Sustainability Is Here To Stay – Pun Intended so writes Leslie Hand, Research Director, Global Retail Insights.
“Naysayers will purport that the importance of sustainability will fade, but we disagree. One of our 2009 predictions states “sustainability and being green will be embedded in the fabric of leading retailer strategies and tactics”. We are seeing much evidence to support this claim, as retailers are initiating many projects with positive impacts on operating costs and the environment including energy management, recycling, transportation, construction and supplier packaging reduction.
Many retailers are also making consumer facing changes… Some are going the extra mile to work with product manufacturers to promote products with reduced carbon footprints.
… Retail leaders will seize market advantage from participating in a sustainability movement that is far from temporary, and in fact, part of a greater shift towards doing business differently – more sustainably. “
The naysayers are converting to becoming earthsayers and you can listen and learn from them on EarthSayers.tv, the voices of sustainability.
“One of our 2009 predictions states “sustainability and being green will be embedded in the fabric of leading retailer strategies and tactics…”
It is good news to hear of retailers getting on the bandwagon of the green sustainabilty movement. With Obama’s recent push towards green technologies it would make sense for the retail companies to promote products that are sustainable and green. It is important though, to manage sustainablity with consumption. In my mind, retailers with a sustainable plan in place would focus on producing less, but a higher quality. This would curb more ‘green’ products only in label from going into landfills.
As we teach at the University of Vermont’s Global Institute for Sustainability (http://learn.uvm.edu/igs) creating a positive, shared vision of the future is something folks can tap into, and move forward with crafting solutions in a creative, engaging way.”