Environmental Zone of Responsibility: Sustainability Case Studies

Method

Method makes being environmentally aware stylish. The packaging, from 100% recycled plastic, is unique in its attractiveness among household cleaning products, both in form and color.

Consumers believe that Method products do not contribute to water pollution because they are not only safe for themselves and family, but the local waterways as well.

Botanical (fruits and flowers) ingredients cue safety for the user and the sewage system.

Organic Essence

Consumers are increasingly convinced that simple, “cool” (or, at least, compelling) and sustainable are compatible in product packaging. Organic Essence achieves this with its compostable eco jar and lip balm eco tube made from a paper base, replacing the use of traditional plastic or glass packaging seen with most cosmetics.

Both the jar and tube are made from Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) post-consumer waste, 100% recycled paper on the outside and biodegradable cellulose film on the inside. Additionally, both are printed with color soy inks.

Consumers are more likely to perceive biodegradable and compostable packaging as signals of quality, while, at the same time, laddering up to personal safety (i.e., if it is safe for the environment, then it must be safe for me or my baby) and environmental benefits (i.e., preserving natural resources, reducing CO2 and reducing landfill space).

Whole Foods Market

Consumers often cite Whole Foods’ efforts at reducing energy consumption through their commitment to meet 100% of their electricity needs through the purchase of renewable energy credits (RECs) from wind farms.

Company attempts to convert to alternative energy sources intrigue consumers generally, and wind energy cues sustainability more than others such as biofuels.

That Whole Foods offsets 100% of its electricity consumption with wind energy credits makes for a lasting impression of the retailer as a “conscious” company.

Stonyfield Farm

Consumers identified Stonyfield as a brand that has done a great job at being transparent about its carbon footprint, citing its website as truly accessible for even the most uninformed consumer.

They resonate with the honesty with which the brand explains the impact of transportation in terms of “What Goes In,” and “What Goes Out.”

Consumers applaud Stonyfield’s transparency about the fact that it tries to purchase full truckloads and backhaul “whenever possible.”

They also like how the brand explains the concept of “food miles,” describing how ingredient availability naturally causes carbon footprint increase when they have to source further away due to seasonal and regional issues.

The Body Shop

When thinking about resource preservation, consumers often cite the Body Shop as exemplary. Consumers are enthusiastic about the Body Shop’s decision to make soap from sustainable palm oil sources—a crop typically associated with massive deforestation.

Through their actions, The Body Shop contributes to reducing deforestation, which threatens the few remaining orangutan habitats in Malaysia and Indonesia. This example resonates with consumers because it incorporates a social dimension as well—species preservation.

Australis

Consumers mention the efforts of Australis at reducing pressure on diminishing fish stocks in the world’s fisheries by offering fish raised under responsible aquaculture practices. They cite the fact that fish are raised in large tanks as a way to avoid many of the environmental challenges facing fish farming. The company farms Barramundi in tanks that utilize water reuse systems.

The success of the brand represents a consumer desire to imagine a better future and uphold ideals regarding pristine seas and abundance in a world in which they understand the Chilean sea bass, tuna, Atlantic cod, shark and orange roughy are now endangered. It also serves as an example of aquaculture in which the normal concerns regarding pollution, mercury concentrations, disruption to gene pool in native fish populations, and disease spreading to wild fish don’t seem to exist.