Brewing for Good

Kim Marotta, Director of Sustainability, MillerCoors, writes today in CSRWire about how employees are critical to achieving a company's sustainability goals. When Miller and Coors merged five years ago, the new company adopted the theme, "Great Beer, Great Responsibility." The brewing giant has worked to reduce water usage, improve waste management, and encourage responsible drinking and designated drivers, and in the last year, has reported the best results so far in its sustainability report, Brewing for Good.

Many companies can forget that without employee support and engagement, environmental and social sustainability goals will wither: employees are the mechanism by which most initiatives rise or fall. MillerCoors knows this and provides ample opportunities for employees to provide ideas, express feedback, and get involved in direct action.

Marotta notes five principles that MillerCoors relies on to maintain employee enthusiasm in social and environmental causes.

1. Know Where You Stand - Marotta suggests not just providing the important accounting of energy used, waste diverted from landfills, and reduced water use, but measuring employee opinions and priorities regarding social and environmental sustainability.
2. Invite Employees to Be Sustainability Ambassadors - MillerCoors has a 35 member Sustainability Council that advises the company and suggests initiatives, but other companies have used this concept to unify different locations around sustainability. Interface, for example, has a similar program, and all the company's ambassadors go through a training.
3. Be Global, Act Local - At MillerCoors, the company celebrates "Great Water Month." (You cannot have good beer without good water!) The entire company is unified around the theme, but different locations engage in activities meaningful to their area. (See this September 2010 post.) These activities allow employees to volunteer together while partnering with a local non-profit organization to make a difference in the communities where they live and work.
4. Market Sustainablity - Marotta describes a new position, a Sustainability Marketing Brand Manager, to ensure the company sends a unified message across brands. Earlier this year, they partnered with RecycleBank on a campaign to educate consumers with specially marked packages. Companies should promote their sustainability initiatives and should create social marketing campaigns, but they also need to avoid the seven sins of greenwashing.
5. Share Your Stories - The new blog, Behind the Beer, provides a wealth of stories about employees who are working on MillerCoors social and environmental initiatives. Shared stories help establish values and develop culture. I can't wait to read more of the entries!