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B Corp

The Uncommon Life

4 Ways to Build a Better Business

October 8, 2013

UncommonGoods is proud to be B Corp certified as it allows us to be a part of their amazing movement and community. B Corps are certified by the nonprofit B Lab to meet rigorous standards of social and environmental performance, accountability, and transparency. Grasping the Ghandi quote of “Be the change you’d like to see in the world,” B Lab began the campaign B the Change, a customer-facing global movement of B Corps who are redefining success in business.

Two weeks ago, I attended the B Corp Champions Retreat in Boulder, Colorado along with team members from hundreds of fellow B Corps from around the world to celebrate our community and strengthen our global initiatives. Among the many things I took away with me from the retreat, there were four initiatives in particular that stuck in mind.

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Boulder, CO

1. Build a better community. 

Building community is ingrained in what it means to truly be a B Corp. This was evident on the first day when B Lab decided to host volunteering events in order to help the Boulder community after unprecedented flooding destroyed hundreds homes and schools in the area. Understanding that it is our duty as businesses to do our part to help the community is something that B Labs expects from each and every one of their B Corps. As a business, be sure to reach out and give a hand to your local neighborhoods, schools, and venues in some shape or form whether it is through mentor programs, employee volunteering, donations, or partnerships. A well rounded business understands the importance of connecting with not only their customers, but with the outside community.

1175388_10151643037027546_643598889_nB Corp helping to clear debris for the Boulder Valley School District.

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2. Become a leader in sustainability. 

I was greatly inspired by the recent work done by many of the fellow B Corps that I was able to meet on the retreat. On the first day, we were lucky enough to take a tour at the New Belgium Brewing Company. In addition to being able to taste their amazing selection of beers, we learned about many of their sustainability initiatives including their investments in renewable energy, waste diversion, and their annual state-wide Tour de Fat bike ride that advocates for the biking lifestyle. I met plenty of other B Corps leaders who were passionate about being leaders in sustainability by constantly finding innovative ways to improve their businesses’ social and environmental impact. Learn more about their work at B Corp Best for the World.

New Belgium Brewery 1

New Belgium Brewery2

 

3. Seek mindful collaboration.

Throughout the three days of the retreat, we broke into groups and discussed several ideas and initiatives that revolved around strengthening the credibility and exposure of the B the Change Campaign. Throughout those discussions, I met an incredible group of leaders and change makers who offered inspiration and ideas that I can take forward as we look to improve our social and environmental impact at UncommonGoods. Among the many projects that I have planned for our sustainability initiatives, I am most eager to help build community and look forward to this challenge as we continue to grow with the B the Change movement.

We’ve all heard of the saying, two heads are better than one. And this is very much true in the business world. As you build your community and speak to the locals, make sure to reach out to like-minded businesses (big or small) that would be interested to collaborate.

NY B Corps Left to right: Anne Sherman |Sustainability Manager of STAACH, Liz Brenna |CEO of Socially Good Business, Ariel Hauptman |Business Development Manager of Greyston Bakery, and me!

Making commitments to B the Change

 

4. Be consistent and have patience. 

When making changes in your business, it’s natural to want to see immediate results. Yet sometimes, those results don’t happen overnight. It’s easy throw in the towel after a month of hard work of community outreach or trying to implement a sustainable business. Keeping your sense of motivation is just as important as seeing the end result, so remember, patience is a virtue!

Consistency and patience is something the B Corps community practices, and now there are over 830 B Corps in 27 countries from 60 industries around the world. There was quite a lot to celebrate as our community has grown significantly in just this past year. As of late July, laws have been passed in 20 U.S. states for Benefit Corporation. This is exciting for us; however, we also understand that there is still a long way to go. This is apparent in the idea that B Lab grasps of climbing mountains. This analogy was comprehensive, taking on the idea of building momentum at base camp, choosing paths, and climbing the mountain together. We understand that as the B Corp community continues to gain recognition and credibility, we must constantly learn and grow as individual businesses within the B the Change movement.

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B Corp

 

 

Click here to learn more about the B Corp Community and how you can be a part of it. Also, watch some of their inspiring YouTube videos, including the one below.

The Uncommon Life

B Corp Status Renewed: The Mission to be a Responsible and Sustainable Business

August 8, 2012


When you think UncommonGoods you probably think unique, creatively designed and, well, uncommon products. Perhaps UncommonGoods is even your go-to place for gifts for those hard-to-buy-for family and friends and maybe even the place to gift yourself (don’t we all do that occasionally).

What you may not know is that UncommonGoods is voluntarily meeting higher standards of social and environmental performance through the B Corporation certification. The B Impact Assessment, conducted by the non-profit organization B Lab, aims to look beyond the marketing efforts of a company to assess the true impact of a business on their workers, community, and the environment.

Earlier this year, I led the effort to recertify UncommonGoods as a B Corporation, working with cross-departmental team members to assess how we’re doing. A founding member of B Corp, we’ve now reached our third term and our score of 91.3 shows that we are committed to upholding a higher standard when it comes to our stakeholders, including the environment, our employees, and the community.

