HOW TO
CONSUME RESPONSIBLY
Innovative business models driving impact at scale
Discover how the next generation businesses innovate to transition towards more responsible production practices. You have a major role to play, as a consumer. Get inspired on how you can support this transition through your consumption habits.
1) Buy products that last forever
Fairphone
Modular design to avoid e-waste, transparent mapping of the supply chain, use of conflict-free materials
Impact : Reducing e-waste, good working conditions for all people along the supply chain
Scale : 175,000 phones sold (2019)
BuyMeOnce
Independantly researched selection of longest-lasting products. No company can pay to be on the site. BuyMeOnce is also a movement, with the book « A Life Less Throwaway » published by the CEO in 2018.
Impact : Reducing waste
Scale : 40,000 visits/month (2019)
2) Rent instead of buying
MUD Jeans
A pioneering lease system. Every garment that comes back to them gets recycled, repairs are provided for free and the customers can keep the jeans for as long as they want and can swap them for a new pair after the one-year rental term is complete. 50% of clients are choosing that option.
Impact : Reducing fashion waste
Scale : 25,000 pairs of jeans produced in 2018 and 3,200 pairs returned for recycling
3) Buy second-hand and recycle
Idle Fish (Xianyu)
In a few clicks, clothes are collected at the user’s house in exchange of a payment, then sent to partner companies which sell or recycle the items. All this is done in no time and safely as the app is integrated with Alibaba’s mobile payment Alipay and its notation system Sesame Credit.
Impact : Reducing waste
Scale : 24 million pieces recycled since launch (2020), 76 million users per month (2020)
4) Buy food from companies that fight waste
Too Good To Go
Stores and restaurants make extra cash on food that would have otherwise cost them to throw out. Customers win by getting a great value meal – collecting tasty food at a reduced price. There is the option for the user to donate £1 alongside his purchase, which will go towards providing a meal to someone who needs it.
Impact : Reducing food waste
Scale : 38 million meals saved globally (2020)
Imperfect Foods
Delivery of boxes of surplus or cosmeticallly imperfect fruits, vegetables and pantry items that would normally go to waste to consumers in curated boxes. The produce is discounted up to 30% compared to grocery store prices.
Impact : Reducing food waste
Scale : 116 million pounds of imperfect food saved and 200,000 customers (2020)
5) Switch to vegan, vegetarian or flexitarian
Impossible Foods
5 years Research and development to research animal products at the molecular level and select proteins and nutrients from plants to recreate the experience and nutrition of meat products. While Impossible Foods started as a B2B company, selling to restaurants and retailers, it has recently started a direct-to-consumers strategy.
Impact : Shifting consumption habits to plant-based products
Scale : Available in around 17,000 food outlets and 700 retailers in the US (April 2020). Also available in Hong Kong and Singapore.
Kazidomi
E-commerce platform that allows environmentally conscious customers to find everything they need in one place (healthy, organic, vegan, gluten-free or lactose-free …) at reduced prices and delivered to their homes. A team of experts, nutritionists, and doctors help in the selection of products. Users have to pay 80 euros per year to become members and benefit from the reduced prices.
Impact : Promoting environmentally-friendly and healthy products
Scale : 10,000 subscribers (June 2019)
6) Buy from conscious brands and retailers
To help conscious consumers navigate among brands and not be fooled by greenwashing, new certifications, numerous curated marketplaces such as Mamoq, Klow, Done Good, Ethica, Verishop for ethical fashion or Thrive Market for healthy food, and rating apps (Good On You for ethical fashion, Yuka for heatlhy food and cosmetics) have emerged.
B Corp
To be granted and to preserve certification, companies must receive a minimum score on the B Impact Assessment (BIA). The BIA has two primary objectives for companies: to differentiate their performance, and to help them identify and take concrete actions for improvement. They must also pay an annual fee ranging from $500 to $50,000, depending on annual sales.
Impact : Accelerating a culture shift to redefine success in business and build a more inclusive and sustainable economy.
Scale : 3,300 for-profit companies in 71 countries (April 2020)
Soko
« Virtual factory » using mobile phones to coordinate over 1,300 independant artisans into a demand responsive manufacturing model. Artisans receive purchase orders, manage inventory and delivery, and get paid directly on their mobile phone. A cloud system is matching demand with available capacity. This business model reduces waste, time and costs, offering a lower price to the consumer and higher wage to the producer. Artisans retain 25-35% of revenue while industry standards is 2-3%.
Impact : The earning income is multiplied by 5 for each artisan
Scale : Sells to over 400 international resellers, and directly to 10.000 online consumers ; 1,300 independant artisans impacted (2018)
Choba Choba
Thee cocoa farmers are shareholders of the company. They participate in the decision making and the benefits of the company. Also, 5% of the sales are allocated to the Revolution Fund and transferred to the communities in direct payouts and in the form of shares.
Impact : Fair remuneration of the farmers who benefit from the profits, empowerment and pride
Scale : 36 families impacted in Peru (2020)
Yuka
The user scan the barcode of a product with the Yuka app to get a rating. Products are analyzed independantly and provide a detailed data sheet to explain how it is evaluated. The app also recommends similar items that are better for your health. The app is free with premium features (offline mode, search without scanning and dietary preferences).
Impact : Improving health and driving manufacturers to offer better products
Scale : 17 million users (2020)
7) Buy products designed to avoid single use plastic
Loop (by TerraCycle)
Loop has partnered with leading brands to reimagine how they can be waste free. These products are available exclusively through Loop. The consumer just pays a small fully refundable one-time deposit to borrow the package. Loop delivers the products and pick them up once they have been used.Its cleaning technology hygienically cleans the empty packages so that they are ready for reuse.
Impact : Eliminating waste through ending single-use
Scale : Loop already operates in the US and France, and coming to Australia, Canada, Germany, Japan and UK.
Simply Good Jars
Business model innovation : The jars are distributed via « Simply Smart Fridges », RFID enabled and refregirated vending machines, making it easy to monitor and stock inventory and minimize food waste. Jars are returned and cleaned for reuse. The company also donates meals to charity every time a jar is returned to them.
Impact : Eliminating single-use plastic waste.
Scale : 8718 pounds of trash returned, and 37,000 returned jars and meals donated (2020)
FEATURED STORIES
Brac
BRAC has set up 16 social enterprises addressing community needs and providing jobs to many. Its flagship social enterprise is the retail outlet Aarong Craft Shops in Bangladesh, reaches more than 65,000 artisans. Its dairy business, BRAC Dairy, collects milk from 54,000 marginalized farmers and has 20-30% of market share. With the profit, BRAC can offer free education programs to build skills and training for decent jobs in growth sectors.
Too Good To Go
Too Good To Go is an app which uses a geo-targeted map to show users the restaurants closest to them with leftover food available for collection at special time, at great price. Too Good To Go sells food that they buy from the stores at a great price. Stores make extra cash on food that would have otherwise cost them to throw out. Customers win by getting a great value meal – collecting tasty food at a reduced price.
There is the option for the user to donate £1 alongside his purchase, which will go towards providing a meal to someone who needs it.
Choba Choba
Sale of premium Swiss chocolate. Choba Choba has a unique business model : the cocoa farmers are shareholders of the company. They participate in the decision making and the benefits of the company. Also, 5% of the sales are allocated to the Revolution Fund and transferred to the communities in direct payouts and in the form of shares.
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