P&G’s approach to sustainability

As one of the largest multinational corporations in the world, with other 300 brands, Proctor & Gamble certainly has the ability to invest in sustainable products. People around the world perhaps use their products more than once a day, so they claim to take big steps toward running a sustainable business. In fact, their home website has a huge direct link that guides you right to their sustainability efforts, showing how invested they are in their projects. In addition to offering annual reports, they conduct life cycle analysis on their products to focus on reducing environmental impact on areas needed most, and claim to be sustainable in all aspects of the supply chain in the production and use of the products. Their social responsibilities include their Live, Learn and Thrive program that provides clean water, medicine and schooling for people in Africa.

Their sustainability efforts are quite extensive and very inspiring. Perhaps P&G uses sustainability as a positioning strategy less often than they should considering the great amounts of investment they make. However, I think they are headed in the right direction. With long term sustainability goals such as “powering [their] plants with 100% renewable energy, using 100% renewable/recycled material for all products and packaging, having zero consumer and manufacturing waste go to landfills, and designing products that delight consumers while maximizing our conservation of resources”, and if they are consistent in meeting their short term goals (which they claim to have made for 2012 and 2020), they will set a great example for other companies, big or small.

Find out more at P&G’s website : http://www.pg.com/en_US/sustainability/index.shtml