(source, B Corp)

Our founder David Bolotsky has been making a continuous and strong effort in running a sustainable business ever since the company was founded in 1999. We are passionate about changing the way business is conducted by making sustainability a part of every decision we make. An important focus is to have a positive impact, not only in our own work place but in the world at large. For example, some benefits available to employees are that 80% of health insurance premiums are paid by UG (50% for families), whenever feasible alternate work schedules like part-time, flex-time or telecommuting are an option, there is a health and wellness program in place, including offering fresh organic fruit in the break rooms and incentives are given to encourage low-impact commutes to and from work.

Dave speaking to fellow NY B Corps.

A positive impact also means offering our customers creative and exciting merchandise that is built to last and made without harm to humans and animals; giving talented artists and designers a platform to sell their unique and often handmade product on a larger scale; making truthful and substantiated claims around all our products and avoiding the pitfalls of green-washing; and making smart packaging decisions when we ship the goods out to our customers and their friends and families.

(source, B Corp)

While not always an option in every product category, we prefer to work with local, sustainable, and fair trade suppliers. As a matter of fact, 14% of sales last year was generated with local and independent suppliers alone, ‘local’ meaning suppliers within a 200 mile radius. About half of our sales came from items made in the US, a little over a third from handmade products and about a fifth from products made of recycled content.

Being an internet and catalog retailer, we understand that producing a catalog uses the earth’s resources. Our goal is to minimize that impact by shifting more business online, limiting how many catalogs we mail, and continuing to print our catalogs on either recycled paper or paper sourced from FSC certified forests.

We love to give back to the environment and the community whenever we can. In 2011, we helped plant hundreds of trees (1,400 to be exact!) in Marine Bay Park as part of the MillionTreesNYC initiative. After over a year of tenacious persuasion tactics we also convinced city officials to make the landscape more appealing by planting street trees around Brooklyn Army Terminal (our offices) and we are volunteering our time and resources to help keep them in good health. I’m happy to report that so far they look quite happy!

Planting with MillionTreesNYC

Beautifying tree beds in and around Brooklyn Army Terminal.

Through the Better To Give program, UncommonGoods supports the mission of local and national non-profits. The Better To Give program gives our customers the opportunity to have UncommonGoods contribute to a non-profit organization each time they shop with us. Also, a portion of the sales of our Plates with Purpose, the Be The Change Paperweight and the Pelican and Sandpiper Nightlights is donated to non-profit partners – each item listing tells our customers exactly how much is donated and which organization it’s donated to. Last year we donated about $120K through our Better To Give program as well as $75K in product donations!

Our products that are making a difference.

On an ongoing basis, employees from all areas of our company are given the opportunity to discuss how we can make UncommonGoods more environmentally friendly, socially responsible and an ever-more rewarding place to work. Our four company goals serve as our guiding principles to be a responsible company; these goals are to be a great place to work, to be our customer’s favorite place to shop, to have a positive impact on the outside world, and to produce strong financial results.

Some members of the Certified B Corp community in front of Independence Hall in Philly. (source, B Corp)

The great thing about the B Corp seal is that it certifies the company as a whole, not just an individual aspect. It gives a customer insight on how a company is doing overall, from providing a living wage, to employee wellness, to lessening the environmental impact, to giving back to the community.

Fellow B Corp BBMG conducted a study on why B Corps matter and found that 73% of consumers care about the company, not just the product, when making a purchasing decision. Another interesting finding is that less than 1% of consumers actually trust company advertisements or statements when assessing a product or company. The more consumers know about the concept behind the B Corp certification/Benefit Corporation, the more consumer-spending will be influenced by this knowledge.

Check out this infographic to learn more about B Corps.(source, GOOD)

The bi-annual assessment and re-certification process is an excellent way to share our achievements with our customers and team members. More important, it helps us to set benchmarks for the social and environmental impacts of UncommonGoods and identify opportunities for future improvement.

We strive to be a driver of positive change and are convinced that collaborating with fellow B Corps and other industry leaders will have a positive impact. The certified B Corp community is made up of over 550 companies from 60 different industries and represents about $3.1 billion in revenues. It’s a large community of value-driven companies wanting to make a positive impact that are open to sharing advice and insights.

The holy grail of 100% sustainability is no small task to achieve – after all, the most sustainable product is the one that was never made – but we are very dedicated to making responsible, thought-through and well-informed decisions in everyday operations and to leading our business with integrity.

The Uncommon Life

UncommonGoods Goes to Washington

June 24, 2010

(Ok, not really, but we are getting involved in New York State politics!)

Hot off the press — the bill for benefit corporations (UncommonGoods was a founding member) was passed in NY state! This bill makes room in state corporate law for a legal middle ground between nonprofits and ordinary businesses. Hip hip hooray!

Here’s the catch, though, the bill still must pass  in the Assembly and then go to the Governor before becoming law. If you want to help make this happen, please call Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver’s office at 518.455.3791 – bill # is A11498 – we’re hoping to get it passed before the session ends next week!

Read more about benefit corporations and the bill.