Will it ever be enough?

With conversations of the climate becoming more present in the everyday media, feeding the growth of the informed consumer. Brands are facing constant challenges in the effort to be sustainable – I’ve found myself asking, will it ever be enough?

Recently I was researching various products to make a switch from an aerosol deodorant to something eco-friendly and was shocked at the level of scrutiny some brands were subjected to from prospective and existing consumers.

If the product itself passes the sustainability checks from a consumer perspective of transparent ingredients and sourcing. The next item on the agenda is packaging and longevity of the product (heavily weighted towards understanding if the price is meeting the perceived value), followed by a rabbit hole of carbon offset delivery and the journey of getting the product into their hands.

More people than ever before are aware (even if subconsciously) of how making micro changes can impact their own carbon footprint. It can feel like an achievement to let friends and family know that this month you’ve done the equivalent of planting 3 trees and taking 10g of plastic out of the ocean – all without leaving your house.

With that sense of pride comes the usual social media sharing (because everyone loves an extra pat on the back) and so it’s understandable that more brands want to get onboard with the positive publicity.

However, even with willing consumers, brands are still faced with the same challenges. Demand for eco-friendly products while on the rise, isn’t as a high as mainstream manufacturing, therefore material costs are higher and time to produce is longer. Leaving brands in a position where they have to pass on some costs to the end consumer. In effort to minimise the impact on their consumers, a lot of brands choose the route of offering a subscription model. This allows consumers to purchase ‘on repeat’ for a lower cost or recurring percentage discount.

This works well, but there’s always something around the corner…

Barclays are advising that to reduce spending, it’s best to monitor unnecessary expenditure such as subscriptions. To aid this, they have a new app feature which presents customers with an easy way to view all subscriptions they pay for in one place. Whilst this financial guidance may be welcomed by many in the UK right now, as a brand this is yet another hurdle to overcome. It means the subscription model strategy brands have previously put in place to encourage repeat business may begin to take a hit.

In addition to the financial impact, creating a product that can fit in with the region specific recycling rules and regulations make it even harder. For example, where I live we don’t have an option for the council to recycle glass, but travel 10 mins down the road and they have a separate plastics and glass bin. The infrastructure is working against mass recycling of the different materials brands are trying to use.

The cynic in me feels like we’ll always be chasing our tails on a global scale to slow down the current production and distribution to tip the scales in favour of the green and sustainable. That being said, I’ll personally continue trying to find a way to make small changes where I can to ‘do my bit’, and I hope that many brands out there continue to do the same.

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