Encouraging life-long sustainability, one week at a time.

3M uses Sustainability Week, a week-long series of events, to engage our employees in sustainable thinking.

True sustainability must be lived daily. But sometimes we all need little reminders to jump start our thoughts and actions. That’s why we created Sustainability Week, a series of daily events, discussions and communications focused entirely on engaging 3Mers in sustainable thinking.

Our goal is to get the thousands of 3M employees across the globe embraced in the sustainability mindset and participating in activities that make a real impact. From product development competitions to independent research projects, giant brainstorming sessions to discussions at home, this week sharpens our focus on using sustainability to improve lives.

During the 2015 Sustainability Week, we addressed global sustainability challenges we all face every day at home and at work. 3Mers were asked to think creatively, collaborate, and innovate with the shared goal of making life better. We built tables for those in need, using construction waste. And we led a Shark Tank-inspired Power Pitch, which allowed teams of employees to suggest business ideas with a sustainability focus to compete for research and development funding with winners chosen through global text voting by their peers.

Additional events included a keynote speaker from clothing company Patagonia, events on meditation and mindfulness in effective leadership, and a Bike to Work day.