5 Sustainability Practices Brands Should Consider
On Day 1, the Biden administration put Climate Change squarely back on the map — rejoining the Paris Climate Agreement, suspending the Keystone Oil Pipeline and weaving the climate into foreign and domestic policy and economic planning. This “All Hands On Deck” mentality to addressing the challenges will require collaboration and action federally, locally, globally, and individually.
As we see climate change prioritized at the government level, here are 5 sustainability “practices” we believe brands should consider to help contribute to the effort at the commercial and human level.
1: Sustainable Transparency
81% of companies are more focused on sustainable business practices than they were 3 years ago; not simply because this is an existential necessity, but because it makes good business sense. IRI found that 50% of all CPG growth from 2013-2018 came from sustainability-marketed products, 79% of consumers are changing purchase preferences based on social responsibility, inclusiveness or environmental impact shown by a brand.
But a commitment or pledge to sustainable business practices is not enough anymore. Integrating sustainability messaging into media and experiences is pivotal – keeping consumers informed and involved in your efforts helps deepen the emotional connection between consumer, the environment and the brand. Increasingly we are seeing brands becoming more and more transparent with their sustainability initiatives. For example:
The Green Digital Shelf
The UK Amazon has opened a virtual aisle, launching a “Climate Pledge Friendly” filter for shoppers in Europe. This allows shoppers to filter out fashion, household, grocery, electronics, and office products that have a lower environmental footprint. Specific certifications such as Amazon’s EU Ecolabel (based on circular economy principles) and the German Blue Angel label (life-cycle approach) make it through the filter.
We have seen similar filtering from British online fashion and cosmetic retailer, ASOS, which has crafted a “Recycled” and “Sustainable” filter. The recycled filter includes clothing made from upcycled fabrics, waste, plastic, and textile. The sustainable filters clothing that were creating using less water, are paraben-free, organic cotton, or are handmade. How will your brand stand out on the green digital shelf?
Carbon Labeling
Carbon Labeling is also making its way into the food and beverage industry. Carbon Labeling shows the total estimated carbon dioxide emissions created as a by-product of manufacturing, transporting, or disposing of a consumer product. You can see these when you walk into a Just Salad franchise or on the front of your Oatly plant-based milk carton. We expect to see much more of this throughout the QSR, CPG, and packaging world, and just as consumers have educated themselves on ingredients, claims and nutrition labels, we expect this will happen with carbon labeling as well. There is also an opportunity for brands to position themselves as leaders in sustainability by helping translate and teach consumers how to read carbon labels, why they should care, and how to navigate the world of more sustainable options.
Image Source: https://us.oatly.com/
2: Intersectional Environmentalism
Traditionally, environmentalism has been focused on protecting the planet and most corporate sustainability agendas tend to focus on conservation of natural resources and minimizing carbon footprint. But nature is not the only victim on the climate crisis… people are… and from Hurricane Katrina to Flint Michigan to the Dakota Access Pipeline, we do not have to look hard to see that the BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, People of Color) community is disproportionately affected by the climate crisis.
Climate activist, Leah Thomas, has coined the term Intersectional Environmentalism as “an inclusive version of environmentalism that advocates for both protection of people and the planet. It identifies the ways in which injustices happening to marginalized communities and the earth are interconnected.”
Recently we have seen a few great examples of brands addressing the environment through this intersectional lens:
Ben & Jerry’s Climate Justice
Ben & Jerry’s has made it a point to discuss and educate people about Climate Justice across its digital touchpoints, work hard to reduce its carbon footprint, and speaks up against inequality.
Patagonia
Patagonia has always been a shining star for purpose-driven brand building. They are “in the business of saving the planet” proving that you can have a successful brand strategy while living out your values and being sustainable. Now, when you visit Patagonia’s website the first thing you see is “Environmental Justice is Racial Justice” front and center.
