green business

Best of the “Best for the World” B Corps of 2016

Almost 2,000 businesses around the world have now gone through the B Impact Assessment and have become certified as B Corporations (by B Lab), as of late 2016. “The B Impact Assessment gives companies a score based on how they perform on metrics for impact on their communities, the environment, workers, and customers.”

The annual Best for the World ratings “highlight the businesses that have scored in the top 10 percent of all Certified B Corporations on the assessment. Companies that have scored in the top percentiles across a majority of the assessment’s categories, based on company size, are honored as Best for the World Overall, and companies that have scored in the top percentiles in a given category, again based on company size, are honored as Best for the Environment, Best for Community, Best for Workers and Best for Customers.” This year, 515 companies have qualified for at least one of these Best for the World categories, and 140 companies are considered Best for the World Overall. Below we’ve listed a subset of those companies: companies that were deemed Best for the World Overall, and also qualified for one or two (of the four) specific “Best for” categories. (No companies have yet qualified for all of the “Best for” categories.)

The following are 20 companies that achieved the 2016 Overall “Best for the World” designation, as well as two specific category ratings, including the Best for the Environment category (and their second category would either be Best for Community, Best for Customers, or Best for Workers):

AlterEco (foods)

Archi’s Acres (organic greenhouse farm)

Bazzani Building Company

Catalyst Partners (building/design services)

Dr. Bronner’s (soaps, body care products)

Eco-Bags Products

Eco2Librium (business consulting on energy and forestry enterprises)

EcoTrust Forest Management

Grounds for Change (organic coffee)

Mobisol (solar energy for developing nations)

New Belgium Brewing Co. (beer)

Revivn (electronic recycling for businesses)

Saul Good Gift Co. (gift baskets of artisanal products)

South Mountain Co. (design/build services)

Squiz (reusable food pouches; Switzerland)

Telesis Corp. (urban community regeneration, planning, finance)

Triciclos (recycling, waste management company; Brazil & Chile)

Wholly Hemp (skin care products)

X-Runner (dry-toilets/sanitation product & service for low-income households in Peru)

YouGreen (recycling and waste cooperative; Brazil)

These companies achieved the Best for the World Overall rating plus the Best for the Environment rating:

Accion Verde
Atayne
Comet Skateboards
Cuento de Luz
Dolphin Blue
Fazenda de Toca Organicos
Hawaiian Legacy Hardwoods
Jibu
Northeast Green Building Consulting
One Earth Designs
RainGrid
Revive (Belgium)
Seeds Printing
Sistema Biobolsa
The Arnold Development Group
W.S. Badger Co.

And these companies achieved the Best for the World Overall rating plus two of the other sub-categories (but not the Best for the Environment category):

Abacus Wealth Partners
Abramar
Australian Ethical Investment
Beneficial State Bank
Bridges Ventures
Build With Prospect
Clean Yield Asset Management
Eudaimonia
Farmland
HCA
Imajine That
Juhudi Kilimo
Roshan
RSF Capital Management
Saber Es Poder
Trillium Asset Management

Click here to read stories about some of these B Corporations, as featured in B Magazine.

And click here to find other B Corps, including ones in your region. (You can search by location, name, industry, or keyword.) A few of the largest and most well-known B Corporations are: Patagonia, Ben & Jerry’s, Etsy, Sungevity, Seventh Generation, the Honest Company, Method, and Natura.

Related posts:

Best of the Best B Corporations of 2015

Beneficial Businesses: Top B Corps of 2014

Benefit Corporations and B Corps: Businesses for the Common Good

Green Business, Corporate Responsibility, Ethical Finance, and Sustainable Economies

Greener, More Gratifying Gifts

November 28, 2016
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Take a look at our daily Facebook posts

We post daily morsels of illuminating information and inspiration on The Green Spotlight’s Facebook Page. Anyone can view the page, even if you don’t have a Facebook account. But if you do have an account, we hope you’ll click on the page’s Like button (if you haven’t already “Liked” the page) and Share the page with your friends.

Please visit the Page to get a sense of the various topics that it covers. You are welcome to comment on the posts and we hope you’ll share some of our links. To make sure that Facebook will continue to show you our posts on your Facebook homepage/newsfeed, visit our page regularly and give a thumbs-up to (“Like”) your favorite posts.

Here’s a sampling of topics that we’ve highlighted on the page over the last few months:

Native American movement against the Dakota Access Pipeline, #NoDAPL
New federal emissions rules for heavy-duty trucks
CoolEffect.org
VerifiedVoting.org and ElectionProtection.org
GoodGuide.com app
CivilEats.com
Climate Ride
Organizations: The Greening of Detroit, Rural Renewable Energy Alliance, Grid Alternatives, Honor the Earth, Animal Legal Defense Fund, WildEarth Guardians
Books: Beyond Words; Frackopoly
Films: A Dangerous Game; You’ve Been Trumped Too (coming soon)
Quotations, graphics, photos, videos, etc.

