To accomplish the mission and goals that we have set for ourselves, for our clients, and for the community, we are constantly on the look out for people with the passion and tools to solve big environmental, economic, and social challenges, and this month we are specifically looking for: Business Development Director Sustainability Analyst If you seen an opening that excites you, and t…
With an exploding urban population and a rising middle-class, China is rapidly increasing material use and consumption. Alongside its burgeoning economy is a proliferation of consumer waste. While most debates are around the wastage of food or packaging materials like plastic and paper, little attention is paid to the old clothes that people clean out of their wardrobes. Chinese dump roughly 26…
In this episode I answer a question about whether or not I think corporate social responsibility (CSR) gives companies license to do bad. It is a question with roots in the recent Freakonomics Podcast Does Doing Good Give You License to Be Bad? () and the rebuttal by Chris Jarvis on the Engage for Good Podcast Does Doing Good with CSR Really Give Companies, Employees License to be Bad? As…
A significant trend in the current and future trajectory of Chinese healthcare is the increasing privatization of medical hospitals and clinics. This development is driven by both consumer desires for a more patient-centered experience and government initiatives that aim to distribute the burden of care from public hospitals. Despite the rapid expansion of private options, several barriers prevent…
Yesterday, we were excited to host our second Shanghai Sustainable Ambassador Appreciation Reception. An event to celebrate the work of sustainability professionals and business leaders who are looking to drive sustainability through their business, participants had a chance to network and share ideas over relaxed drinks and delicious hors-d’œuvres. The guests were a group of passionate and…
The unprecedented speed at which science and technology are advancing has resulted on the development of numerous household chemicals that have slowly become indispensable to people. On the long term, the unsafe use, storage, and disposal of these chemicals may pose a threat to human and animal health. In fact, places like China have seen a rising number of hospitalizations of thousands of chil…
On 9-10 June, 2018, the China Petroleum and Chemical Industry Federation (CPCIF) and eight of its multinational member corporations (Ashland, BASF, Covestro, Exxon Mobil, Huntsman, Invista, Lanxess, and Solvay) came together to launch the “Together for a Sustainable Community” (TFSC) hackathon in Shanghai. Every team focused on different target markets and combined their online and offline rese…
With big corporations including Tencent and Alibaba already investing heavily in the healthcare industry, there is a lot of speculation as to what the future of healthcare will look like, and also how corporations, startup companies, investors, physicians, and hospitals will collaborate in this space. Some Context China has undergone concerted development over the last two decades to improve hea…
China’s recent waste import ban has led to increased conversations globally on the topic of waste management. In China, one conversation that comes up in particular, among the general public and Chinese government alike, is the need to have a better system of household waste categorization for the millions of residents that live in Shanghai. The call is for a sorting system that is more aligned to…
Last week, as part of a continued process to address the growing waste problem that China’s urban waste systems are facing, the Shanghai government announced a new food packaging guidelines focused on reducing food packaging waste. A problem that has grown with changes in urban lifestyles, which are often convenience focused, the soaring food delivery industry brings huge amounts of plastic pac…
While many western cities and firms are scrambling to find solutions and workarounds for the mountains of waste plastic, unsorted paper, textile, and slag that can no longer be sent to China, the Chinese government just doubled down on January's waste ban with an announcement that over the next 18 months there will be an additional three stages to the existing ban. It is an announcement that ha…
Following the policy changes around informal vs. formal waste management systems, and the recent ban on foreign waste imports, we partnered with Green Initiatives to discuss these topics at the Green Drinks Forum: China's Waste Import Ban – Boon or Bane? At the event, Richard Brubaker (Founder of CR) provided an overview of the recent research and client work we have done with the various waste…
The amount of retired EV (electric vehicle) batteries will grow at an unprecedented rate in China. Recycling them will bring twofold benefits – reducing the consumption of raw materials for producing new batteries and minimizing potential environmental and health hazards caused by the mismanagement of battery waste. – Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (中国工业和信息化部专家) With hundred…
Be it a physical or intellectual challenge, China today is home to more than 80 million individuals living with a disability, many of whom do not have the right to work and have a job. The exclusion of such a large number of people from traditional work is a challenge that the government has already taken up through the development of a quota system and tax breaks for employers who hire more inclu…
With more than 85,000,000 people living with some form of a disability in China, only 9,000,000 of these individuals are “working.” Therefore, we decided to focus this month’s evening forum on the opportunities to build a socially minded business to create solutions to problems related to the challenges and stigmas that this segment of the population faces. Believing in the power of entrepreneu…
