What Green Consumer Polls Should Really Be Asking | Ottman makes 3 points

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May 3, 2012

"1) Most consumers want to do the right thing. They want clean air and clean water, healthful food to eat, litter-free parks and beaches to play in, and energy to run their lives;
2) All consumers tend to overstate virtuous behavior to pollsters. (More than we would like, they report the person they aspire to be, or who they are just part of the time).
3) just like for all products, most consumers will only pay a premium when products demonstrate genuine added value."

So there: Be humble, look to be good, and buy quality products.

Retailors wieght in when choosing better products: Introducing Whole Foods' Eco-Scale

Whole Foods Market Eco-Scale™ Rating System for Household Cleaning Products

At Whole Foods Market® we believe it's important that consumers are able to make informed decisions about the products they buy. We also believe in doing our part to encourage a more eco-friendly household products industry.

The Eco-Scale™ rating system we have developed is the first cleaning-products standards of any retailer and the most comprehensive standards of any "green cleaners" standards-setting group. Based on audits conducted by a third-party audit agency, household cleaning products are rated red, orange, yellow or green on our Eco-Scale™.

Eco-Scale Red Rating

Not carried at Whole Foods Market.

Eco-Scale Orange Rating

Eco-Scale™ orange indicates 3rd-party-verified standards for safety and environmental impact that are higher than any other standards-setting group or retailer.

  • ✓ Full transparency, disclosure of ingredients on packaging by April 2012
  • ✓ Independent 3rd party verified compliance to standards
  • ✓ No ingredients with significant environmental or safety concerns
  • ✓ No formaldehyde-donors, preservatives which have the potential to release formaldehyde
  • ✓ No phosphates, chlorine, or synthetic colors
  • ✓ No animal testing

Eco-Scale Yellow Rating

Eco-Scale™ yellow indicates all of the 3rd-party-verified high standards of the orange rating plus even more assurance of safety and environmental impact.

  • ✓ Full transparency, disclosure of ingredients on packaging by April 2012
  • ✓ Independent 3rd party verified compliance to standards
  • ✓ No ingredients with significant environmental or safety concerns
  • ✓ No formaldehyde-donors, preservatives which have the potential to release formaldehyde
  • ✓ No phosphates, chlorine, or synthetic colors
  • ✓ No animal testing

  • ✓ 100% natural fragrances
  • ✓ No ingredients with moderate environmental or safety concerns
  • ✓ No DEA, MEA or TEA—surfactants that have the potential to contain nitrosamines and other impurities
  • ✓ No synthetic, petroleum-derived thickeners made from nonrenewable sources

Eco-Scale Green Rating

Eco-Scale™ green indicates all of the 3rd-party-verified standards of the orange and yellow ratings plus our highest standards for safety and environmental impact.

  • ✓ Full transparency, disclosure of ingredients on packaging by April 2012
  • ✓ Independent 3rd party verified compliance to standards
  • ✓ No ingredients with significant environmental or safety concerns
  • ✓ No formaldehyde-donors, preservatives which have the potential to release formaldehyde
  • ✓ No phosphates, chlorine, or synthetic colors
  • ✓ No animal testing

  • ✓ 100% natural fragrances
  • ✓ No ingredients with moderate environmental or safety concerns
  • ✓ No DEA, MEA or TEA—surfactants that have the potential to contain nitrosamines and other impurities
  • ✓ No synthetic, petroleum-derived thickeners made from nonrenewable sources

  • ✓ Plant- and mineral-derived ingredients
  • ✓ No petroleum- derived ingredients


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After Rona's effort in differentiating better products as Eco-responsible, Walmart's sustainability consoritium is still in discussion, Europe is already on CO2 and other, well Whole foods is in the game.

The game being an external validation of a product's sustainable attributes. And in this case cleaning products. Element of discussion #1: Disclosing ingredients. Most difficult element: non petroleum based.

Makes you think, what would a red, orange, yellow, green be for your product?

Downloading MP3s better than printing cds. Proven it with the science of Life Cycle Analysis. Now what do you have to prove?

We now have the knowledge required to prove that some options are better than others. And not just financially. So go out and prove it!

Intel says:
"The research compares the energy and CO2 emissions associated with downloading music to those from buying a physical CD, concluding that downloading music yields 40-80% reductions compared to buying a CD. These findings demonstrate one concrete example of effectively using technology for improved environmental outcomes, i.e., the benefits of dematerialization using IT."

In retrospect, 40 to 80% reduction doesn't sound very clear. Image it had been just 40% more. That's another subject.

Life cycle thinking applied to the iphone infographic!


http://www.techrepublic.com/blog/smartphones/infographic-the-true-cost-of-an-...

