Fred Copeman

If you want to overcome resistance to sustainability at your organization, you need to show how sustainable management is just good management. Clear away any notions that sustainability is "other" - it can be a key to unlocking existing goals. Your procurement team may have goals around reshoring certain supplies - this is one and the same as reducing emissions by re-localizing globalized supply chains. Your packaging team may have goals around reducing costs - this is one and the same with reducing packaging weight to reduce waste. Identifying instances of cross-functional wins like these may also help unlock additional funding from the c-suite.

Likely the only external eyes which will ever read your sustainability report will be a few folks from peer organizations, academia and external consultancies. If you want to share your sustainability progress with your external stakeholders, you need to study how they already engage with your organization. If you are a CPG brand with a strong social media presence, how can you harness that existing connection to share what you've done and where you are going? Long story short, meet folks where they are - they are unlikely to come to you.

Not all internships are created equal - you should be proactively asking about what you can expect to gain during your internship interviews. During your internship, will you have a chance to meaningfully contribute to something like a sustainability report? Will you have an opportunity to present your findings? Who will you be working with closely and what kinds of sustainability initiatives are they responsible for? I highly recommend anyone thinking about a sustainability internship A) start the hunt early (at least 8 months before start time),B) look for big name companies or consultancies and C) try to connect with former interns or current employees as another way to understand what you might get from the experience

If you want to sell a decision maker at your company on sustainability, you need to lead with the tangible financial benefits. You can look at external examples from businesses which have shown clear top or bottom-line benefits from a sustainability program (cost cutting, increase in sales, new revenue stream, etc.). Alternatively, you can propose a program internally and build a financial model which shows the return on investment. Yes - you should also bring in storytelling elements and emotional appeal, but you cannot (nor do you have to) build your whole case on the moral/environmental imperative of sustainability.