Integrating Sustainability in the Age of AI: Why Communications Matter More Than Ever

Julie Starr • May 19, 2025

As artificial intelligence (AI) continues to reshape industries and redefine possibilities, sustainability leaders are asking a new set of questions: How can AI be harnessed to accelerate environmental goals? What risks must be managed? And—perhaps most crucially—how do we ensure these technologies are deployed in ways that are transparent, ethical, and aligned with long-term climate resilience?


A recent report by the Project Management Institute (PMI), Sustainability in the Age of AI: The Integration Imperative, explores exactly these themes. The findings underscore what many in the sustainability and technology spaces already intuitively understand: AI and sustainability are no longer separate conversations. They must be integrated, thoughtfully, strategically, and with communications at the core.


AI as an Accelerator for Environmental Progress

Used responsibly, AI offers tremendous potential to advance sustainability goals. From optimizing energy use in manufacturing to forecasting climate risks and modeling carbon impacts across value chains, AI can bring new precision and scale to sustainability strategies. Consider just a few applications:


  • Smart grid optimization to reduce emissions and increase renewable energy integration
  • Predictive maintenance in infrastructure to extend asset life and reduce material waste
  • Natural language processing (NLP) to automate ESG reporting or monitor supply chain risk
  • AI-powered sensors and IoT devices to track environmental data in real-time


Each of these technologies can reduce resource intensity, cut emissions, or improve transparency. But none are “plug and play.” Success requires a human-led, values-aligned framework—starting with clear communication.


Why Communication is Central to Integration

The PMI report highlights a critical insight: the success of AI-sustainability integration depends not only on technical capability, but on trust. Stakeholders, from internal teams to investors to communities, need to understand how AI is being used, what its environmental benefits are, and how ethical concerns are being addressed. That’s where strategic communications come in.


At Taiga Company, we’ve spent nearly two decades helping sustainability leaders tell complex, high-stakes stories with clarity and credibility. As AI enters the sustainability arena, we see communications playing five essential roles:

  1. Articulating the “Why” – Framing how and why AI is being applied to sustainability, in plain language that resonates across audiences
  2. Addressing Risk and Ethics – Proactively communicating around bias, transparency, data use, and responsible AI governance
  3. Translating the Tech – Turning AI models and machine learning outputs into digestible insights for ESG reports, stakeholder updates, and board materials
  4. Bridging Functions – Facilitating alignment between sustainability, data, IT, and legal teams through shared language and intentional messaging
  5. Building Public Trust – Creating communication strategies that educate, engage, and inspire confidence from the public and civil society

Integration Is an Ongoing Process—So Is Communication

The PMI report wisely frames integration as a process, not a destination. Similarly, sustainability communications is not a one-time announcement—it’s an evolving dialogue. Organizations leading in this space are those that build feedback loops, respond with transparency, and share not just what they’re doing, but how they’re thinking.


Whether you’re a global brand beginning to explore AI for sustainability reporting, or a technology provider embedding sustainability into your machine learning models, we offer communication strategies that:


  • Build alignment across internal and external stakeholders
  • Translate technical content into accessible, values-based messaging
  • Enhance sustainability disclosures, AI ethics narratives, and innovation storytelling
  • Strengthen your credibility as a responsible, future-forward organization


This moment is not just about integrating AI into sustainability—it’s about integrating communication into both.

