Each of Us Has a Role to Play in Creating Sustainable Systems
B The Change Weekly: June 25, 2021
Delivered on Fridays, B The Change Weekly delivers the most important and most relevant stories about people using business as a force for good. The newsletter features a weekly note from the B The Change team alongside insight and context on the stories we share here on Medium. Below is our latest roundup. To receive these insights directly in your inbox, sign up for B The Change Weekly today. Now on to the good stuff:
It’s easier to go with the flow, to follow the accepted path, to stick with the tried and true. But when that flow creates harm rather than benefit, it prompts a need to stand up and speak up for change.
As more people see that current systems are unsustainable and realize that their economic choices can create positive ripple effects around the world, they’re standing up and speaking up as consumers and business leaders to call for an end to exploitative practices that harm us all. Certified B Corporations and other stakeholder-minded organizations that realize our interdependent nature help amplify the positive impact of our collective actions.
This week’s articles highlight the influence we can wield by collaborating to reshape our economy for good.
Changing Systems and Minds for a Sustainable Future
The impending climate crisis has forward-thinking people and businesses increasingly looking to reduce their environmental footprint by reshaping their daily routines. Leaders at B Corps ReCIRC and Numi Organic Tea are starting with the basics: product packaging. While the two companies have differing products and approaches to sustainable packaging, they both realize the importance of changing systems and policies — as well as people’s minds — to reshape business norms and ensure a resilient future.
Give and Take for Environmental Good
Everything we own comes at some environmental cost. But as consumers, we can go straight to the source and demand those who produce the goods we consume do so in a more ethical and environmentally just way. On B The Change, Stephen Tracy of B Corp Keap Candles shares how some producers are leading the way by aligning their actions to give back more than they take and advance more sustainable systems.
A Collaborative Model for Sustainable Change
There’s a reason why sustainability challenges are often called “wicked” problems, Dr. Wren Montgomery says in this article for the Network for Business Sustainability. They tend to be complicated, involve many stakeholders, and lack clear solutions. But in her studies of the water system in Detroit, she has seen how broad community coalitions can take a system that was barely functional back to a more stable state.
Stay in the Know
Here’s your chance to catch up on recent articles:
- ‘All Hands on Deck’: By Developing Sustainable Packaging and Supply Chains, B Corps ReCIRC and Numi Tea Prioritize People and Planet: B Corps Incorporate Climate Justice as They Reduce Their Environmental Impact
- Why Building Trust Is My Most Effective Tool for Building My Business: B Corp Collaborations Create Friendships and Amplify Positive Impact
- Give and Take: How a Regenerative Economy Could Make Consumption a Force for Environmental Good: Each of Us Has a Role to Play in Creating Sustainable Systems
- Big Sustainability Challenges Need Broad Coalitions: Efforts to Get Detroit’s Water System Back on Track Provide a Model for Collaborative Change
- Stand up and Be Counted: On World Refugee Day, a Call for Companies to Do the Right Thing
- How a Leading B Corp Supports Systems Change to Help Create a Better World: World Centric and Partners Incorporate Local Culture While Addressing Root Causes of Poverty
B The Change gathers and shares the voices from within the movement of people using business as a force for good and the community of Certified B Corporations. The opinions expressed do not necessarily reflect those of the nonprofit B Lab.
