Sustainable Brands® kicks off SB’19 Detroit, its largest community gathering of global brand and sustainability leaders dedicated to advancing social and environmental innovation today at the Cobo Center in downtown Detroit. Nearly 2,000 business executives from 35+ countries are attending the conference and Innovation Expo.
SB’19 Detroit culminates a three-year global initiative to redefine, redesign and deliver ‘The Good Life’. Research conducted in 2017 revealed that there were shifts in consumer priorities leading to a desire for a more sustainable life filled with meaningful connections to people, community and the environment. The conference showcases the many brands who have stepped up to the challenge of Delivering the Good Life with a renewed focus on actively encouraging and supporting lifestyle changes.
Over 300 thought-leaders in sustainability and brand innovation are sharing leading trends, best practices, new tools and resources that will help shape the future of business. Program highlights and announcements include:
- Sustainable Brands and global brand partners will announce a new sustainable living initiative on the morning of June 5. A separate press briefing with a question & answer session for media with participating brands immediately follows the announcement and remarks.
- Steve Cahillane, Chairman and CEO of Kellogg Company, unveils the company’s new, next-generation Kellogg’s® Better Days commitment to drive positive change for 3 billion people, communities worldwide and the planet by the end of 2030. The commitment aims to help end hunger by addressing the interconnected issues of food security, climate and wellbeing, aligned with the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals timeline.
- Mark Shamley, Vice President, Global Social Impact at Tupperware Brands will announce “No Time to Waste,” the company’s ambitious vision to reduce plastic and food waste by 2025, through product innovation, packaging reduction, operational goals, and strategic partnerships.
- Sustainable Brands and BBMG announce new research identifying behaviors that support consumer change towards sustainable lifestyles. For the first time, a brand toolkit is unveiled with resources to support brands in communicating these behaviors.
- GlobeScan and SustainAbility release the results of the 2019 Leaders Survey, a global expert opinion survey ranking companies who are leading on integrating sustainability into their business strategy.
- BASF will reveal the Greentown Labs Circularity Challenge, a six-month accelerator program for start-ups to advance innovative ideas to disrupt the plastics, energy storage and recycling value chains to enable a circular economy. This program is supported by Stanley Black & Decker.
- American Forests breaks ground on a tree nursery and public park at the Herman Kiefer Health Complex in the city of Detroit to help reforest cities in the United States.
- Dune Ives, Executive Director Lonely Whale, the organization behind the viral Strawless and Stop Sucking campaign, announces a new campaign tackling plastic waste in yet another way – one of a number of big ambitious initiatives around plastics that will be explored in depth in the program.
- Closed Loop Partners announces a new round of investment from Unilever, P&G, J&J and a number of other brands around building infrastructure to manage the plastic challenges in the US -- Three competitors working together to invest in plastics solutions in the US and globally.
- Monique Oxender, Chief Sustainability Officer at Keurig Dr Pepper announces their new sustainability goals.
- Vinyl Sustainability Council will launch a groundbreaking initiative to advance and recognize the U.S. vinyl industry as a trusted leader in sustainability.
- A new collaboration between Toxnot and MBDC, leading assessor for the Cradle to Cradle Certified™ Products Program, will be announced to address supply chain and product transparency.
- South Pole announces it will provide carbon offsets and procure renewable energy to ensure that SB’19 Detroit is a 100% Renewable Energy and Climate Neutral conference.
- Polyvisions introduces DurePET 0624 PCR, an engineering grade plastics developed for use in durable goods. It has a 90+% recycled content and is an easy material to use in plastics manufacturing.
- Business for America (BFA) will announce a new initiative working with businesses to drive positive civic engagement with their employees and within their communities
The Innovation Expo at SB’19 Detroit
The Innovation Expo sits at the center of networking, collaboration, and problem solving at SB’19 Detroit. Over 65 companies are exhibiting in the Innovation Expo and companies are hosting facilitated discussions around sector-level challenges in Innovation Labs. Innovation Expo highlights include:
- Procter & Gamble hosts the Good Homes pavilion and demonstrates how its brands are driving responsible consumption. In addition, LifeStraw announces their newest product, the LifeStraw® Home. This 7-cup glass water filter pitcher has a sleek design and next level filtration, which has been tested to protect against bacteria, parasites, microplastics, lead, mercury, cadmium, chromium III, copper and a variety of chemicals including pesticides, herbicides and chlorine.
- Good360 launches their Resilient Response Pledge, announces their corporate “Circle of Good” awards, and provides an update on their work with The Clinton Foundation.
