Picture by Abhinav Sunil
Complicated organizations must implement sustainability initiatives that minimize throughout a number of companies. To look deeper at one such group with numerous companies, we interviewed Kristin Edie, vp of enterprise sustainability at Hallmark, about her management position and probably the most impactful sustainability efforts at Hallmark throughout Hallmark Media, Crayola, and Hallmark Playing cards.
Position And Obligations
Abhijit Sunil: Please inform us extra about your position because the chief for sustainability at Hallmark and your inner group.
Kristin Edie: I’m the vp of enterprise sustainability. Hallmark has a portfolio of companies, together with Hallmark, Crayola, Hallmark Media, and Crown Heart. I work on the enterprise degree to set the environmental technique, objectives, and targets. As well as, if there are initiatives that cross a number of companies, my workforce will take the result in implement them. One instance is our provider engagement program, which incorporates suppliers of a lot of our world companies and types.
Along with my workforce working throughout the enterprise, we now have extra sustainability groups within the particular person companies. Whereas these groups don’t immediately report back to me, we associate collectively day by day to ship the technique. This workforce construction permits us to embed possession for sustainability throughout the particular person companies. We really feel that embedding enterprise possession is necessary as a result of reaching our objectives could require totally different actions in every enterprise. For instance, one focus space of our technique is our product and content material pillar, which includes redesigning bodily merchandise and packaging for Hallmark and Crayola. But at Hallmark Media, this similar aim means measuring the carbon footprint of film manufacturing to establish the important thing emissions drivers. Every enterprise could have some custom-made methods of constructing our methods come to life, however we all the time collaborate throughout the companies to share concepts and finest practices.
Most Impactful Sustainability Efforts
Abhijit: What are probably the most impactful sustainability efforts that you just’ve undertaken inside Hallmark?
Kristin: In 2022, we had our 2030 enterprise science-based goal authorised for greenhouse gasoline emissions discount. There are 4 key pillars of labor to ship this goal.
The primary pillar is merchandise and content material, which incorporates redesigning merchandise and packaging to make them extra sustainable and cut back their carbon footprint. We’re additionally working to extend the sustainability of film manufacturing at Hallmark Media.
The second pillar is renewable vitality. Our aim is to transition to renewable electrical energy throughout our world amenities. We’re additionally asking our key suppliers to implement renewable electrical energy and vitality effectivity initiatives to do their half in lowering emissions throughout our provide chain.
The third pillar is sustainable forestry. We all know that forests are a vital sustainability consideration, and we now have had a dedication to accountable sourcing of paper and wooden for a few years. After we launched our up to date technique, we didn’t need to lose deal with this space, so we introduced this precedence into our new motion plan.
After which fourth is transportation. Our aim is to scale back emissions from transporting our merchandise, in addition to these from our workers commuting to the workplace and our enterprise journey.
We’ve got been making nice progress towards our renewable vitality priorities. This has been a significant journey, because the idea of renewable vitality goes again into our historical past. I just lately visited our first Crayola manufacturing facility, which started operation again in 1900 in Pennsylvania, the place Crayola nonetheless operates right now. Manufacturing operations at that first Crayola manufacturing facility have been powered by a waterwheel from the close by creek. Since Crayola has all the time had this hyperlink to the facility of nature when it got here to manufacturing, we proceed that zeal for renewable vitality right now. For instance, in 2010, Crayola constructed a photo voltaic farm to assist energy the manufacturing plant. Then in 2020, Crayola transitioned to 100% renewable electrical energy in all of the US-owned amenities.
Many leaders at Hallmark carry the identical ardour for renewable vitality to the Hallmark model. The Hallmark model started its renewable electrical energy journey in 2021 inside our distribution amenities. We just lately started buying renewable electrical energy, comparable to photo voltaic and wind, for our Hallmark-owned amenities and places of work globally. We’ve got additionally submitted plans to construct a photo voltaic farm at our greetings manufacturing plant in Kansas.
From an impression standpoint, these renewable electrical energy initiatives have carried out rather a lot to scale back our scope 1 and scope 2 emissions. However furthermore, it has been a option to construct a tradition of sustainability inside our firm — to point out our dedication to sustainability to our workers, prospects, suppliers, and guests.
