Five Most Luscious Natural Cosmetics Brands

Source: Cosmetics Charlotte

Winter's harsh weather can stress your skin out.  Give yourself a treat to nourish body and soul. Here are a few of our favourite natural brands:

1.    Neal's Yard

2.    Weleda

3.    Dr Hauschka

4.    Organic Pharmacy

5.    Green People

Five Inspiring Sustainability Reads

Source: Best Of Mother Earth

During these long dark winter days, why not feed your brain with some sustainable and inspiring reading?  Or pick up any of these suggestions for a gift for a loved one?

 1. Let My People Go Surfing, The Education of a Reluctant Businessman, Yvon Chouinard - Yvon, the founder and owner of Patagonia, gives an astonishing and authentic view on how to run a sustainable business.  One of Kathryn’s main sources of inspiration behind setting up Sustainability Consult.

2.  The Secret Life of Stuff, A Manual for a New Material World, Julie Hill - Uncovers the origins and true cost of ‘stuff’ and presents a step towards overcoming waste.

3.  Cradle to Cradle, Remaking the Way We Make Things, Michael Braungart and William McDonough - A challenge to the conventional 'cradle to grave' industrial model, fighting waste production and showing the way to a new era of highly-effective manufacturing.

4.  What Would the Buddha Recycle? The Zen of Green Living, Rosemary Roberts - A fabulous view on what Buddha’s ‘green’ advice would be in this era of heavy consumption.

5.  The Thank You Economy, Gary Vaynerchuk - More than a business strategy book, it gives the voice and power of opinion back to the consumer.  Combining passion and business, this is a read you cannot miss!  A must for social media fans.

Belgian Sustainable Development Minister Urges Companies to Adopt CSR

Belgian Deputy Prime Minister Steven Vanackere (who is also Finance and Sustainable Development Minister) told the eager crowd waiting to hear who had won the Best Belgian Sustainability Report Award that there is a clear business case for CSR and smart regulation and that the Belgian government considers it to be extremely important for companies to act.

Having left the Belgian Ambassador in charge of the Ecofin Council to pop out to do the honours of opening the envelopes and presenting the awards, Minister Vanackere congratulated all the participants as he said said they had understood the importance of sustainable development in their business strategy.

He likened sustainable development to politics in that they are both about working for the greater good and acting as a society rather than individuals.  Vanackere said it's not a coincidence that companies are integrating sustainability criteria into business strategy.  

He warned against using CSR as a marketing tool saying that the consumer is informed and prefers to buy from companies that are seen as ethical. They want to buy from companies they trust and who respect human rights and the environment.  The consumer also plays a role in the motivation of the people who work in these companies, he said.  

To some extent, politicians can impose CSR through regulation, for example in health and environment policy areas but Vanackere stressed that there are limits to what can be done with regulation.  

"Real CSR is an attitude", he said, "it's more than regulation."  There's authenticity behind real CSR, he said.  It's not about just conforming to the letter of the law but taking care of the social contracts which underpin it, he said.  Certainly, our approach to sustainability is about going beyond regulation and making a positive contribution.  It's reassuring to hear these messages from a politician.

Vanackere urged the Belgian sustainability community to work together with policymakers and other stakeholders.  For more on the Award winners, keep an eye on our blog.

Blog by Kathryn Sheridan

Making the Case for Social Media at the Sustainability Communications Lunch

Today’s Sustainability Communications Lunch put the spotlight on social media and particularly its use for NGO communications. Our guest speaker was Julian Ferguson, Communications Manager of the European Cyclists’ Federation (ECF), an association which promotes biking as a daily mode of transport. 

Shedding Some Light on the EU Bubble

This morning, I gave a presentation to third year Communications Management students at the Erasmus University College in Brussels.  My brief was to introduce these predominantly Flemish students (and three Erasmus students from Majorca) to the Brussels bubble and the work that we do helping trade associations communicate.

Parliament Votes to Support Global Health R&D

Source DSW

The European Parliament’s Industry, Research and Energy Committee (ITRE) voted today on the new research and innovation framework programme Horizon 2020 which will start in 2014.  The new seven-year Horizon 2020 funding programme will replace the FP7 programme (the Seventh Framework Programme for Research and Technological Development) which runs until 2013.

Paving the Way to 2050: European Ceramic Industry Launches Roadmap

As part of its 50^th anniversary, Cerame-Unie, the European ceramic industry association, today launched its Roadmap to 2050.  Entitled ‘Paving the Way to 2050’, the Ceramic Roadmap aims to kick start the debate on the future of the ceramic industry, the emissions reductions which are possible and the technology needed to make the reductions a reality.