What if 1% of everything you bought helped buy you a better world? That's the good idea behind 1% for the Planet.

With thousands of members who have collectively donated over US$846 million to help our home planet, it's one of sustainability's great success stories. So why has it been so successful when other attempts to get companies to fund things that help people and planet have failed?

In this episode, CEO Kate Williams breaks down some of the many reasons, including:

💡 It's a simple idea. A company can’t commit to something it doesn’t understand. 1% for the Planet keeps things simple: give 1% of sales to support the planet that supports you. Easy to understand, easy to explain and easy to account for.

👍 Credibility comes built in. One big challenge in supporting a cause is knowing the impact is real. 1% for the Planet vets environmental nonprofits, then certifies member giving to approved partners. This means orgs can be trusted, impact is verified and companies don't have to source and screen on their own.

😊 Employees can get involved. With thousands of vetted partners, it’s easy to give employees the chance to choose which the company funds, creating a feeling of ownership. This creates a clear business benefit via measurable employee engagement.

📣 The story tells itself. 1% is easy to explain to customers. In fact, you don’t need to explain it. This makes it easy to create brand loyalty and give people a reason to choose your product.

🤝 It helps you find your tribe. Working out how to run a company in a way that is good for people and planet can be a lonely journey. With almost 12K members and nonprofits, 1% makes it easy to find and connect with like-minded organisations.

Kate also gives some good advice for young people looking to get into a purpose-led career, as well as some hot tips on how to reverse a truck with a trailer. Yes, she is a multi-talented legend.

🎥 You can also watch this episode on YouTube.


We gave AI a listen and here's what it had to say:

A tiny pledge, a big shift: we sit down with Kate Williams, CEO of 1% for the Planet, to explore how a simple, certified commitment—1% of annual revenue to vetted environmental partners—turns good intentions into durable impact. Kate breaks down why this model works: direct relationships between businesses and nonprofits, annual certification for credibility, and a global community that shares tactics for brand lift, employee engagement, and measurable outcomes.

We dig into the psychology of action and why simplicity beats overwhelm. Rather than freeze at trillion‑dollar estimates, start with a number everyone understands. Make it local and emotional—your trail, your surf break, your park—then layer in data to drive solutions. Kate shares how members embed the commitment across hiring, volunteering, and staff-led partner selection, and how that internal pride often translates into customer loyalty and sales lift. We also highlight a gritty, under-told story: Thin Green Line’s work training rangers who protect wildlife and habitats at great personal risk.

If you care about climate, nature, brand trust, or the future of business, this conversation offers a clear playbook: keep it simple, repeat it together, and lock it in where it counts. Subscribe, share with a fellow change-maker, and leave a review with the one cause you’d choose for your 1%.

Goodtrepreneur is the podcast about good people with good ideas for a better world.

Please 👀 follow, 👂listen, 🌟 rate and share 📢 to help spread the word and deliver on our mission to inspire and enable more people to create more world changing ideas - and succeed - more often.

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Last August I set out to talk to founders of companies and other ideas on a mission to do good for our home planet.

I've since spoken to more than a dozen of these legends and learned a lot. The idea is to assemble their collective wisdom into some sort of simple playbook that makes it easy for more people to have a go—and succeed.

This season wrap starts with an updated missive on why these 'good ideas' are so important for speeding up sustainability in the business world, then outlines my first three thoughts on what makes the difference between a 'good' idea succeeding or not. Spoiler alert they are:

👉 They tend to 'do good' at the ends of the value chain 👈

Take Who Gives a Crap. It creates impact by donating money from sales. That changes how the value created (profit) is distributed at the end of the value chain. Thankyou, GreenPay and Hawke's Brewing work similarly. So does Newman's Own, Inc. which has been doing it since the 80's.

On the flipside, Tony's Chocolonely, Alt.Leather, Good Citizens and WAW Handplanes change the start of the value chain, by innovating how the product is made. In the 70's, The Body Shop did the same starting with the words Against Animal Testing.

Of course there is also the middle of the supply chain—manufacturing with renewables and so on. It just rarely seems to be a differentiator big enough to build a brand from.

👉 There's something for we and something for me 👈

Let's take Good Citizens as an example. Their frames are made from 100% recycled plastic from rivers and waterways, which is good for the planet. At the same time, each pair is made from just 5 pieces, so if you break an arm, you can replace it - which is good for me as a buyer. Plus they look cool. As Nik Robinson says, 'they've got to have street appeal'.

Sustainability creates a reason to look, but being better for the use I need it for creates the reason to buy.

👉 Everything can be rethought 👈

When you’re doing something new, it’s hard to see past the ‘rules’ of your category.