August 31, 2016
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More TED Talks to Watch (Part II)

A few months ago, I posted five TED talks on this blog. As promised, here’s another set of recommended TED talks given by knowledgeable and compelling speakers:

A Guerilla Gardener in South Central L.A. / Ron Finley

Why Climate Change is a Threat to Human Rights / Mary Robinson

The Green Boat: Reviving Ourselves in Our Capsized Culture (TEDxLincoln) / Mary Pipher

A Teacher Growing Green in the South Bronx / Stephen Ritz

Are Mushrooms the New Plastic? / Eben Bayer

Related posts:

TED Talks to Watch (Part I)

NEW: TED Talks to Watch (Part III)

And here are some other collections of environment-related TED talks:

February 12, 2016
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Check out our Facebook page

Here’s a sampling of topics that we’ve highlighted on the page over the last few months:

Costa Rica now uses almost 100% renewable energy
Uruguay uses almost 95% clean energy
Aspen, CO, Burlington, VT, and Greensburg, KS use 100% renewables
San Diego plans to shift to 100% renewable energy
The island of Bonaire is switching to 100% renewables
Community solar for groups and neighborhoods
Ireland rules out fracking
COP21 Paris Climate Summit Commitments
CatalogChoice free junk-mail opt-out service
Organizations and Initiatives: Earthworks, Center for Environmental Health, Story of Stuff Project, Politifact, FactCheck.org, Solar Ready Vets, Troops to Solar
Books: Voices of the Wild, The Heart of Sustainability
New films: Time to Choose, Racing Extinction, Medicine of the Wolf, Last Days of Ivory
Quotations, photos, graphics, cartoons, etc.

December 28, 2015
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Greener, More Gratifying Gifts

“Every time you spend money, you’re casting a vote for the kind of world you want.” – Anne Lappe

Here are a few ideas and suggestions for less materialistic, more beneficial and values-driven gift-giving—for the holidays or any other occasion:

Think about some non-commercial or non-material things you would like, and think about or ask your family and friends what types of non-material things they would like. On the SoKind Registry, you and others can create your own wish lists, which can include anything (not just new stuff), such as experiences/activities (e.g., parks passes/memberships, event tickets), time/assistance or services, handmade/homemade or homegrown goods, donations to charities (see #2 below), etc.

Donate to charitable organizations in honor of the people on your gift list. You could pick a cause that you know they support. Some of our previous posts list various environmentally and socially beneficial organizations, including: broad-based sustainability orgs, and other lesser-known environmental and non-environmental orgs. And here are some other types of organizations you might consider: a refugee rescue organization (such as the IRC or UNHCR), wildlife conservation/protection group, animal shelter or animal rescue group, food bank, homeless shelter, women’s shelter, foster child or other children’s organization, Habitat for Humanity, seniors support organization, Meals on Wheels, a tree-planting organization, a local rural/volunteer fire department, or a public radio/TV station or investigative media outlet. You could also give the TisBest Charity Gift Card, which allows the recipient to spend the funds on a charity of their choice (among 300+ options).

When buying products, buy from small, locally owned businesses, green businesses, and/or businesses that are certified B Corporations or benefit corporations. A few B Corps that sell consumer products include: Patagonia, The Honest Company, Indigenous Designs, W.S. Badger, Alter Eco, Atayne, Better World Books, Saul Good Gift Co., Seventh Generation, Method, and Ben and Jerry’s. (Whatever you do, please try to avoid shopping on Amazon or at Walmart!)

Give the gift of information and inspiration: books! There are so many great books (and e-books) on sustainability topics. Go to your local independent bookstore (or if you don’t have one, you could shop online at Better World Books, Indiebound.org, Barnes & Noble, or Powells Books); be sure to avoid shopping for books on Amazon. Here are a few recently published books you could check out:

Voices of the Wild: Animal Songs, Human Din, and the Call to Save Natural Soundscapes, by Bernie Krause (who also recently wrote The Great Animal Orchestra)

The Heart of Sustainability: Restoring Ecological Balance from the Inside Out, by Andres Edwards

The Sixth Extinction: An Unnatural History, by Elizabeth Kolbert

Encyclical on Climate Change and Inequality: On Care for Our Common Home, by Pope Francis

The Permaculture City: Regenerative Design for Urban, Suburban, and Town Resilience, by Toby Hemenway

You can find a wide selection of other books on green topics from Chelsea Green Publishing and New Society Publishers and Island Press, among other publishers.

Whatever you give as gifts, do your best to avoid buying cheaply-made, sweatshop-manufactured (labor-exploiting), toxic, disposable, or wasteful products and packaging. Instead, consider alternatives to buying new Things, and when you do buy products, look for Fair Trade or locally made, well-made and durable (or edible/consumable), efficient, non-toxic, and needed or at least useful goods made by ethical companies, using organic, recycled, or natural materials and minimal packaging, whenever possible.

To get off of mailing lists for unwanted catalogs and junk mail, check out CatalogChoice.

