Hopping on the Sustainability Bandwagon
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Sustainability has been a hot topic for many brands, especially in the apparel industry which has been under growing scrutiny from environmental organizations regarding wasteful and unethical manufacturing processes. This has pushed major apparel brands to embed sustainable practices and innovation into their business and product development process. Just two weeks ago, Levi’s announced its most sustainable denim ever using a material made from reused cotton textiles.
Now other heavy hitters in retail are hopping on the sustainability bandwagon. Walmart, Target, and CVS Health recently launched the Beyond the Bag Initiative to find an environmentally friendly replacement for single-use plastic bags. It’s a multi-year collaboration across sectors which invites innovators and designers to submit their ideas. A $15 million investment amongst the partners will allow the best ideas to enter a product accelerator with Closed Loop partners.
Single-use plastic bags are made from virgin plastics which are produced using raw materials such as crude oil, rather than recycled ones. While they are extremely cheap and easy to make, they tend to pollute waterways and can take decades to break down. Even worse – they are not accepted in recycling facilities.
This is particularly problematic for the modern consumer who is increasingly concerned about how their shopping habits affect the world. Findings from a study done by IBM and NRF reveal that 60% of consumers would change the way they shop to reduce their environmental impact. And it’s not just millennial and Gen Z shoppers who feel this way – the study showed that the importance of sustainability was consistent across all age groups. This means prioritizing sustainability is now table stakes for retailers.
One might be wondering, like I did, about whether the reusable grocery bag has solved this problem already. Turns out – the answer is no. Most major retailers sell reusable grocery bags and display them at front of store to encourage purchase. But that bag needs to be used a certain amount of times (up to 1000 times!) to pay for their footprint. So, if the consumer isn’t using it enough, we aren’t really solving the problem, are we?
What gets me excited about this initiative is that the cross-sector collaboration encourages a more systemic approach to solving this issue. The problem isn’t to simply re-design the plastic bag. The question is: how might we enable consumers to easily transport their goods from store to home in a sustainable manner? It will require the consortium to design a comprehensive system that takes into consideration the many modes of purchase (through delivery, courier, pick-up) and variety of goods.
Systemic design is different from a product or experience design because of the scale and social complexity at which it operates. It brings together systems thinking and design thinking competencies such as process reasoning, generative research methods, and visualization practices to describe and configure complex systems. This is particularly useful for tackling problems involving multiple stakeholders. Our Plastic Bag Problem can’t be solved by just one retailer – but as a collective effort of the entire retail industry, local governments, and raw material suppliers. The Beyond the Bag Initiative is an exciting next step in establishing a new status quo in the industry.
The views in this article are purely my own. In no way is this article related to, informed by or endorsed by my employer.