 

2007:

1,389,000 people purchased iPhones.

2011:

72,300,000 people purchased iPhones. That's 52x as many as when it was launched.

2008

2011

It was also Apple's most profitable year in history:

$108.25 BILLION

But before it can start bringing in the money, the iPhone travels a long road to reach the happy hands of Apple aficionados—and it all starts with the elements.

COLTAN

Coltan contains a heat-resistant substance that can hold a high electrical charge, and is a staple component of every iPhone.

UP TO 80% OF THE WORLD'S COLTAN RESERVES ARE LOCATED IN THE DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO.

Over 18 months of bloody warfare, the Rwandan army made over $250 million stealing coltan from the DR Congo.

As they're being produced, little phones have a big impact on the environment, and it's starting to show.

IN 2011, APPLE CONDUCTED 229 AUDITS AMONGST ITS 158 GLOBAL SUPPLIERS.

58

did not monitor and control air emissions.

69

did not recycle or dispose of hazardous waste as required by law.

112

had not properly stored or handled hazardous chemicals.

43.2%

of China's state-monitored rivers are classified as unsuitable for human contact.

EACH YEAR, 750,000 CHINESE CITIZENS DIE FROM AIR POLLUTION.

By the year 2030, China's carbon dioxide emissions could equal the entire world's C02 production today.

Pricey products come from cheap labor. But what's the real cost?

One of Apple's most notorious supplier plants is manufacturing titan Foxconn.

At a single factory in Shenzhen, China, 90 iPhones are produced every minute.

That's $17,910 worth of iPhones: 11 times what a Foxconn factory worker makes in a year.

2007:

18 WORKERS ATTEMPTED SUICIDE AT A FOXCONN PLANT.

ONE YEAR LATER, 50 WORKERS THREATENED TO DO THE SAME.

You have your iPhone. Now what?

THERE ARE OVER 5 MILLION IPHONE APPS AVAILABLE

About 1 billion apps purchased each month. At an average cost of $1.37 per app, that's about $16.4 billion in apps each year.

FROM 2007 TO THE RELEASE OF 2011'S 4S, APPLE'S IPHONE PROFITS HAVE GROWN BY OVER 137%

This growth is expected to continue with the release of the iPhone 5 in 2012.

As iPhones have gained popularity, over half the population has developed nomophobia: fear of being without a cell phone.

When a new iPhone appears, old models fall into disuse.

With iPhone generations appearing, it's estimated that in the U.S. in 2011, as many as 36,750,000 iPhones were discarded in favor of the newer model.

UP TO 80% OF RECYCLED IPHONES ARE SHIPPED TO PLACES LIKE GUIYU, CHINA, WHERE THEY'RE STRIPPED OF VALUABLE PARTS.

Because of the waste in Guiyu:

Pregnant women there are six times more likely to miscarry.

7 out of 10 children have too much lead in their blood.

Guiyu has the highest levels of cancer-causing dioxins in the world.

WHAT CAN YOU DO TO BE A RESPONSIBLE CONSUMER?

REUSE INSTEAD OF RECYCLE

Reusing your old iPhone by selling to a friend or to a used electronics shop extends the life of your iPhone and maximizes its usage


GET TO KNOW YOUR RECYCLER

If you're going to recycle your phone, ask questions. Get in touch with your local electronics recycler and inquire into their methods.


SKIP A GENERATION

In its first weekend alone, 1.7 million iPhone 4s were sold, but the 4S model was released only 16 months later.

 

When glamour designers create so-called eco-cars. This is the result.

Media_httpwwwinstablo_dtvaj

"But this vehicle seems to have taken a different route altogether with the absence of side panel doors, and also the large windscreen giving the whole concept a very airy look, though very simplistic in appeal. By these looks itself, one can easily figure out, that most of the features that other high-end cars would not be a part of the package but then the maintence factor is a main factor. The build design is such that the cart remains ultra-low maintence throughout its working life, for majority of the expensive and rather complicated components don’t exist. Just the frame hardware and the electric motor system are all there are to take care of. Even the upholstery inside is limited to the seat alone, which too is crafted out of a low maintence fabric."

Sustainability Through Resource Efficiency: Getting the job done

Media_httpwwwcore77co_acrsf

This is a great take on "People don't want toasters. What they want is toast."
Or people don't want a quarter inch drill they want a quarter inch hole.

So this idea is evolving. The ressource efficiency aspect is yet another way to get to smarter business models. I would put collaborative consumption in this field of ideas. So does Product Service Systems. Business model innovation to get there.

I can't wait to lay out a plan to make this shift happen. This video sure will be usefull to get there.