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As opposed to my other blogs that are based on new products, innovative ideas, and regulation topics, I decided to post casually about something that caught my attention. I came across this posting when browsing on Pinterest, and it became a simple and sharable reminder of how to shop ethically. It feels like an engineer’s diagram, but for the everyday person.

Shopping ethically and sustainably has always been a challenge for me. But after this Sustainability Marketing course my view has really changed. It’s not just about what I’m purchasing and the ethical implications of that item, but also about why. I think this diagram is so relatable to everyone that even those with confused or cynical “shades of green” can understand.

Sustainable doesn’t just mean buying eco-friendly products. 

By considering the option to purchase a quality used or new item from Craigslist or eBay can also solve the concern of price/value while fulfilling the purpose of “reusing”. Because of that, it also does very well on the “degree of confidence and compromise” perception matrix where it’s a win-win purchase,

I’ve realized that being a sustainable shopper doesn’t mean I have to compromise with anything immediately, but rather taking the first steps of ethical shopping and transitioning that into sustainable shopping.

Adidas has been on fire since 2015 in the sneaker game. Everyone in town used to rave about the latest Nike’s. But every since Adidas launched its new line of Boost and UltraBoost series and releasing a limited number of each shoe in all stores, it seems impossible to get a pair that suits you. I’m one of those guys. Ever since the launch of the Kanye West Adidas Yeezy Boost 350’s, I’ve been on a streak to get them all. Yeezy 350’s, Tubular X, NMD’s etc.

So when I saw Adidas create a shoe made of…waste from the ocean…I was actually open to the idea of wearing one and thought it was kind of cool, but it’s not for sale. The article here from Huffington Post  talks about the creation of the shoe.The upper shoe is made entirely of yarns and filaments reclaimed from illegal deep-sea gillnets and other ocean waste, while the base is made from sustainable cushioning material.

A spokeswoman for Adidas said, “This is not a plan, this is an action,” she said. “We did this to show what we are capable of doing when we all put our heads together.”

Despite the fact that it’s not for sale, I am intrigued by the actions they are taking here. It is a big step forward in promoting the idea of a sustainable future for shoemakers and apparel makers to use recycled waste. They impact goes beyond the shoe, but rather a lifestyle behaviour and statement that is driven by it – to incorporate sustainability into the very “fabric” of our lives. Even if Adidas doesn’t mass produce this shoe, their steps for adding recycled materials into parts of their shoes is admirable.

In the last few month’s I’ve been paying close attention to picking out organic produce. Being a university student on a budget, I never considered this before. I always thought that I was young, it doesn’t matter that much, and that it’s all the same. I even thought at one point that it was just a “fad” and the cost didn’t justify the benefits of eating organic.

After watching the  “OMG-GMO” documentary on Netflix one day, my view has changed. I’ve since then learned to budget better to enjoy the benefits of less pesticides in my food, fresher produce, and richer nutrients – most of all enjoying the fact that I know what’s going into my body.

What I didn’t consider was that eating organic is not just good for me, but actually great for a sustainable planet as well!

Organic production is currently only 1% of the global agricultural land, and I believe that will be expected to change in decades to come. Environmental benefits of organic production has been proven. Overall, organic farms tend to store more soil carbon, have better soil quality, and reduce soil erosion (Science Daily). Organic agriculture also creates less soil and water pollution and lower greenhouse gas emissions. It is also associated with greater biodiversity of plants, animals, insects and microbes as well as genetic diversity.

To my surprise, it is actually more energy efficient and that is because it doesn’t rely on synthetic fertilizers or pesticides. It’s great knowing that my shift towards organic purchase decisions was great for me, but now that I can be assured it’s also good for the planet makes me feel much better about the value of my choices.

So this has been an exciting week in automotive news. Tesla released pre-orders for its highly anticipated Model 3 car. Actual details about the Model 3’s specifications were slim. We learned that it will come with top-rated safety features and supercharging, even for the basic version of the car. We learned that all the Model 3s will come with the hardware necessary for autopilot features. (Although certain autonomous functions will require the customer to buy an upgrade.) And we learned the car will go 215 miles on a single charge at a minimum, and it will get from zero to 60 in “less than six seconds.” (Arstechnica)

What got me interested is that I had a few friends make reservations for the cars, which required a $1,000 deposit. For $35,000, it is incredible that Tesla has been able to make an electric car affordable and attractive. It’s been about 10 years since we first heard Elon Musk announce the dream for electric cars to be available for the masses. Benefits of electric cars has always been centred around the lack of tailpipe emissions and its lower cost to operate and maintain which directly and indirectly affects the environment. It still blows me away that for $35,000, few thousand more than a standard Honda Civic, you can have a Tesla with a 15″ landscape touch screen, and go 0-60 MPH in under 6 seconds while being friendly to the environment.

