Links between nature sustainability and startups
explorerKas
12 replies
Super interested in the intersections between nature sustainability and startups.
For founders, how many of you are actively looking to use eco-friendly credentials in your product or brand? If you are, what tools do you use for going green & communicating with customers?
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Richard Shepherd@richardesigns
Memo
Credentials or meaningful actions? Credentials - none. Meaningful actions - lots.
I worry a lot about thin eco-credentials being used as marketing material when what's really needed for planet earth is action.
Sustainability should be a default, not a nice-to-have.
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@richardesigns Thanks for your honesty, Richard. I completely agree. I'm a wildlife researcher and conservationist by trade; so I'm also interested in more than 'greenwashing'.
If you don't mind sharing, what sort of meaningful actions do you and your company take for nature sustainability?
@richardesigns @kasim_rafiq You're welcome. I don't mind at all. Our company is really small so our actions are very personal. As individuals we just choose to live environmentally conscious lives.
However, proactive environmental choices at work would be:
- light home office footprint
- rail travel for employees where possible / necessary
- never ever ever use disposable coffee cups or consumables
- green energy supplier
- use an electric car for business travel
@richardesigns @kasim_rafiq "Never ever ever use disposable coffee cups or consumable" is a really good one. When/if folks go back to offices, a company not having a Keurig-type machine actually feels like a pretty strong statement about waste.
@richardesigns @kasim_rafiq @alejandro_cantarero1 A good friend of mine used to work for a large insurance company in the UK and was tasked with identifying the most environmentally friendly way of doing teas and coffees in the office.
She reckoned that disposable cups are the most environmentally friendly way but I think this was based on a direct comparison between the environmental cost of manufacturing a porcelain cup over a bio-degradable paper one.
This has always troubled me. My understanding is that if an employee either brings in a spare mug from home or we purchase ten porcelain mugs that last 5 years then that has to be better than 2 - 3 disposable cups per person per day.
I do not immediately know how to calculate the impact of this action.
@richardesigns @kasim_rafiq @alejandro_cantarero1
Without knowing the details, I can't say this for sure, but that also seems crazy to me.
Disposable plastic cups are terrible for the environment, and even if the carbon footprint per cup is lower than a porcelain cup, disposable cups can take decades to decompose. Even for paper cups, many have an internal plastic lining that means they can't be recycled. All of this is even before we start to talk about whether the paper making the cup is recycled or virgin.
I'd love to know how insurance companies make their decisions on things like this. If this is something that's happening frequently, it would be interesting to know whether it's due to a lack of knowledge or because they lack comparison tools or something else.
One of my favorite startups in consumer goods that I think has really nailed this is making toilet paper.
https://us.whogivesacrap.org/
Their environment message is front and center in their product message right on their homepage, including "Impact" being the 2nd item on their site nav right after "Shop".
Their blog and newsletters are very focused on the sustainability side of their company and less about directly selling their product.
They've really placed it at the heart of who they are as a company.
@alejandro_cantarero1 I'm not afraid to tell you we use this company. The rolls are extremely colourful! Got it on subscribe and save.
@alejandro_cantarero1 Thanks for sharing the link, Alejandro.
Wow, you're right! They've absolutely nailed it. Their branding is on point, and they've put sustainability right at the heart of the company, which is awesome.
I find it really great because toilet paper isn't necessarily a product that the average consumer would link to sustainability and impact in the way 'Who Gives a Crap' has.
I guess a general thought or question I have floating in my head is how many founders don't include sustainability in their startup because they don't value it enough versus how many are actively trying to be more sustainable but are facing barriers and pain points.
^ This isn't necessarily a question I'm asking you - just a thought growing in my mind.