The role of business – mainstreaming sustainable consumption
Innovation From the perspective of business, innovation is an essential driver of more sustainable consumption. The goal of sustainable innovation is to deliver high levels of emotional and functional value, while minimizing resource use and environmental impacts. Innovation is a well-known core business function. Business innovation responds to the challenge of sustainable consumption through: eco-efficiency measures, product innovation and design, production & supply chain management, and business model innovation.
Product innovation and design The research and development of new products, product features, technologies and services driven by the quest for the best performance at the best price that also improve ecoefficiency and societal value
Eco-efficiency As defined by the WBCSD, “eco-efficiency is achieved by the delivery of competitively priced goods and services that satisfy human needs and bring quality of life, while progressively reducing ecological impacts and resource intensity throughout the life cycle to a level at least in line with the Earth’s estimated carrying capacity.” In short, it is concerned with creating more value with less impact. Some examples of eco-efficiency have included: the minimization and optimization of packaging; minimizing the amount of materials going to waste (through re-use and recycling); reducing the amount of fuel required to move raw materials, products and people (e.g., by “greening” vehicle fleets and using videoconferencing in place of air travel); reducing the amount of water used in manufacturing; stemming the release of any toxic waste; and making the most efficient use of fuel and materials in production and distribution.
Product innovation and design has long been seen by companies as an effective way to reduce the environmental and social impacts of a product or service. As early as ten years ago, for example, detergent manufactures (such as Henkel and Procter & Gamble) conducted life cycle analyses of the carbon efficiency of their dishwashing and laundry detergents and found that around 90% of the carbon emissions from a single load came not from manufacturing and distributing the detergent, but from heating the water and powering the dishwasher or washing machine. Companies therefore re-formulated their products to deliver even better performance at lower temperatures, which would save money for the consumer – therefore delivering even better value. “Market research has confirmed that UK consumers actually are indeed washing at lower temperatures (2007 IPSOS survey). The survey showed that 17% of UK households now wash at 30ºC, up from only 2% of households in their 2002 survey. The average UK washing temperature across all households has decreased from 43.5°C to 40.2°C. According to the 2007 ‘IPC Green Research’ study, approximately 85% of UK consumers claimed that the Ariel Turn To 30 campaigns were the main reason that convinced them to turn down their washing temperatures.”38
Learning Not only can eco-efficiency lower production costs, it can also represent additional value to consumers and industrial customers. The consumer is not always aware of this added benefit, however. As a result, and in order to maximize this value, leading companies offer information and training to customers through a variety of approaches (see choice influencing on p. 28).
Learning Products that did not deliver superior quality were not successful with consumers. Energy savings (and therefore cost savings) passed along to the consumer through superior product design were not immediately evident to the consumer and therefore had to be explained through effective marketing and communications.
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