#greenercorporations

[manonlaliberte-blog]

Dear Corporations: Tag, You’re It!

It’s common knowledge that as consumers, the onus is often on us to be more eco-concisous when buying products. And I’m not opposed to highlighting the important role that we play in being socially responsible with our purchases. Not only do we, as individuals, have a direct impact on the amount of waste that we produce (I love the quote that has been circulating on social media recently: “‘It’s only one straw’, said 7 billion people”), but our choices as consumers also allow us to make a stance on which companies we can support, and which ones go against our values.

However, something else needs to happen in parallel: corporations need to be ”highly encouraged” (i.e., forced) to ensure that environnemental and social factors are taken into consideration all along their supply chain, from start to finish. Failure to do so needs to be sanctioned, not ignored.

Having these two parties, the seller and the buyer, equally responsible for what’s thrown in, passed around, and disposed of in our economy is the only way we can hope to make this place viable for the centuries to come.

A few ideas have come to my attention in the recent months (mostly during passionate conversations at the dinner table during family gatherings). These are not extreme transformations; we all know that a significant challenge lies in the actual material and methods that organizations use in producing their products. But my goal here is to touch on smaller changes that are more manageable and digestible, in hopes that some big wig CEO is reading this after their morning coffee, looking for inspiration on how to change the world (seriously, I’m simply trying to plant this into our universal consciousness...!).

Full-on Negative Reinforcement

Behavioral economy studies how economic decisions are made by individuals and institutions. My brother Dan recently told me that, after chatting with some folks in this field, a small shift to consider would be changing the way coffee shops promote the use of reusable mugs.

Currently, most cafés will take $0.10 off your coffee if you bring a reusable cup. But what if we switched this around? What if, instead, prices would be based on having a reusable cup, and those who would come to the cash empty-handed would need to pay $0.10 for a one-time-use cup? Yeah, you might have a few pissed off clients storming out, but people don’t like to be ‘penalized’, and so being charged for not being environmentally responsible may force some to bring their own mug next time.

In essence, there would be little to no change ‘financially’. Prices would be marked down based on everyone bringing a takeaway cup; those who don’t bring a cup pay for it! This could also be implemented when it comes to takeout containers (or straws... seriously, why are we still giving these out without people even asking for them?).

Now many companies may not be willing to do this (hence, the title of this blog post), from fear of losing customers or having to transform their production line. But hey, this was never meant to be easy, nor convenient (at least, not at the beginning). Society has brought us to the very extreme of ultra-convenience and wastefulness. Time to bring that pendulum back the other way...which requires effort from all players.

What the Hell is in This?

There should be more stringent laws around recyclable products, and the need to properly identify what can be recycled (based on regional bylaws). And corporations need to be held accountable for ensuring that their packaging clearly indicates how the post-consumer waste should be managed.

At this time, we’ll often see 1 to 7 numbering for plastic materials (in my hood, all plastic is recyclable except 6... darn styrofoam and other cheap crap). But many plastic items don’t include a reference to this numbering system, nor any details around how to dispose of it.

The province of Quebec recently created an app called ‘Ça va où?’ (‘Where Does It Go’?) that allows you to enter your city, and to search any product in order to confirm whether it goes in the recycling bin, compost bin, eco-center or garbage. This app is quite new and I still find some glitches, but all-in-all it’s amazing! For instance, I recently found out that frozen fruit bags are recyclable. So why isn’t there any indication on the bag? Seriously... if the City of Gatineau recycles PC Organic frozen fruit bags, then my gosh aren’t other communities doing the same? But considering that many people do not (yet!) have the same feverous passion as I have when it comes to looking up what’s recyclable, isn’t it fair to think that most people look at the bag, don’t see a recyclable logo on it and just chuck it in the trash?

So What Now?

Well, first off, let’s keep up (or start, or improve) our efforts in being socially responsible humans, and accept the challenge when the onus is on us.

But as importantly, let’s put some pressure on the big guys to change their ways. For instance:

1. Use social media to celebrate companies that are making an effort to be more socially responsible corporately, and call out the ones that are lagging.

2. Fully utilize the ‘feedback’ functions offered by organizations to share your suggestions in helping them become more environmentally conscious.

3. Stop buying from companies who couldn’t care less about their carbon footprint and how they are destroying YOUR planet.

4. Work with your municipal, provincial and federal elected officials to get things moving. All it takes is an email, or a meeting, or a petition! They are the ones who are voting in new laws, new regulations, new initiatives. If they feel that their constituents have the desire and drive to make change, they can lead us there.

We’re all responsible for what happens to this home of ours. Let’s quit pointing the finger and all play our part.

Got some ideas? Please share them!