Take Talk Club for example, a charity supporting men's mental health. If you were working out how to fund such a thing, you’d naturally think about grants and donations. Ben Akers and team thought differently, creating Clear Head, a zero alcohol beer that has delivered them over 100K pounds to date. It's a completely different business model.

💪 But here's the biggest discovery 💪

Almost no-one I've spoken to had experience in the thing they created.

Nik Robinson & Jocelyne Simpson from Good Citizens had never worked in eyewear.

Maddi Ingham & Glenn Bartlett from GreenPay had no experience in digital payments.

Lucy Jackson & Rikki Gilbey from WAW Handplanes had never worked in the surf industry.

David Gibson and Nathan Lennon from Hawkes had never brewed a beer before.

Ben Akers from Talk Club had never worked in a charity.

Maria Baker from Nobody's Princess knew nothing of snow wear.

Tina Funder from Alt.Leather had never run a deep tech company.

Now best-selling author Natalie Kyriacou had never written a book before.

Showing no matter your idea to make the world a better place, if you’re prepared to put in the time to learn, you can do it.

Goodtrepreneur is the podcast about good people with good ideas for a better world.

Please 👀 follow, 👂listen, 🌟 rate and share 📢 to help spread the word and deliver on our mission to inspire and enable more people to create more world changing ideas - and succeed - more often.

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What if you could help your home planet 🌳 by simply sitting on your bum, enjoying a beer🍺? That's the good idea behind Hawke's Brewing.

Started as a crazy conversation between two mates asking each other who they'd most like to enjoy a beer with, Hawke's Brewing is not just a great beer, it's a great way to fund nature too - and one that came from Bob Hawke himself.

When asked if he would lend his likeness to a brand new brand of beer he said yes on two conditions:

☝️ First, he would earn a royalty in perpetuity.

✌️ Second, his royalty would go to Landcare - which he helped establish back in 1986 - even after he was gone.

In a world where environmental causes often struggle to find funding, it's a deft model.

The beer got instant interest, thanks to featuring a past Prime Minister and national sculling champion on the decal. And Bob got to leave a legacy for a cause he deeply cared about, creating a gift that keeps giving from beyond the grave (RIP Bob 1929-2019).

If that wasn't enough, he even chose the recipe for their first brew - and it went on to win "Best Australian Style Lager" at the 2018 Australian International Beer Awards (AIBA), proving he was a man of wisdom and taste.

Listen in to this episode to hear:

💡 How two friends quit their job and pitched the idea to Bob

💪 What it took to turn the idea into beer

🦐 The story of the Bob Hawke Beer & Leisure Centre which is rumoured to have the world's best prawn toast

⛅️ How they went on to invent the world's only poker machine that donates its winnings to climate

🤔 The power of asking 'what would Bob do' before making big business decisions

Huuuge thanks Dave Gibson for sharing your story and wrap your lips around some Hawke's beer at www.hawkesbrewing.com

Want to know more? We gave AI a listen and here's what it had to say:

What if protecting habitats could fit in your hand like a cold schooner? We sit down with Dave Gibson, co-founder of Hawke’s Brewery, to unpack how a cheeky idea—have a beer with Bob Hawke—became a purpose-built business that funds Landcare Australia and brews an award-winning lager people actually love to drink.

Dave takes us from a snowed-in ad agency in New York to Bob Hawke’s kitchen table, where the former Prime Minister said yes on one condition: his entire share would go to Landcare. From there, the story gets wonderfully scrappy—contract brews, 70–80 kegs, 11 “first XI” pubs, and a debut lager that won Australia’s best in its first year. We explore the mechanics behind the mission: how Hawke’s chooses projects across the country, from mangrove restoration in Queensland to pygmy possum habitats in South Australia and local river work with the Mudcrabs on Sydney’s Cooks River.

This conversation goes deep on building a sustainable brewery the hard way: installing the largest solar array on a city brewery, partnering on carbon recapture that grows fresh produce, and making costly decisions that align with the brand’s values. Dave shares candid lessons on raising capital, choosing investors who value purpose, and hiring people who treat the company like it’s their own. We also lean into the fun—why a Chinese restaurant belongs in a brewery, how a custom pokie machine donates every play to climate projects, and how joy helps audiences engage with serious environmental issues without the finger-wagging.

If you care about purpose-led business, brand authenticity, Australian beer culture, or practical ways to support biodiversity with everyda

Goodtrepreneur is the podcast about good people with good ideas for a better world.

Please 👀 follow, 👂listen, 🌟 rate and share 📢 to help spread the word and deliver on our mission to inspire and enable more people to create more world changing ideas - and succeed - more often.

Learn more at goodtrepreneur.co