Image Source: www.patagonia.com
3: The Democratization of Sustainability
Historically, the sustainability space has also been quite exclusive. While trendy water bottles, recyclable shoes and eco-friendly chocolates may be what many see on their Instagram pages, high prices and inaccessibility has made it difficult for most consumers to be able to live more sustainable lives. As the conversation around sustainability has begun to be more inclusive, we are also seeing large corporate brands partnering with sustainable innovators to combine operational and commercial excellence with sustainable solutions. This allows for mass distribution and scale of affordable sustainable products:
Anomaly by Priyanka Chopra Jonas
Priyanka Chopra Jonas worked with Maesa to launch a sustainable, vegan hair-care brand at Target. Every product in the collection will only be $5.99 for standard full-sized bottles. Bottles are made from 100% plastic trash diverted from landfilles and ocean plastic. The cans are “infinitely recyclable”.
Nutiva revolutionizing the food world
Nutiva, known for their coconut oil, is a pioneer in the plant-based organic superfoods world with a mission to “revolutionize the way the world eats”. They support sustainability and regenerative farming practices and have worked hard to bring nutritious ingredients to the masses. Not only do they fight for good ingredients for everyone, but they also advocate for education and awareness around GMO Labeling, fair trade, food justice and more.
Colgate sharing its sustainable secrets
We have also seen quite a lot of sustainable solutions coming from Colgate-Palmolive. Colgate has created the first-of-its-kind recyclable toothpaste tubes made out of HDPE (High Density Polyethylene) and a cap made out of PP (Polypropelyene). Colgate is actually sharing this tube technology with competitors, understanding the necessity to put the protection of our planet above all else.
4: Small changes for tangible impact
In a few short months the impact of the pandemic lock-down on pollution was a very tangible demonstration of how changes in our behavior can make a big difference. All too often, as individuals we can feel helpless in impacting change, but the pandemic has shown us how individual behavior on a collective scale can make a difference. While no one is advocating permanent lock down to save the planet, we are seeing other changes in consumer and brand behavior that are motivated by the tangible difference everyday shifts in our habits can make to the environment :
The Rise of the Flexitarian
The explosive growth of plant-based meat substitutes has in part been driven by a greater awareness of the impact of the meat industry on the environment and a desire to do something (albeit small) to address it; just replacing one meat based meal a week saves 840 gallons of water it takes to prepare a single meat serving. We have seen a growth in plant-based innovation and distribution in grocery markets and in the QSR space.
Composting
The increase in residential compost collection and drop off services has sky-rocketed. In most municipalities, this is not motivated by wanting to fertilize a garden but by consumers’ desires to reduce their contribution to landfills.
Brands as Recyclers
Like a number of clothing brands, Madewell is encouraging consumers to recycle with financial incentives ($20 of the next pair of jeans) but also by clearly communicating the broader impact of their program… ”my small action helps me but I can also see the specific effects beyond me”.
Image Source: https://www.madewell.com/
The Repair Culture
Organizations like Repair Café bring people together to help them fix old products vs. purchase the new. Motivated by fostering a sense of community as well as reducing waste, as of 2019 (no data available for 2020) there were over 2,000 Repair Café locations around the world saving over 420,000 kilos from landfill.
5: What’s New in The 3 R’s for Packaging?
In recent years, there has been there has been a lot of confusion and skepticism around how to properly recycle and where recycled items ultimately end up. While brands have previously heavily relied on recyclability, we have and believe we will continue to see a greater emphasis on the other two R’s, Reuse and Reduce. These exciting innovations in packaging prove that sustainability and beautiful design do not have to be a tradeoff. We are excited to see more beautiful designs in 2021 that put the planet first. Here are some examples:
Unilever’s Refillable Dove Deodorant
This beautiful Unilever Refillable Dove Deodorant is made of stainless steel and can withstand the impact of a car running over it.
Michelob Ultra Beer Aluminum
Michelob Ultra Beer is utilizing the same aluminum as used in Apple Macbooks, using a new “carbon-free” process that eliminates greenhouse gases. The specialty metal comes from a joint venture between Rio Tinto and Alcoa Corp., called Elysis, which has counted Apple Inc. among its backers.
Image Source: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-01-15/michelob-ultra-beer-cans-go-green-with-aluminum-used-in-iphones
Seedlip’s mushroom-based technology
There have also been great strides in materials innovation. Pictured above, Seedlip is selling a “mushroom-based gift set made with Mycelium Technology”. This packaging is made of bio-mass and mycelium, which breaks down in soil after 40 days.
Image Source: www.seedlipdrinks.com
We look forward to seeing more examples of transparency, inclusivity, accessibility, and innovative design in sustainable branding this year.