New Partnerships….?

All this buzz around Tesla’s new Model 3 has made everyone excited, but just today Tesla also announced a new partnership that makes an attempt to highlight what the company is really focused on at its core – innovation – aside from just making cars for profit. We discussed in our recent classes briefly about key partnerships that work together synergistically for social causes. In this case, it looks like Tesla is prepared to work together with Quantas Airlines on their “Future Planet Program”.

“Qantas will become Tesla’s airline of choice in Australia and offset all the car maker’s domestic corporate travel emissions as part of Qantas’ Future Planet Program. Regular meetings will occur between both companies to investigate future opportunities around sustainable transport. Qantas’ Head of Environment and Fuel, Alan Milne, said the collaboration was a meeting of minds.”

“Both our companies are passionate about continuing to push the boundaries of customer service, innovation and sustainability in the transport industry.” (Quantas News Room)

It’s great to see two companies that are transportation giants in their own respective industries partner together where their goals are aligned. Although to many consumers it may seem small, these partnerships and initiatives with the intention of innovating for sustainable ideas will go a long way. If these companies don’t set the example of effective collaboration and lead the way, who will?

EDIBLE CUTLERY 

We’ve talked about edible cutlery briefly in class on our discussions, so I thought it would be interesting to see what all the buzz was about and if it’s actually working. I came upon this Forbes article that highlights BAKEYS, a company based in India by entrepreneur Narayana Peesapaty.

He makes the utensils by blending millet, rice, and wheat flours that are then baked dry. He’s even got flavours!

“Our Edible Cutlery is meant to be eaten after use. If you do not want to eat, simply throw it away. Insects and stray animals will eat them up or they will degrade naturally in less than three days.

These are made of flours. The flours are kneaded with plain water – no additional chemicals and not even preservatives. They are 100% natural and made under strict hygienic conditions.” – Bakey’s

According to their website, the cutlery, which is really just a spoon, will naturally decompose “anywhere between 3 to 7 days if insects, dogs, birds do not eat it”. Other ingredients can also be requested to be mixed into the formula and every spoon is expected to last about 18 months. And if they’re not eaten, they will just decompose.

But as critical thinkers about sustainability marketing, we need to question again if a sustainable initiative or idea has a process behind it truly supportive of the intent? As something like this scales, I wonder if this utensil requires manufacturing of heavy machinery. The processes required for planting and harvest then producing it could use up acres of unsustainable fields, and of course synthetic fertilizers. Is this somehow better for the environment than a utensil that will be used thousands of of times? I do appreciate the progress that’s being made as disposable utensils of one form or another are here to stay.

WATCH THIS 2-MINUTE VIDEO FIRST: https://vimeo.com/98441820

I first came across the Ugly Fruits video by Intermarche, the 3rd largest supermarket chain in France. Their motivation was simple – don’t waste food. This was sparked by the European Union making 2014 the year against food waste. Their solution? Find out what food is wasted, and motivate people to “un-waste” them. This turned out to be the “ugly” fruits and vegetables in the supermarkets worldwide that get disposed of because people do not find them appealing enough to consume. By discounting these products and adding the message of fighting food waste, it became more than enough of an incentive for consumers to welcome the idea.

After watching this the first time I immediately asked myself, what else could follow the same model to fight food waste? It turns out that ugly cookies made that list! “Beyond their appearance these product will present “the same nutritional and taste qualities” according to the retailer. Intermarché chose the motto “moche, mais mate les tablettes” a play on word as in French it could either mean, “ugly but check out my chocolate bar” or, “ugly but check out my six pack”.” (source)

The statistics will blow people away at the impact of food waste and how economically it impacts third world countries by driving up the prices of food production beyond the affordable range for average families living there.

Global food waste is a true sustainability issue. And Intermarche made the right marketing play to address it. Innovative strategies that drive awareness but also benefit the companies behind the cause creates a win-win-win situation. It gets us to think what else can be done about food waste that follows the same idea Intermarche introduced.

UBER: RIDE SHARING ECO-WARRIOR OR TAXI INDUSTRY KILLER?

Preface article from Vancouver Sun.

Uber is a ride sharing service that is experiencing rapid growth amongst users and expanding into multiple cities internationally. Despite this success, there has been negative media and protests regarding the company’s operations. Most of the negative press surrounds the idea that Uber is taking away jobs from an existing industry – taxis. However, based on thorough reading and forming some of my own opinions and reasons for them, I believe that Uber is a ride-sharing service that has the right to operate within the confines of the law and is benefits both the economy and the environment.

