Helena's Blog

This is in response to Andrew Winston’s blog post on his Eco-Advantage blog.

Economics 101: consumers want to maximize utility. Unfortunately for manufacturers, this means that most customers are not willing to pay premium for sustainably produced or environmentally friendly products. However, the “green” movement is very real, as Andrew points out, so-called conscious buyers, “which are quickly becoming the majority of consumers, not a niche segment, want it all… They demand more sustainable products at the same or lower price.”  

Levi’s new Water< Less line of jeans.

Luckily, adopting sustainable processes has usually resulted in financial benefits. Levi’s recent line of Water<Less jeans reduces the amount of water needed to produce a pair of jeans from 42 litres to as little as 1.5 litres, so far, this has saved 172 million litres of water, according the the company’s website. Levi’s line of jeans also costs no more than its regular line, boasting a new ‘sustainable’ value proposition towards “conscious” consumers. Also, in the process of cutting water use, Levi’s was forced to revisit old manufacturing practices and adopt new, more efficient techniques. In the end, this move benefits everyone: Levi’s profits increase due to decreased water use and manufacturing time, consumers aren’t forced to pay premium, and environmental impact is greatly reduced. The stigma that going green costs too much is wrongly deserved. Most consumers want to help the environment and most companies want to increase profits, so why don’t more follow in Levi’s footsteps?

A review of Levi’s Water<Less jeans: http://www.businessgreen.com/bg/review/2079960/water-levis-water-jeans

The Eco-Advantage Blog: http://www.eco-advantage.com/blog.php

Energy Aware, the brainchild of Sauder graduate Janice Cheam could the way energy companies make money. The company’s Power Tab in-home display system is a wireless system that communicates with utilities meters monitor energy consumption in real time, encouraging consumers to use less energy.

The Power Tab system displays real-time energy consumption in kWh and dollars.

It may seem as though utilities companies cannibalize their own business.  However, currently, due to delayed or inaccurate meter information, BC Hydro must transmit more energy than is needed to ensure every customer is supplied. Since the Smart Meter is required for the Power Tab system to function, customers are incentivized by energy savings to replace their old meters. This will allow BC Hydro to better collect energy use data and streamline energy distribution, reduce energy theft, improve outage response, and ultimately lower operational expenses by wasting less energy. By capitalizing on the desire for both customers and suppliers to save money, Energy Aware has the ability to enter almost every market. If it is able to partner with companies in countries such as China or India, the company could encourage even more energy-saving innovations- generating profits for itself, and its customers.

For more on the business case for Smart Meters, see:

http://www.bchydro.com/etc/medialib/internet/documents/smi/smi_business_case.Par.0001.File.SMI-Business-Case.pdf