- One Tree Planted provides an update on its partnership with the U.S. Forest Service to plant trees on public lands, and premieres a new short film about a conservation project related to orca whales.
- In the Good Plastics pavilion, Plastics Industry Association shows off their ThisIsPlastics.com content in addition to sustainability initiatives. UNIFI, Inc. brings their Repreve truck to the Innovation Expo, which showcases how peat gets turned into recycled materials and gives attendees the chance to win upcycled clothes.
- Nestlé shows how sustainability and purpose have been integrated into some of their new and existing brands. They will also be providing samples at their booth.
- Westrock, discusses innovating for a more sustainable future by working across the value chain to make packaging more renewable, recyclable, and compostable.
- The Sustainability Consortium hosts its 10th year anniversary by showcasing a decade worth of impact. In a partnership with Supply Shift, they will launch a New Measurement Platform Unlocking Unprecedented Business Value and Communication Between Retailers and Suppliers.
- Iron Mountain announces the company’s Green Pass Program.
- Bee Hive Sustainable Tourism - Launch of a new online platform for sustainable experiences in Tourism.
- Cleveland Water Alliance, in partnership with Tech Town Detroit, announces semi-finalists for Lake Erie Hack, a $100,000 innovation competition for teams that generate innovative technological solutions for the Lake Erie Basin’s most pressing problems.
The Innovation Expo is open Monday evening from 6:30 – 9:00 pm; Tuesday and Wednesday afternoons from 12:00 noon until 7:00 pm; and Thursday from 12:00 noon until 3:00pm. Ticket passes for the Expo only are available for purchase during these times. Walk-in registration is available.
In addition, brand leaders attending SB’19 Detroit will embark on a variety of tours and service projects in Detroit, including:
- The Arbor Day Foundation in collaboration with CHEP Brambles, Procter & Gamble and Sustainable Brands are stepping up to help ReLeaf Michigan plant 35 trees in Detroit’s Muliette Park.
- Timberland partners with Green Living Science to create a greener space in the city of Detroit and transform an abandoned lot into an art park. The Lincoln Street Art Park is a nontraditional sculptural park built on a formerly abandoned industrial site. It is an evolving art project, using recycled products, where the community is invited to engage and explore.
- Bees in the D offers tours of two of their urban Honeybee hives located on the green roof at GM’s Global Headquarters at the Renaissance Center or Cobo Center, giving those attending a first-hand look at the industrial nature of Honeybees and learn about how Detroit is becoming a leader of urban beekeeping.
- Sustainable Brands, in partnership with Detroit Experience Factory is arranging for a tour to explore Detroit’s neighborhoods, away from the city centre, where community leaders and youth are working with Detroit’s young people on sustainability issues, including Ecoworks Youth Energy Squad, Detroit Food Academy, and Detroit Hives.
- American Forests along DTE Energy Foundation will give a tour some of Detroit’s most innovative green spaces, including The Herman Kiefer Health Complex, El Moore Lodge, El Moore Gardens, and Detroit Vineyards.
Sustainable Brands is proud to recognize the many sponsors who committed to showcasing their brand leadership, including Presenting Sponsor BASF and Lead Sponsor National Geographic. Additional sponsors include Procter & Gamble, Vinyl Sustainability Council, Ford, Caesars Entertainment, Cone Communications a Porter Novelli Company, Braskem, Cox Enterprises, Danone, Timberland, DTE Energy, Marcus Thomas, EY, Kellogg Company, Nestlé, Salterbaxter MSL, UNIFI, The Dow Chemical Company, Alaska Airlines, Keurig Dr Pepper, WWF, American Forests Foundation, SAP, Target and others.
Newsy Brand Studio and HuffPost are Premier Media Partners. Arizona State University and the Erb Institute at the University of Michigan are Premier Affiliate Partners. Additional media and affiliate partners include: 3BL Media, Scientific American, The Guardian, Innovation & Tech Today, Real Leaders, Wharton IGEL, The Sustainability Consortium, UN Global Compact, CDP, Forum for the Future, SustainAbility, B Lab and others.
For further information on the conference program, Special Events and other networking opportunities, please visit the conference website at SB19Detroit.com or call 1.415.626.2212.
About Sustainable Brands. Sustainable Brands® is the premier global community of brand innovators who are shaping the future of commerce worldwide. Since 2006, our mission has been to inspire, engage and equip today’s business and brand innovators to prosper for the near and long term by leading the way to a better future. Digitally published news articles and issues-focused conversation topics, internationally-known conferences and regional events, a robust e-learning library, and peer-to-peer membership groups all facilitate community engagement throughout the year. For more information visit SustainableBrands.com.
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