Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) & our Top 3 Brands To Do It
CSR is “ the idea that a business has a responsibility to the society that exists around it” according to the Harvard Business School Online. To better understand, let’s think back to how the economy has been shaped as we know it in history.
The news has a reputation for only talking about the bad. As such, we have been bombarded with information about the growing number of issues on our planet: species are going extinct, the climate is changing, populations are growing steadily and we are seeing more and more fraud occur in leading corporations. Hand in hand with this, we have seen companies, ranging from small businesses to multi million-dollar corporations, do everything they can to maximize their profit and grow their bottom line.
Only in recent years have people, including myself, started to take notice of how these issues are intertwined and ask themselves how companies they interact with regularly are doing their part to help. As a result, an enormous emphasis on Corporate Social Responsibility, or CSR for short, has started. Consumers are smarter, they want more from the companies they support, and they want to see how their favourite brands are doing their part for a sustainable economic future.
Here are 3 of my favourite brands that put CSR at the heart of their business models:
Patagonia
Patagonia has always been at the top of the list as an environmentally and socially responsible brand. From maintaining fair working conditions and wages in their manufacturing facilities, pilot programs for environmentally conscious materials, to their own campaigns that highlight the detriments of fast fashion to our environment, they are one of my favourite brands to support. Their “1% for the Planet” campaign also ensures that some of their profit is immediately directed to the natural environment and its health. The transparency that this brand offers is nearly unparalleled by any other, and I highly recommend poking around their Social Responsibility page to learn more about this industry leader.
H&M ReWear
Just this year one of the most popular global clothing retailers, H&M, launched their own resale site as part of their online platform. ReWear allows customers to sell their pre-loved clothing to other customers online, in an effort to “help to prolong the lifespan of garments, and help close the fast fashion loop—leading to a more sustainable future”. The best feature of the ReWear platform is that users can buy and sell items from ALL brands – not just H&M pre loved clothing. I think this detail causes a gain of trust from consumers in the H&M brand as it shows that they are dedicated to sustainability in fashion, not just their own company.
L’Occitane
As a self-identifying skincare addict, I know how easy it is to toss an empty product into the garbage when you are done with it. L’Occitane, in partnership with TerraCycle, runs a recycling program for any beauty or skincare item in their stores. Much like H&M’s ReWear, they collect and recycle packaging from any brand’s beauty items, to reduce the amount of packaging that ends up in landfills. Here is a list of all the L’Occitane boutiques across Canada, so you know where to go next time you have a basket full of empties.
There are hundreds of companies who are also taking CSR strategies seriously and implementing new business practices to be more responsible. You may have also heard the term ESG (Environment, Social Governance) being included or interchanged with CSR recently. Come back next week to find out what it is, how it differs from CSR, and how it too will be used more and more by your favourite brands.
Written by Katie Burcea