This article is Part 2 of a series on sustainability. Follow Shriram for more.
Millenial and Gen Z’s have woken up to the realities of climate change. The science is undeniable and we see the impact in our daily lives, through freak weather events, frequent natural disasters, plastic filled oceans and smoke filled air.
As consumers wake up, so do brands. After all, they want to sell their products, and will follow the public tide in this regard. But, there is still so much misinformation, that very often, companies will exploit this to indulge in unsustainable practices.
So let’s dive right into it:
1.
Plastic bags are bad, but how do we replace them?
For many years, we have been encouraged to use cotton bags instead of plastic. However, they tend to be worse for the environment vs a regular plastic bag. You would have to use a cotton bag 20,000 times just to get to the same level of environmental impact as using a plastic bag.
Solution: Use paper bags instead.
2.
Buy item X and the same product will be delivered to someone in need in a developing country.
Don’t people love to buy Shoes like Toms which promise to give a pair to deserving people from poorer countries? What can go wrong? You do a charitable act while buying a cute pair of shoes.
The short answer is, a lot can go wrong. Those shoes end up disrupting local economies of the very people they want to help! Local manufacturers find it difficult to sell their products when there is a flood of free goods coming in. It also creates a surplus of goods that people don’t find useful.
Solution: 1) Direct cash transfers are the most effective way to give back. It also cuts out the middleman. 2) Helping local manufacturers with technology and skills allows job creation and boosts the local economy.
3.
Donating old clothes is good right?
On the face of it, yes. But — Those old clothes that you very charitably gave away to Salvation Army or Goodwill? It takes away from local manufacturers of clothes who cannot compete. Also, most of the clothes given away are unusable, and just thrown away in the garbage.
