Monthly Archives: March 2017

One concept that has now become the new buzzword in tech is blockchain. In the media, we often hear about blockchain technology being deployed in the financial sector resulting in products like BitCoin. The interesting thing about this technology, is that very soon, it will deployed in supply chain increasing transparency and traceability. With a large section of sustainability marketing being focused on third-party certifications, the application of blockchain can potentially render existing certifications obsolete or create new certifications that focuses solely on supply chain transparency.

Blockchain for a Non-Techie
Blockchain stores information across a network of personal computers. The key point is that these personal computers are decentralized and distributed which means no one person or system can control it. While passing information through this system, everyone on the system will help “validate” this information and this prevent records from being corrupted or altered. A quick two-minute video will get you up to speed about the concept of blockchain.  

Current Examples
That leads us to the issue of supply chain transparency and traceability. Companies long recognize the need for a transparent supply chain but struggle with sharing data with competitors, customers, suppliers or even neutral 3rd parties. Blockchain will allow participants across the ecosystems to achieve traceability without compromising the security of data. Walmart, one of the world’s largest retailer has already started piloting blockchain their their supply chain. Currently, they are using blockchain to get data on suppliers, details on how and where food was grown and who inspected it. Information from the pallet to the individual package is available. Not only will this allow Walmart to be more accountable but the could potentially decrease the firefighting time in recalling few packages vs. all stock across all stores.  Provence is another company that piloted blockchain to track tuna supply chains in Indonesia which supplies to the British grocer, Co-op foods. Looking away from the food industry and into the clean energy sector, L03 supported by Siemens is using blockchain to trade clean power across solarfed grids.

Implications
Certifications for sustainably managed forestry and and non-conflict materials all rely on rigorous checks and balances to ensure traceability. Would blockchain technology replace these certifications or perhaps simplify the certification industry. Maybe getting certifications in the future will be cheaper because blockchain can get the same verification job done in a fraction of the cost. Certifications and metrics will be one of the key areas of potential impact. I’m interested to see where blockchain can be deployed next in the realm of sustainability.

This past Thursday, I attended a conference and in the swag-bags that they give out, I found a box of water. The label said “Boxed Water is Better”. With minimalist packaging, I immediately googled what it’s all about. Bottled water has long been the poster-boy for greedy capitalism and environmental destruction. Any high school student could probably tell you that plastic packaging is the culprit. As you get deeper into the issue of bottled water, you’ll find the complexity of packaging,  shipping, distribution, and water equity come into play. Here are some fast facts on bottled water before diving into the new boxed water phenomena.

• Planet
  • Takes 3L of water to produce 1L of bottled water
  • One bottle of water equates to filling a quarter of that bottle with oil
  • Plastic bottles take up to 1000 years to biodegrade while leaking toxic chemicals into the groundwater
  • Incinerated bottes release toxic chemicals into the air
  • Ocean plastics remain the top killer for marine life

• Profit
  • For consumers bottled water can cost more than a litre of gasoline
  • For manufacturers, some can take advantage of dated water laws paying only $40 for 319 million litres of water
  • Driver of Sales
    • People think it’s safer and healthier than tap water
    • Advertisements shows pristine glaciers and mountain streams which leaves consumers with that impression
• People
  • Water Safety
    • In Canada, local water suppliers are inspected every day while bottled water plants are inspected once every three years
  • Water Crisis
    • Nearly 1 billion people in the developing world doesn’t have access to clean safe drinking water

Boxed Water Is Better wants to change the way water is sold, shipped and consumed by providing consumers a better option when purchasing water, while still enjoying the convenience. It boasts that 76% of the product is made with paper, using sources from certified, sustainably managed forests. The selling point for the company is the shipping. 35000 empty cartons are flat-packed to the plant before the filing happens. In contrast to traditional companies that are filling with rounded plastics, this is a great step towards reducing impact.

It didn’t take too long before I found a competitor called JUST Water. Their website is more transparent about the stats and the facts, covering all the aspects of potential impact including detailed explanations of how their product is made. On the point of shipping, 1.5 million bottles fit into a standard 40ft truck versus the same amount would take 2.5 trucks for traditional “pre-formed” bottles. If bottles are pre-formed, it will take 13 trucks. It’s interesting to see that even though packaging has been long debated issue, it’s only in these couple of years where we can see successful entrants breaking into the beverage market with more sustainable packaging.

The good news is that these new entrants now add competitive pressure to traditional companies like Coke and Nestle. You’ll usually see these companies in the lean green quadrant or defensive green. In 2015, a couple of these giants teamed up to create the PET bottles made with plant-based materials like sugarcane and corn.

While these companies are shifting towards renewable resources and away from fossil fuels, I’m curious about the ripple effects for each particular raw material. Corn is already being heavily used for animal feedstock. One of the criticisms against biofuels was the depletion of such resource could jeopardize worldwide food security. The recyclability of paper is widespread in North America which arguably closes the loop better than developing countries where recycling facilities aren’t as widespread. As discussed in class, many people in developing countries turn to bottled water or beverages because of unsafe drinking water conditions. What are other raw materials that these companies may have overlooked? Will it become a problem in 10, 20 years?