Provide Chain Decarbonization
Abhijit: You talked about provide chain being an enormous a part of your decarbonization technique. I’m assuming that with Crayola, Hallmark, and even in film manufacturing, provide chain is an enormous a part of decarbonization efforts. How do you deal with numerous efforts throughout the provide chain, and what has been probably the most difficult and probably the most impactful efforts you’ve taken up to now?
Kristin: As you talked about, our provide chain is a crucial space of focus for us. Hallmark and Crayola have our personal manufacturing operations in the USA, through which we use renewable electrical energy. These operations fall inside our scope 1 and a pair of emissions, however we even have an exterior provide chain for uncooked supplies and a few completed merchandise, which is a part of our scope 3 emissions.
In October 2022, we launched a provider engagement program, the CARE program, to ask suppliers to affix us on this journey by lowering their environmental impression. As a part of this program, we’re asking suppliers to measure their greenhouse gasoline footprints and set emission discount targets. We’re additionally encouraging suppliers to take actions comparable to implementing vitality effectivity initiatives and transitioning to renewable electrical energy of their factories. The actions taken by our suppliers are necessary as a result of their factories are a part of our greenhouse gasoline footprint. We, in flip, are a part of our prospects’ footprints. This is the reason all of us should take collective motion.
As well as, a minimum of one in every of our suppliers has taken the initiative to implement the identical sort of program with their very own suppliers. That is very priceless, as a result of our provide chain emissions come from not simply our direct suppliers’ factories but additionally from our suppliers’ suppliers.
Abhijit: What are the largest challenges in working with these suppliers?
Kristin: A giant problem is offering training. After we began, many suppliers had not measured their greenhouse gasoline footprint and have been solely beginning to find out about renewable vitality. Yearly, we have to ask our suppliers to supply us with emission-related information to trace our progress. The difficult half is reaching out to our suppliers to collect information yearly and, for them, having the data mandatory to supply that information. We periodically maintain conferences with suppliers to teach them about our CARE program, why we’re implementing it, and the way we monitor our progress on enhancing the sustainability of our provide chain with the information they supply. Yearly, we and our suppliers have gotten extra educated, however this can be a continuous studying course of for everybody.
Sustainability Laws
Abhijit: What regulatory features are key for you at Hallmark? What reporting frameworks are you planning to report into, and contemplating that you’re a personal firm, how do you see laws such because the EU’s Company Sustainability Reporting Directive and the SEC’s proposal affecting your technique?
Kristin: As a personal firm, some laws focused towards public corporations and their traders don’t apply to us. However globally, some laws being applied do embrace massive personal corporations. For instance, just lately, California and the European Union have each launched laws associated to emission reporting and local weather danger assessments that embrace massive personal corporations of their scope. It is necessary that every one corporations monitor the fast-moving world laws in any respect ranges (nation, state, native) to make sure that they’re compliant with laws that apply to their enterprise. It is very important have robust rigor round these processes and reporting.
As well as, there are rising legislative necessities for third-party verification audits of greenhouse gasoline footprints. Because of this, the rigor round sustainability reporting is getting elevated to grow to be nearer to monetary reporting. These audits be certain that corporations are compliant with the Greenhouse Fuel Protocol and that their processes and information are credible. With the elevated legislative deal with performing local weather danger assessments, such because the TCFD [Task Force on Climate-Related Financial Disclosures], in companies, the partnership of sustainability with finance and danger administration is changing into extra necessary. This enables corporations to investigate and decide their largest monetary dangers due to the altering local weather.
Usually, when laws begins to require sure actions comparable to audits or danger assessments, this could create a brand new trade commonplace. Subsequently, even when laws doesn’t apply to all corporations, it’s nonetheless advisable for corporations to observe evolving finest practices.
Integration Of Sustainability Into Merchandise
Abhijit: How do you combine sustainability into numerous Hallmark merchandise? How do you infuse sustainability-related metrics and experience into numerous product strains?
Kristin: Proper now, our main focus for product sustainability is on rising the recyclability of merchandise and packaging, utilizing extra sustainable supplies comparable to recycled content material, and lowering the amount of uncooked supplies used per product. All of those are key levers to scale back the environmental impression of our merchandise and packaging by lowering their carbon footprint and rising circularity.
We even have software program to do product lifecycle assessments. We use this software program to match the emissions of a product or packaging answer earlier than and after the proposed redesign. Product sustainability to scale back greenhouse gasoline emissions is an space the place we’re studying and rising each day.
Abhijit: Thanks, Kristin, in your priceless time and insights!
Kristin: Thanks!