5 Everyday Items That Can Quietly Boost Your Brand

By Julie Starr • July 17, 2025
The best branding doesn’t always come from big campaigns or expensive graphics. Sometimes it’s the smaller stuff that leaves the biggest impression. Things people actually use, touch, or carry with them. That’s where your brand can quietly make its mark without needing to shout about it. If you’re only focusing on social media and business cards, you’re leaving a lot on the table. Here are five overlooked ways to get your name out there that feel natural, useful, and more personal. Thank-you slips If you’re already sending out orders, there’s no reason not to include a short thank-you slip. You can easily get these made through any decent online print shop , and they’re usually pretty cheap to run off in small batches. Just a simple note that says thanks, maybe with a reminder to follow you online or a cheeky discount code for next time. It’s quick, thoughtful, and makes the whole order feel more finished. Customers notice that kind of detail, especially when everything else they buy online comes with zero personality. You don’t need a complicated design either. Just something clean with your logo, a message that sounds like you, and maybe a social handle. The point is to give them a reason to come back or remember your name without it feeling forced. Branded zip pouches If you sell physical products, offer services, or run events, small zip pouches are surprisingly effective. Think of the kind you’d use for stationery, receipts, or travel bits. You can get your brand printed on the side and hand them out with purchases or include them in welcome packs. People keep them because they’re actually useful. They get tossed in handbags, school bags, or glove boxes and your logo just keeps turning up. Cleaning cloths for glasses or screens This one works brilliantly if you’re in tech, health, beauty, or anything involving screens or eyewear. A simple microfibre cloth with your branding on it can go a long way. Everyone needs one. Whether they use it for glasses, a phone screen, or their laptop, it’s something they hang onto. It’s not the kind of thing people throw away, and that means your name sticks around too. Receipt envelopes You might already use little envelopes to hand over receipts or business cards. Branding those envelopes is a small change that makes a big difference. Instead of someone getting a scruffy bit of paper in a plain sleeve, they’re handed something that feels a bit more finished. You can even add a message inside. Doesn’t need to be anything dramatic. A simple “thanks for visiting” or “see you next time” is enough to add a personal touch. Wet wipes or mini hand gels If your business is in hospitality, food, or anything hands-on, branded wet wipes or pocket-sized hand gels are surprisingly popular. People actually use them, especially at festivals, food stalls, pop-ups, or kids’ events. They end up in handbags or cars and stick around longer than you think. They don’t scream “marketing” either. They’re practical, and when done right, they make your business feel thoughtful. That’s what good branding does, it shows you’ve thought ahead.

How Student-Led ‘Energy Audits’ Are Cutting School Costs (and Lighting the Way Forward)

By Julie Starr • July 14, 2025
What happens when students stop waiting for adults to fix things and start conducting their own energy audits? Money gets saved. The lights get switched off. Data gets analyzed. And a quiet revolution in sustainability begins—inside schools that once overlooked their own inefficiencies. Across the globe, student-led energy audits are proving that change doesn't always need to come from a policy shift or a major capital budget. Sometimes, it begins with a clipboard, a spreadsheet, and a group of curious minds asking: Why are the hallway lights on at noon when sunlight floods the building? The Energy Detectives These audits aren’t science fair projects. They’re rigorous investigations, often done in collaboration with facilities staff, local environmental nonprofits, or even engineering mentors. Students go from classroom to classroom measuring electricity usage, checking for phantom loads , and identifying where heat is escaping in winter or air conditioning is leaking in summer. One high school in Ontario saved over $12,000 a year after its Grade 11 physics students ran an energy audit and suggested simple changes—LED upgrades, motion sensors in bathrooms, and smarter heating schedules. They didn’t just propose ideas. They pitched them with spreadsheets, thermal images, and payback timelines. It worked. Learning That Pays Off—Literally Unlike textbook learning, these audits blend real-world math, environmental science, economics, and persuasive communication. Students aren’t just learning about sustainability. They’re doing it. And the savings add up. From dimming overlit hallways to reprogramming HVAC systems that run all weekend for empty buildings, students are surfacing blind spots that administrators often overlook. In some districts, their findings are influencing energy policy. Elsewhere, the audits have inspired school boards to hire sustainability coordinators—often alumni of the student programs themselves. There’s something poetic about a school funding new books or laptops from money saved by students who found out the vending machines didn’t need to be plugged in 24/7. Why This Matters More Than Ever With education budgets tightening and utility costs rising, every dollar saved is a dollar that can go back into classrooms. And here’s where it gets interesting from a family finance perspective, too. If you’re a parent setting aside money for post-secondary savings, every bit of school efficiency helps. Fewer energy costs might mean more programming, better STEM facilities, or even bursaries. That raises a broader point: when families save for their children’s future, they often look into RESPs (Registered Education Savings Plans). And many wonder—is a RESP deduction available on my taxes? While contributions themselves aren’t deductible, the gains grow tax-free, and students often pay little to no tax when they withdraw the funds during school. A Movement Worth Replicating These audits aren’t just an exercise in environmentalism. They’re leadership labs. Students learn how to spot inefficiencies, speak up in board meetings, and make a business case for change. They don’t just flip switches—they shift mindsets. And they carry these habits into adulthood. The result? A generation growing up not only with climate anxiety, but also with tools to tackle it.