Chemicals and materials in products, processes, and packaging are facing greater scrutiny and growing demands from retailers, regulators, competitors, and consumers - new rules of the game are rapidly emerging.

Seventh Generation, the Vermont-based household goods company known for its pioneering work on ingredient disclosure, has found success linking bonuses to sustainability goals. The bonus tie-in increased employee awareness of the company’s priorities and ownership of the four sustainability goals selected — helping the company meet all of these goals in 2012, as detailed in the company’s 2012 Corporate Consciousness Report.

Why do sustainability achievements come naturally for some companies, while others struggle to achieve even modest targets for impact reduction? I wish I could say the difference is some companies hire our sustainability consulting services and others don’t. But the truth is, despite abundant guidance and support, I’ve seen some clients take only faltering steps, while others take the ball and run. So when a company clearly has winning ways, it makes sense to take a closer look.

Two very different news stories caught my eye at the end of May. The initial article in Triple Pundit, praised ten companies for the excellence of their sustainability reporting. The other, in the Guardian, reported on a Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) study of 28 publicly traded companies in the S&P 500 that work both sides of the room to influence the debate on climate change. The study found that some businesses claim to care about climate action while quietly supporting groups working to discredit climate science.

How does a company determine which products to prioritize when developing a strategy for reducing cradle-to-grave greenhouse gas impacts?

Two-thirds of the world’s growing population is expected to face water scarcity in 2025, according to the United Nations. That’s huge. A finite amount of fresh water will have to be shared by more people and more industry and food production than ever before. What needs to change for this happen? Businesses need to play a vital role in this conversation.

An exciting new vehicle for enhancing the overall value and communication of Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) results and opportunities is the integration of GIS and mapping functionality into LCA tools.

The lack of information on chemicals used in a company’s supply chain can make product and packaging innovation challenging.

California-based Presidio Graduate School is expanding its executive five-month Certificate Program in Sustainable Management with an east coast offering. Please share this exciting program with colleagues in your network and company. This is a fantastic opportunity to gain sustainability credentials with two-day-per-month sessions in San Francisco or Boston. I am very impressed with Presidio’s targeted, interactive program and encourage you to pass this information on to anyone who may be interested in gaining the tools to tackle a broad range of sustainability challenges.

Sustainable Life Media recently invited me to share some thoughts on the importance of defining the level of sustainability a company desires and then devising a strategy to get there.