An end of year applause for The Cool Down, the only climate brand that reaches 1 in 8 Americans every month 🌍 They're a must-follow for anyone interested in climate action -- keep an eye out for incredible insights on today's shoppers and how #sustainability figures into their purchasing decisions.
How do you get to #sustainability at scale? This year The Cool Down spoke with over 40 industry leaders — from IKEA to REI to Microsoft — about how they’re making sustainability mainstream. The momentum is here and so are our 30M+ monthly readers looking to save money, live healthier, and help the planet all at once. Here are 3 main through-lines we picked up on in 2024 (among many!) 💚 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐜𝐚𝐬𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐬𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐛𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐢𝐬 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐭, 𝐜𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐥𝐢𝐭 𝐮𝐩 𝐢𝐧 𝐧𝐞𝐨𝐧 Sustainability has become a key growth driver for businesses — it’s a way to drive loyalty and revenue and bring in new, younger customers. 🎤 "We find when customers start recycling, their shopping behavior changes," Brian Coupland, Senior Vice President of Merchandising at Staples, told us. "We can pinpoint when they start recycling and frankly become more loyal to the brand.” [https://lnkd.in/eVUHxKV7] ✋ “𝐒𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐞𝐭” 𝐢𝐬 𝐨𝐧𝐥𝐲 *𝐨𝐧𝐞* 𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐕𝐞𝐧𝐧 𝐝𝐢𝐚𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐦 First, consider how products save people money and live healthier. Helping the planet isn’t always the stickiest message, although it’s critical. 🎤 "There's a lot of really creative people that look forward to figuring out, what are the mystery ingredients going to be in whatever they're preparing for their families?,” Nicholas Bertram, CEO of Flashfood, told us. The half-price food app saves people money, combats food insecurity, and keeps food out of landfills. “And then how much were they able to save in cash," he said "and how much were they able to save and divert from being thrown away.” [https://lnkd.in/gyMJKFpV] ⚡ 𝐇𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐟𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐢𝐬 𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 — 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐨𝐫 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐠𝐨𝐯 𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐬 Our homes are headed toward a cooler, cleaner future. Innovative tech like induction stoves that plug into regular outlets, solar with accompanying battery storage, and “smart” hot water heaters are taking off because they’re more efficient and increase home resiliency against extreme weather. Ultimately, incentives are the perk, not the product. 🎤 "Our vision is really simple,” Michael Rigney, CEO of intelligent water heater startup Cala Systems, told us. "125 million water heaters in America should heat up when the wind is blowing and the sun is shining." "Everybody can participate, and everybody can help make that happen," he said. "It's actually really, really achievable." [https://lnkd.in/efP2g2CJ] ### Many thanks to EnergySage, Copper, Daily Harvest, KIND, Too Good To Go, General Motors, WattBuy, Yuka, Environmental Defense Fund, Procter & Gamble, Trashie, Honda, Room & Board, Allbirds, and many many others for sharing their expertise with our readers — and us :)