My opinion that Uber can be considered a ride-sharing eco warrior must be prefaced that I do not believe the ride-sharing service’s main goals are to fight environmental issues, but it is instead a positive and measurable effect of its services. It is truthful that Uber is an eco-warrior, though it does not claim to focus on that.

Let’s take a look at the talk Travis Kalanick – UBER’s CEO made at the recent TED Talk in Vancouver. Travis claims that 1.4 thousand metric tonnes of C02 was prevented from Los Angeles within the 8-month test of UberPool, and 7.9 million miles were taken off the roads I that city. Those are in fact impressive and unexpected number that I believe regulators should consider when fighting Uber on it’s position. (Globe and Mail).

It is not easy to argue with the facts that Travis Kalanick has presented during his Ted. However, the argument that Uber is a taxi-industry killer is also considered. There is no existing proof presented that the taxi industry will completely die due to Uber’s presence. In fact, there are still individuals who find taxi’s more convenient such as an airport pickup. I believe that a level of weak reasoning and wrong area of focus is part of the issue with people protesting against Uber, where most of these people are taxi drivers. To clarify my assertion that there is a wrong area of focus, I mean to say that taxi drivers should not focus on Uber being the problem, but that taxi drivers should be the solution. Taxi drivers and companies have the advantage of having an existing network of drivers, policies, procedures, and legal compliance benefits over Uber for many decades. Therefore, they should focus on how they can enhance their service to compete against Uber since the customer is the person to make a decision. If a taxi service is better than Uber, then taxi drivers won’t lose their customers. In addition, with these enhancements and with the number of taxis on the road internationally, they can make a significant impact in address environmental issues caused by motor vehicles.

In the event that the taxi industry does die, it would be similar to how the video store industry died as well. Technological advancements and streaming services such as Netflix were offering more value to customers than a physical video store. That could be the same case here with Uber and the taxi industry. That does not mean that Uber is a taxi-industry killer. It simply means that the taxi industry is not remaining competitive. However, in my opinion, Uber remains a ride sharing service that happens to include the benefit of being an eco-warrior.

Sustainable Chocolate?

Prior to reading into sustainability and following topics that appear on my newsfeed related to the topic, my general understanding of sustainability marketing was limited. Every time the term “sustainability marketing” popped into mind, I would think of greenhouses, or solar panels – at least something innovative and had to do with technology. It was often more related to renewable energy and the firms promoting it now that I think of it. Most likely because of the fact that its what is reported and it’s the kind of news that sells.

So upon further reflection about sustainability marketing, what about sustainability surrounding what’s been available throughout history?

Cocoa

Just as I was thinking about this, I saw the half wrinkled packaging of an “Endangered Species” chocolate bar on my desk. Why do I buy Endangered Species chocolate from whole foods over other big brands such as Hershey’s or Godiva? Mainly because the price is fair, the name of the brand makes me feel great about a cause (although interestingly I didn’t even look into what they do or know much about their sustainable initiatives) but the packaging is plastered with logos such as Fair Trade, Certified Vegan, Non-GMO, Rainforest Trust, and Wildlife Conservation Network. After doing some research online, and visiting the Endangered Species website, I realized that it was actually difficult to find out what made their product “sustainable” as opposed to just marketed as “sustainable” with a variety of icons and logos on their product. However, in general, cocoa as a commodity is massive and 3.5 million tonnes of cocoa are produced each year (http://www.theguardian.com/sustainable-business/fairtrade-partner-zone/chocolate-cocoa-production-risk). Almost all of the information regarding “fair-trade ethical chocolate” has little to do with the actual “sustainability” and impact the product makes.

There’s a difference between sustainability and charity.

By visiting the Endangered Species website, I noticed that the causes and organizations they support have great missions to support the farmers in the regions that are producing the cocoa fruits and making the cocoa powder to enable chocolate/confectionary production. However, I didn’t actually learn much regarding the sustainable practices themselves. Here are some that I viewed:

http://www.chocolatebar.com/docs/doc_ftinfo.pdf

http://www.chocolatebar.com/docs/esc_certs.pdf

What do these certifications actually say about the sustainable practices of creating the product? 

In my opinion, there is a distinct difference between supporting those farmers with better working conditions and better pay through donations and education versus actually improving the manufacturing process of cocoa powder by preventing the negative impacts of deforestation and the use of environmentally harmful by-products to do so.

My next goal is to really look into which products are marketed as “sustainable” versus products that actually allow a consumer to know and trace the environmental and social impacts of creating the product.