Aurora Organic Dairy Phase III: Corporate Sustainability Report (2011)
- Rosemary Lapka, MBA/MS Sustainable Systems
- Neesha Modi, MBA/MS Sustainable Systems
- Lauren Start, MBA/MS Sustainable Systems
- David Weinglass, MBA/MS Sustainable Systems
This masters project is the third in a series of three projects. The first project conducted a cradle to grave energy and green house gas footprint for a gallon of packaged Aurora Organic Dairy (AOD) milk. The second phase expanded the analysis by updating the energy and carbon footprints and conducting water, waste and nutrient lifecycle analyses. The third phase will update relevant areas of the energy, green house gas and water footprints and research indicators, metrics, industry benchmarks, and other relevant data needed to create and draft an effective prototype corporate sustainability report (CSR). AOD's CSR will draw from CSR reporting best practices and standards, including relevant economic, environmental, and social elements such as energy and water use, animal welfare, charitable giving, and employee benefits. The resulting prototype report will provide the components for AOD to complete its first CSR, which will link results of ongoing operations with short-term and long-term sustainability goals.
The team will develop high level consulting skills such as working closely with the client to identify gaps and propose solutions on how to address such issues. The project will also develop LCA skills and gain in-depth knowledge of how a private company can uniquely use a CSR report to address sustainability goals and progress.
Confirmed via Aurora Organic Dairy.
- Prototype corporate sustainability report
- List of currently unmet or untracked indicators and metrics coupled with strategic recommendations to AOD management for prioritized tracking of missing information
- Process recommendations for developing future AOD corporate sustainability reports
- Final summary presentation to AOD and SNRE, including debrief

LCA analysis knowledge, quantitative analysis skills, client facilitation skills, strong researching, writing and presentation skills.