“Climate change is happening now, which means that we must all take responsibility and action, quickly,” says George Clooney, while he roams the fields of Puerto Rico with the coffee farmers showing an active interest in their lives and Nespresso’s initiatives to support them in producing high-quality, sustainable coffee and enhancing their welfare. Nespresso commits to carbon-neutral cups of coffee for 2022, according to CEO Guillaume Le Cunff.
But, it’s not only Nespresso and coffee being a force for good! In setting the sustainability benchmark high for international companies, Hell Energy Group, an established soft drink producer, announced the introduction of the “greenest beverage in the world”. Hell Energy has committed to using a prime quality recycled aluminium in their new “green” cans containing 75% recycled post-consumer scrap.
On the plastic front, the demand for plastic-free shopping is spreading like wildfire among the Millennials and GenZs currently waging war on single-use plastics and packaging. In response, Asda, in late October, launched its first sustainability store in Leeds, UK, conforming largely with the widespread UK demand. Customers can refill containers with the produce of favourite brands like PG Tips, Kellogg’s, Radox, Persil, and Heinz. Through this store only, a whopping 1 million pieces of plastic will be saved from the landfills.
The trend is clear!
Global awareness of environmental sustainability is accelerating among business magnates. The Davos Agenda 2021, under the notion of the Great Reset, is all about business leaders across sectors working in unison to reshape an inclusive, cohesive, and sustainable future.
The linear pattern take-make-waste dominated the industry for years leading to startling results. Microplastics, a by-product of the synthetic fibers in our clothes, are washed down pipelines ending up in the remotest parts of our ecosystems. Polyester, acrylic and nylon, the main culprits, are not biodegradable, rather and at best, they decompose further into smaller, more invisible particles but still remain in our ecosystems.
In a bid to save the environment and appeal to the coming generations and their sustainability demands, companies across sectors are introducing new terms such as circular consumer experience or pressing to adopt circular business models. Brazilian Natura – aka Body Shop – and Levis are among the game changers in the field, introducing best practices and constantly reevaluating business models.
So, what does a circular consumer experience look like?
Judith Magyar of Forbes touches upon the consumer experience bringing it vividly to life; from entering into a store to drop off your recyclable clothing to standing next to a glass partition to watch a recycling machine at work and then whisking by the “digital wardrobe centre” to glimpse at the new items on the “share and resale marketplace” while finally collecting your orders from the “click and collect centre”.
In utero circular consumer experiences are currently offered by H&M’s Loop Machine , Nike’s “Reuse A Shoe” initiative and Apple’s numerous recycling programmes worldwide. This is only the start! According to the State of Fashion 2021 McKinsey report, circularity will be the next big disruptor with increased digitalization, diminished consumer demand, and social justice among the 10 factors shaping the industry’s new era.
What’s the key notion under all 10 factors? Sustainability, of course! The term pops up everywhere in titles, forums, agendas! A mere click on Global ABB’s World Economic Forum Davos Agenda 2021 heading, and the word appears thrice; “Achieving a Sustainable Recovery”, “Sustainability Strategy 2030”, and “Technology as key to a prosperous and sustainable world”. The truth is that green imperatives will be intrinsically linked to every aspect of the business, including the much-wanted brand love and loyalty!
No customer will buy into a brand without knowing the origins of a product! To win over the audiences, the companies will have to address the bases’ “green concerns”.
Hana Visviki
CEO
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/sustainability-time-lead-example-now-hana-visviki