Chipotle "Back to the Start"

In China, Human Costs Are Built Into an iPad

However, the workers assembling iPhones, iPads and other devices often labor in harsh conditions, according to employees inside those plants, worker advocates and documents published by companies themselves. Problems are as varied as onerous work environments and serious — sometimes deadly — safety problems. 

Employees work excessive overtime, in some cases seven days a week, and live in crowded dorms. Some say they stand so long that their legs swell until they can hardly walk. Under-age workers have helped build Apple’s products, and the company’s suppliers have improperly disposed of hazardous waste and falsified records, according to company reports and advocacy groups that, within China, are often considered reliable, independent monitors.

Link 

Companies try to recycle all waste, send nothing to landfill

Food leftovers as worm bedding? At a DuPont warehouse in Lockport, N.Y., cafeteria waste is turned into compost that's used for its landscaping.

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  By Don Heupel, for USA TODAY

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By Don Heupel, for USA TODAY

At other DuPont facilities, shipping pallets are repaired or shred into chips to make animal bedding, and scrap pieces of Corian are recycled into new countertops or used as landscape stone. Food waste that's not composted is turned into energy.

DuPont Building Innovations, which makes countertops and Tyvek building wrap, announced earlier this month that — within three years — it has slashed the annual amount of waste it sends to landfills from 81 million pounds to zero. Yes, zero.

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Activists call for Body Shop boycott

Animal welfare activists have called for a boycott of the Body Shop after its founder Anita Roddick and fellow shareholders sold out to French cosmetics giant L'Oreal for £652m.

The boycott was called by Naturewatch and backed by Uncaged.

The animal welfare groups oppose L'Oreal's policy on the testing of cosmetics ingredients on animals.

Body Shop made its name championing ethical consumerism and opposing animal testing and went on to make a fortune of £130m for Mrs Roddick and her husband Gordon.

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The Top 10 Trends in CSR for 2012

This article is by Tim Mohin, director of corporate responsibility for Advanced Micro Devices and author of the forthcoming book Changing Business From the Inside Out: The Treehugger’s Guide to Working in Corporations.
Here are the biggest developments to watch for this year in the ever growing and changing world of corporate social responsibility.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/forbesleadershipforum/2012/01/18/the-top-10-trends-in-csr-for-2012/

The pain of sustainability

Most consumers want companies to engage in sustainable business practices. In a recent public opinion poll we conducted, more than 83% of respondents said they thought companies should try to accomplish their business goals while trying to improve society and the environment. But companies continue to struggle to implement sustainable approaches to doing business. Why? Here’s a short list of reasons:

http://www.forbes.com/sites/csr/2012/01/18/the-pain-of-sustainability/

HBR: Why CSR's Future Matters to Your Company

More and more, companies are building long-term commitments to corporate social responsibility (CSR). In 2012 the rise in consumer activism and mobility, the Occupy movement, 24-hour accountability (thanks to social media), and global resource depletion will force every enterprise, large and small, to make CSR a focal point. Four particular areas stand out among many.

http://blogs.hbr.org/cs/2012/01/why_csrs_future_matters_to_you.html