Tweet

Social Action Driving Businesses to Adopt Sustainable Practices

Guest post by: Richard Matthews

Article Overview: Social Action Driving Businesses to Adopt Sustainable Practices Some businesses have seen the wisdom of going green ahead of public pressure, others are being cajoled out of their complacency by an increasingly concerned public. The following account is a cautionary tale for businesses that ignore responsible practices.

Social Action Driving Businesses to Adopt Sustainable Practices

Greenpeace is one of the prominent groups that uses sustainability scorecards to assesses businesses. In one of these scorecards Greenpeace singled out seafood supermarket chain Trader Joe's. For months Greenpeace publicly pressured Trader Joe's to adopt sustainable seafood purchasing policies.

Trader Joe's was subject to an online campaign including Greenpeace's mock website. Pressure also took the form of phone calls, in-store demonstrations and questions to store managers from activists and shoppers across the country.

As a consequence of relentless pressure from Greenpeace activists, Trader Joe's agreed to adopt sustainable practices. Trader Joe's removed red-listed seafood and the store committed itself to working with third-party, science-based organizations to establish responsible practices and strong, lasting guidelines for ocean protection throughout their entire seafood operation.

One of the most significant aspects of this deal is Trader Joe's agreement to use their buying power to leverage change in their supply chains and throughout the seafood industry.

The capitulation of Trader Joe's proves that social action is a powerful force that can push even national chains to adopt sustainable practices. It also demonstrates that the public is increasingly coalescing around well coordinated campaigns that target irresponsible businesses.

Related Articles
  Earth Day and The Business of Green
  Are you ready for Sustainable Selling?
  Introduction: Fiscal Dimensions of Sustainable Development
  Moving Forward: Developing Countries
  Sustainability Driven Innovation
  What is the Definition of Going Green?
  How Your Procurement Practices Affect Your Sales and Brand
  Sustainable Business Development - Benefiting your Community
  SME's - do you want business from government?
  Work Life Balance: The Key To A Sustainable Business and A Sustainable Life
  A Vision for Sustainability
  Social Marketing Online
  At Target Everyday is Earth Day
  SME's - Is tendering harmful to SME's?
  Governance and Sustainable Development
  Fiscal Dimensions of Sustainable Development
  Social Media Principle 2 – Behaviours That Sway Purchase.
  Climate Counts: Businesses Combating Climate Change
  Inspired Leadership - The Brain Science of Inspiration
  Best Practices for Sustainability and Communicating Sustainability

Article Tags: activism, Business, consumers, Direct Action, environment, social action, sustainable, sustainable practices, Trader Joe



Related Forum Posts
Re: What Do You Want To Be Taught? - Hi Jeff Thanks for this forum it is a big help. My biggest problem is very much like GT. Driving traffic to my website and getting more sales. MichelleJ
Re: UPDATES: New Campaign! New Layout! New Ideas! - GT - thanks for the FYI - I'm not sure if we'll put a link back. Something to consider though! Trent - the new category is "Social Network and Media" which was put in to compliment the Online Businesses category that currently exists. Overall the new categories are: - Looking For, Networking and Events - Review My... - Social Network and Media - Brags and Rants These came as a result of Ringo doing research on other forums and thinking about what could be improved on ours to give a better experience for everyone. I hope you enjoy them! David, I'm looking forward to reading your Brag / Rant!
Re: How to Promote Your Blog – The Definitive Guide to Promoting - Social Bookmarking sites seems to be ignored by most bloggers, preferring the use of Social Networks like Facebook and Twitter. I have come to observe that visitors referred through Social Bookmarking sites tend to engage and converts to lead more than the former. And the Traffic is more regular! Diigo.com scores highest in terms of traffic in the Social Bookmarking sites I have tried out so far.
Re: Marketing 2.0 - What Are Your Thoughts - Hi Shri, Thanks for posting this. I also read it and I believe Social Media is here to stay, until the next best thing comes up. Social media proved to be useful for me many times and I think everyone should use it for their business.
Re: Kevin needs "social glue" ideas - Hi, I like the idea of "10 items that could act as "social glue" because I am an internet marketer. But I agree with the rest that the 10 recent post is nice. Maybe we should open up a new section in the forums on Social Media...or Social Media Marketing. I will tell you that the world is about 1 1/2 behind when it comes to understanding social media. Building a section now will put EvanCarmichael.com is a great position a year down the road when people realize Social Media can produce more traffic than SEO. Jeff


Share this article with your friends. Fund someone's dream.

Leave a comment below or share on the left and you'll help support entrepreneurs in Africa through our partnership with Kiva. Over $50,000 raised and counting - Please keep sharing! Learn more.

Newsletter

Get advice & tips from famous business
owners, new articles by entrepreneur
experts, my latest website updates, &
special sneak peaks at what's to come!

Name:
Email:

Popular Articles

Leading with Discernment

Are You An Accidental Consultant?

Environment and productivity at the office

Suggestions

Email us your ideas on how to make our
website more valuable! Thank you Sharon
from Toronto Salsa Lessons / Classes for
your suggestions to make the newsletter
look like the website and profile younger
entrepreneurs like Jennifer Lopez.