For some additional green-gift suggestions, see these posts:

Green Gifts: Tips and Ideas (2.0)

Green Gifts: Tips and Ideas (1.0)

Good Duds: Sustainable and Responsible Clothing and Apparel

Chocolates of Choice: Organic, Fair Trade, and Delicious

Books on Sustainability Topics

Solar Generators: Clean, Portable Power

Green Goods: Beneficial Products and Gifts

How to Identify Greener Products: Certification Eco-Labels, Standards, and Ratings

Non-Profit Organizations of Note

November 27, 2015
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TED Talks to Watch (Part I)

Here’s a selection of five good TED talks related to the environment, energy, public health, nature, and other relevant topics. The engaging speakers who have given these talks are experts in their fields. Check out these free videos of the following brief and fascinating talks.

The Business Logic of Sustainability / Ray Anderson

The Voice of the Natural World / Bernie Krause

Biomimicry in Action / Janine Benyus

A 40-Year Plan for Energy / Amory Lovins

Protect Our Oceans / Sylvia Earle

UPDATE: We’ve now posted two more sets of talks:

TED Talks to Watch (Part II)

TED Talks to Watch (Part III)

And here are some other collections of environment-related TED talks:

September 29, 2015
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Best of the Best B Corporations of 2015

B Corporations (known as B Corps, for short) are companies that “use the power of business to solve social and environmental problems.” As of June 2015, there are now more than 1,300 certified B Corporations, in 41 countries and 121 industries (twice as many industries as were represented a year ago). Among the larger and most well-known companies that are certified B Corporations are: Ben and Jerry’s, Method, Patagonia, Seventh Generation, Sungevity, The Honest Company, Natura, and Etsy (which recent became a publicly traded company).

Each year, B Lab recognizes a group of B Corps as “Best for the World” honorees. These companies have earned an overall score in the top 10% of all certified B Corporations on the B Impact Assessment, a rigorous and comprehensive assessment of a company’s impact on its workers, community, and the environment. These are businesses that go beyond simply being benign or reducing their harm to society; they make significant efforts to be beneficial and even benevolent.

Dozens of companies made the top 10%. But here are this year’s Best of the Best. The companies that got the five highest scores of all (in the overall Best for the World list) were:

South Mountain Company (an employee-owned, residential design/build and renewable energy firm), West Tisbury, Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts [They received the top score overall, which is currently 179]

Juhudi Kilimo (an agricultural asset financing and training company; lender / credit provider), Nairobi, Kenya

Echale a tu casa (self-build affordable housing program and housing improvements production company), Mexico City, Mexico

Beneficial State Bank (community development financial institution; bank / credit provider), Oakland, California

One Earth Designs (sustainable living products, such as the SolSource solar grill), Hong Kong (as well as offices in Cambridge, Massachusetts and in China)

Within the Best for the Environment category, these were the companies with the five highest environment scores:

Piedmont Biofuels (waste-oil biodiesel fuel company), Pittsboro, North Carolina

Atayne (high-performance outdoor and athletic apparel), Brunswick, Maine

Emory Knoll Farms (nursery for green roof plants), Street, Maryland

Dolphin Blue (sustainable products online retailer), Dallas, Texas

Method Products (home and personal care products), San Francisco, California

There are also categories for Best for Community and Best for Workers.

Click here for stories about some of this year’s Best for the World companies.

Also follow the B Corps blog and B The Change Media, a new media hub for stories about B Corporations and benefit corporations.

And click here to find other B Corps. (You can search by location, name, industry, or keyword.)

Note: B Corporations and “benefit corporations” are similar but different things. For an explanation of each and the difference between the two, please see our previous post on this topic:

Benefit Corporations and B Corps: Businesses for the Common Good

See daily posts on our Facebook page

We post morsels of illuminating information and inspiration on The Green Spotlight’s Facebook Page every day. Anyone can view the page, even if you don’t have a Facebook account. But if you do have an account, we hope you’ll click on the page’s Like button (if you haven’t already “Liked” the page).

Please visit the Page to get a sense of the wide variety of topics that it covers. You are welcome to comment on the posts and we hope you’ll share some of our links. To make sure that Facebook will continue to show you our posts on your Facebook homepage/newsfeed, visit our page regularly and give a thumbs-up to (“Like”) your favorite posts.

Here’s a sampling of topics that we’ve highlighted on the page over the last couple of months:

Tesla’s Powerwall battery for home energy storage
Climate Rides (and Hikes)
Hawaii commits to 100% renewable electricity
Toxic pesticides, herbicides, and fungicides are really biocides
Goldman Prize winner videos
RoundUp’s links to cancer and other health and environmental harms
Environmental education, curriculum resources
Fossil-fuel-free funds have outperformed conventional stock-market funds
Community Choice local renewable power programs
Mother Earth News Fairs
Portland generating electricity via turbines in city water pipes
Wind turbines installed on the Eiffel Tower
New films: Inhabit, Oil and Water, Dryden, Merchants of Doubt, Mother, Revolution, Planetary
Quotations, photos, graphics, cartoons, etc.

May 19, 2015
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Green Business Topics: Our Recent Posts

Green Business is one of this blog’s main content categories. The following are some of the business-related posts that have been published on The Green Spotlight: