As vice president of global sustainability at Procter & Gamble, I've been lucky enough to work with NGOs, thought leaders and P&G employees throughout the world to implement sustainability initiatives across our vast organization. These experiences have shaped how I view sustainable innovation at P&G and how, as an organization, we can continue to improve our environmental performance. Here are some of the learnings I've picked up along the way.  

1. Sustainability must be viewed within the organization as a business opportunity, not an issue to be managed. Each initiative must make a meaningful impact on the company's environmental footprint and make business sense. From a business perspective, this is how a commitment to sustainability can be truly sustainable over the long term.  

2. Senior management must be committed. This crucial element sets the tone for the entire organization and shows business partners, external stakeholders and employees that company leadership views sustainability as an important enabler of growing the business. For example, at P&G, the executive sponsor of the sustainability program is our CEO Bob McDonald.  

3. Sustainability is part of the rhythm of the business, not separate work. At P&G, sustainability touches everything in the company, including product distribution, packaging, materials selection, office efficiency, manufacturing plant operations and R&D. We bring tremendous innovation resources to every part of our business, and sustainability is no exception.  

4. In order to make credible and meaningful improvements in sustainability, they must be grounded in good science. We manage innovation with discipline, using science-based, rigorous tools such as life cycle assessment (LCA). These tools aid in identifying sustainability opportunities at every touch point along the path of our products, from discovery through disposal to potential reuse. Some improvements are obvious product changes to the consumer. Others, such as innovations in our manufacturing operations, are not visible, yet they can deliver substantial sustainability improvements. 

5. Initially focus efforts where you can make the most meaningful impact and generate the biggest results. Due to the size and scale of P&G, we chose to focus early efforts in the places where we could make the biggest improvements as quickly as possible. We evaluated how P&G could improve its environmental performance in the biggest markets, with the biggest brands and in the company's biggest product categories, and immediately set to work on making those changes. As these areas were addressed, we moved on to other opportunities within the business.