One might easily write off Len Sauers, vice president of sustainability at Procter & Gamble Co., Cincinnati, as a corporate mouthpiece, someone paid to sing pitch-perfectly from the company’s hymnal. But it’s fairly certain that that’s not the case. Sauers not only believes deeply in his company and its sustainability mission, he cares deeply about it, too. He is part of a small corps of committed souls not often heralded in the world of corporate sustainability.
In 2010, P&G, the largest consumer packaged goods company in the world, announced a set of 2020 sustainability goals, an update to the goals the company set in 2007. The 2010 goals made four broad commitments: to power P&G plants with 100% renewable energy, use 100% renewable or recycled materials in all products and packaging, have zero consumer and manufacturing waste go to landfills, and design and sell products “that delight consumers, while maximizing the conservation of resources.”