans into ambitious targets and actions for sustainability supply chain management. * Companies should seek collaboration with business partners on sustainability issues. * Governments should increase collaboration with the private sector. Read more →

Posted: April 3, 2012 | Topics: Climate Change, Ecosystem Services, Energy, Environment, Financial Services, Food, Beverage & Agriculture, Land Use & Biodiversity, Strategy & Integration, Sustainable Consumption, Water

Consumption Scenarios Help Business Prepare for the Future

Forum for the Futures “Consumer Futures 2020”—created in partnership with Sainsbury’s and Unilever—outlines four scenarios that explore possible consumption patterns in 2020.  Each scenario includes a toolkit with examples of how companies can meet future consumers’ needs based on the consumers’ “personas”: Read more →

Posted: October 18, 2011 | Topics: Sustainable Consumption

Who’s the Champion? Why We Need to ‘Prototype’ Sustainable Consumption

Ted Howes, Former Director, Advisory Services

Sustainable consumption remains the next big challenge in sustainability. Without recounting impending resource scarcity and the population boom, the macro trends show that we’re heading into a very different world. While leading companies have focused on reducing the negative environmental and social impacts on the supply side for years, those efficiency gains will get us only part of the way to a sustainable society. And so attention now swings to the demand side. Sustainable consumption, at its core, is trying to resolve the tension between limited resources and consumer demand. Read more →

Posted: October 18, 2011 | Topics: Consumer Products, Sustainable Consumption

Improving Product Sustainability Performance

According to Parametric Technology Corporation's recent white paper, companies must embrace "design-for-the-environment" strategies that allow them to remain competitive—and stay ahead of new sustainability requirements—by improving the environmental performance of their products. Read more →

Posted: April 19, 2011 | Topics: Consumer Products, Environment, Strategy & Integration, Sustainable Consumption, Toxicity & Product Design