Fresh off the press is our 2018 Sustainability Report! By creating an annual sustainability report, we can concisely communicate to our stakeholders our social and environmental impact. And by highlighting how our everyday choices amount to our annual impact, we can benchmark our future sustainability goals and inspire others to implement sustainable practices in their personal lives and business settings.
What is a Sustainability Report?
Sustainability reporting is a business practice that supports increased accountability to the triple bottom line of people, planet, and profit. By culminating sustainable business practices into an annual report, businesses are held responsible for their impact and are able to communicate this commitment to their stakeholders.
Why Produce an Annual Sustainability Report?
1. Consumers demand transparency:
- According to a research study by Cone Communications, 63% of American consumers expect businesses to lead the way on social and environmental change (1). This increasing demand on corporate social responsibility is a top reason why businesses should culminate their sustainable practices into an annual report that recaps their quantitative impact, not just their qualitative statements. This transparency of recording quantitative data each year, helps consumers build trust with brands, which ultimately leads to increased economic performance.
2. Improved efficiency and increased savings:
- When businesses measure their social and environmental performance on an annual basis, they are able to manage their impact. This record keeping results in improved decision throughout the entire organization. This, in turn, helps businesses identify bottlenecks and cost savings because data is being accounted for in areas such as waste streams and supply chain.
3. Practical risk management tool:
- By benchmarking annual goals related to social, environmental, and economic impact, businesses are accounting for their future decisions. Sustainability reporting ultimately reduces reactive decision making because it leads to prior accounting being completed before short-term or long-term decisions are made. This resembles the precautionary principle, where increased control reduces risk and ultimately provides stakeholders increased stability.
View our 2018 Sustainability Report here.
References:
1. Cone Communications. (2017). 2017 Cone Communications CSR Study. Retrieved April 22, 2019, from http://www.conecomm.com/research-blog/2017-csr-study
