I liked the past. It was easy. Here’s why. There used to be all these stickers all over the show EXXONMOBIL: GLOBAL WARMING VILLAIN. I got the message. It was clear and simple. We mustn’t buy our petrol from Exxon but from BP instead. Bingo! Problem solved!
I don’t like the present. It’s not quite so easy. Take those Levi’s. 60% of the climate impact coming from use and 80% of that from drying them. So it’s really Levi’s-wearers: climate change villains.
Now the environmental impact of use of products is not an entire surprise. It has been becoming apparent for few years. Look at the work done by Unilever on the impact of the use of its home and personal care products.
What are the implications for corporate responsibility? Potentially they are very significant. Consumer issues are becoming the third wave of corporate responsibility, the third and the most difficult.
The first wave was characterised by calling companies to account for their own direct actions: ‘The Chicago River’s on fire. It’s waste from your plants that have caused the mess. Clean your act up!’
The second wave involved getting companies to act where they did not have direct control but had the upper hand in a contractual relationship: ‘Women in your contractor’s factories are working 85 hour weeks. Sort out your ghastly supplier or terminate the contract!’
In the third wave it’s a matter of: ‘The way your products are used has a massive impact. Fix your consumers!’ Well OK but how? Reformulation of products as in the Microsoft story will only go so far. As a consumer I’m all for making companies more responsible. But I have a divine right to tumble dry my clothes. Who invited Levi’s to stop me?
Peter is an associate director at Corporate Citizenship. Email him on peter.truesdale@corporate-citizenship.com to discuss reporting, assurance and external standards.
The old is new again in laundry
Levi Strauss & Co. is looking for innovative ideas for air drying clothes in an effort to slash the amount of energy used to dry clothing. The Care to Air contest, running throughout June and July, seeks ideas that improve on or replace the clothesline – a device unavailable to many city and apartment dwellers. Levi’s research into the life cycle impacts of its jeans has found that about 60% of their impact on the climate comes from consumer use, and 80% of that is from drying. Meanwhile, Seventh Generation, America’s leading brand of non-toxic and environmentally friendly household and personal care products, is challenging Americans to take a seven day challenge to wash clothes in cold water and line dry laundry. According to a Seventh Generation survey, currently one third (27%) of people never line dry and only 22% wash all of their clothes in cold water. The non-profit organisation Project Laundry List indicates that 90% of energy used in washing goes towards heating the water.
The Green Brands study, conducted by WPP companies Cohn & Wolfe, Landor Associates and Penn, Schoen & Berland, and including consultation from Esty Environmental Partners, explores consumer attitudes and perceptions towards green issues. The 2010 study is the largest yet surveying nearly 9,000 people in eight countries – Australia, Brazil, China, France, Germany, India, US, and UK – and ranking nearly 350 brands. Key findings of the survey include: while specific environmental concerns are not consistent, overall there is a strong consumer commitment to purchasing from green companies; hurdles most cited to buying green are price (US, UK, France, Germany, Australia); selection (Brazil, India) and confusing labelling (China); the most important step a company can take to demonstrate its “greenness” is to reduce the amount of toxic or other dangerous substances in its products and business processes.
The World Resources Institute (WRI) and Big Room Inc. have released a report and searchable online database to help companies and consumers navigate the “green” claims of different environmental certifications and labels for food and consumer products. The Global Ecolabel Monitor looks at how different ecolabels certify their products, covering questions such as how their rules were created, how they are funded and how they are enforced. The Monitor illustrates that there is clearly scope for improvement in ecolabel transparency and accountability. Over half of the ecolabels invited to participate were unreachable or unwilling to share information about the metrics underlying their certification, and less than 30% of those surveyed recognised, or were recognised by, fellow labelling organisations.
Environmentally friendly behaviour among consumers in 10 of 17 countries has increased over the past year, according to the third annual Greendex survey by the National Geographic Society and international polling firm GlobeScan. The survey of 17,000 consumers, released 3 June, looked at consumer behaviours that have an impact on the environment, including transportation patterns, household energy and resource use, and consumption of food and everyday consumer goods. American consumers’ behaviour has ranked as the least sustainable over the last three surveys, followed by Canadian and French consumers, though improvement was seen. Out of a list of ten obstacles to doing more for the environment, the perception of “greenwashing” emerged as the most frequently cited factor, followed closely by governments and industries failing to take action.
US Consumers are buying the same or more environmentally responsible products according to a second annual survey commissioned by SCA Tissue and conducted by Harris Interactive. The survey finds that 67% of US adults who consider themselves buyers of green products have maintained their level of green purchase in 2010; 25% have increased their green buying; while 8% indicated a decline as a result of the economy. The survey indicates that website promotion is one of the least preferred ways for consumers to learn about green initiatives, with preference given to designations on menus, store shelves, flyers or visible posters.
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