Top sustainability initiatives: GSB awards judges share examples

PUMA spent 21 months road testing 40 'shoebox' prototypes. The result was the Clever Little Bag (above with designer Yves Behar). The design made production and transport more sustainable and it is intended to be used again and again. PUMA has estimated the bag will save one million litres of water, 8500 tons of paper and one million litres of oil each year. That is a big impact. This video further explains the creation of the Clever Little Bag. Photograph: Nils Jorgensen / Rex Features/Nils Jorgensen / Rex Features

Another of our judges' favourites is Sky's 'Bigger Picture' initiative. Focused on four core areas; environment, sport, art and schools in the communities they operate in, the initiative focuses on long term thinking and 'doing the right thing'. Sky CEO, Jeremy Darroch recognises that the initiative also makes good business sense as it helps build trust and customer loyalty. Photograph: Garry Weaser/Guardian

By taking flexible working to scale, O2 have demonstrated how a good work-life balance can help reduce costs and grow the business. Since embracing flexible working, they report a smaller travel budget, fewer sick days and £3 million saved due to cutting the running costs of 550 desks. 100% of O2 flexible workers are said to enjoy an improved work-life balance and productivity levels have risen. Photograph: Christian Charisius/REUTERS

Committed to growing food with positive benefits for the planet, people, and profit, Sundrop Farms was founded in 2009. This is a great example of a business demonstrating impact and innovation in sustainability. Sundrop Farms has developed technologies to responsibly and profitably grow crops in some of the world’s driest regions. Jonathan Margolis writes in a piece for the Observer, "It's an inspiring project, more important, it could be argued, than anything else going on in the world." Photograph: Jonathan Margolis/Observer

Perhaps one of the best known corporate sustainability initiatives, Marks and Spencer launched Plan A in 2007 with the ultimate goal of becoming the world's most sustainable major retailer. Plan A set out to address three global challenges: the increasing pressure on finite resources, rising social inequality, and the need for healthier, more sustainable lifestyles. On 1 January 2012 all M&S operated stores, offices, warehouses and delivery fleets in the UK and Republic of Ireland became carbon neutral - a move not without controversy - but laudable in scale. Photograph: Andy Rain/EPA

As part of its Plan A commitment, M&S unveiled its 'sustainable suit' this year. The suit is made from organic wool traceable back to the farms where it was produced, and the lining is made from recycled plastic bottles. You can find a picture of M&S CEO, Marc Bolland, looking rather dapper in the suit here. Photograph: M&S

90% of cases of avoidable blindness occur in the developing world affecting economic productivity in communities where Standard Chartered Bank operates. The bank's employees donated their last hour's pay of 2011 to 'Seeing is Believing', the Standard Chartered programme tackling preventative blindness. In seven years, the programme has gone from a simple staff-led initiative to raise enough money to carry out 28,000 cataract operations (representing one operation per member of staff), to a $37 million global funding initiative reaching out to over 30 million people. Photograph: Bobby Yip/REUTERS

Saatchi & Saatchi has been working with the NGO JUCCCE on the China Dream, exploring ways to re-frame the language of sustainability so it becomes everyday and culturally locked in. The goal was to find ways of making sustainability culturally rooted in China, as opposed to an imported concept. Should they get it right, the opportunity to scale sustainable living is truly significant. Photograph: Saatchi

Sainsbury's 20x20 sustainability plan comprises 20 commitments grouped under five sets of values, to be achieved by 2020. The five values include respecting the environment and sourcing with integrity. Sainsbury's says these values help maintain the supermarket's competitive edge and differentiate it for stakeholders. A year after its launch, Sainsbury's put their 20x20 plan to a group of business and sustainability experts for review, marking the first time a major company has laid bare its sustainability strategy in this way. Photograph: Sainsburys/PA