Is it Pumpkin Spice Latte Season or Fire Season?
Being Intentional - Motive's Bi-Weekly newsletter for Intentional Shoppers
“How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world.”
Anne Frank wrote this in Anne Frank's Tales from the Secret Annex. It has stuck with me ever since I read it in school many (many) years ago. It is, for me, the perfect definition of optimism. When things aren't going well…when the news is bad…when things feel overwhelming…I think about what Anne Frank wrote--and the perspective and conditions from which she wrote it--and it makes me happy. We all have an amazing opportunity to start making the world a better place.
Between record-setting wildfires in California, once-in-thirty-year hurricanes slamming the East Coast, and constant anxiety from an unrelenting pandemic, we can all be forgiven for feeling overwhelmed and, at times, feeling helpless. No one is alone with these feelings--it's hard out there. But, there is good out there too, and it's more important than ever to celebrate and build on the good things so we don't become consumed by the bad things.
If you're at all familiar with Motive, you know that our focus is on helping companies become better because we believe that how companies operate has an outsized impact on the world in which we live. Just as individuals have an amazing opportunity to start making the world a better place, so do companies. Our ask to you, as you read this newsletter or buy the products that fill your shelves, is to think about the companies you support with your purchases. What are you telling those companies with your purchase? In that instant, that single moment, you are seizing your opportunity to make the world a better place.
We are grateful for your support and hope that this newsletter is both educational and fun for you to read.
Taylor & Kai
It’s official: Calendars don’t matter anymore! In a bid to outdo each other, both Dunkin’ and Starbucks released their pumpkin spice lattes this week--along with every other imaginable application of this flavoring. The beverage once associated with the onset of Autumn is now at your local coffee chain as of August 22nd!
Many coffee chains may be similar in their flavor offerings, especially during PSL season, but not all are similar in their responsibility toward their impacts on people and the planet. For more localized chains, check out AskMotive.com, but for larger regional/national chains, consider:
😀 Peet’s Coffee, Gloria Jean’s, or Caribou Coffee (all owned by Keurig Dr. Pepper RS: +26, ↑ 85%) or Starbucks and its subsidiary of Seattle’s Best Coffee (both with RS: +19, ↑ 73%)
instead of…
🙁 Dunkin’ (RS-4. ↓ 61%), Costa Coffee (RS: +8, ↑ 53%), or McCafe of McDonald's (RS: -1, ↑ 57%).
Motive is built on the fact that we are undergoing a seismic shift in consumer behavior. People want their spending to align with their values. People want brands to take meaningful action and clear responsibility for their impacts on the issues they care about. This shift is powerful…and global.
We are already seeing the global nature of this transition within the Motive Movement. Over the summer months, people from 42 different countries--and from across every continent of the world--have turned to AskMotive.com to learn more about the impacts of brands. Many of the countries you would expect to see audience members from are present, but not always in the order, we would expect.
Intentional shoppers from the USA lead the charge, followed by India, Canada, China, and UK to round out the top-five.
From our Blog:
What Are We Even Talking About? : Sustainability is everywhere today. Everyone is talking about it. But the problem is that all this talk is meaningless if we don’t actually define what we are talking about. It’s been over 34 years since the popular concept of sustainable development emerged, but here we are today still working with vague and implicit understandings of what sustainability even means. To move forward, we need to define what it is we are moving toward. So, what does sustainability mean to you?
Be Loyal to Better: When we find a brand we like we often find ourselves becoming ever more loyal to it. This is no accident--marketing is geared toward gaining our loyalty. But by being loyal to a brand we remove the pressure we have for them to become better--we reduce our own power. Brands are always changing and we have a strong hand in directing this change. So don’t be loyal to a brand, be loyal to brands being better.
From our YouTube Channel:
Sometimes being intentional in our shopping can be a little frustrating, but it is worth the effort--brands are listening, change is happening!
Foundations for a Science-Based Net-Zero Target Setting in The Corporate Sector.
The world needs to reach net-zero carbon emissions by mid-century if we are to mitigate some of the worst consequences of climate change imaginable. This has been known for some time, and recently brought back to the fore by the alarming IPCC report discussed in our last newsletter. The concept of net-zero has grown rapidly in public interest with many companies jumping on the bandwagon touting their commitments and plans--unfortunately, most corporate approaches to net-zero are being approached inconsistently and with little understanding of the dynamics involved. The Science-Based Targets Initiative--what we view as the gold standard in carbon emissions target-setting--is introducing a conceptual foundation for science-based net-zero target setting. This report is just the beginning, and if you are interested in keeping up to speed with companies’ net-zero trajectories, it is well worth the read.
That’s it for this edition. We hope you found it helpful and enjoyable. If you did, we’d love it if you’d share the Being Intentional newsletter with your friends. Thank you!