How do brands help the environment become more sustainable?
Have you ever heard the word ‘sustainability’? It is currently at the height of its fame, as evidenced by its use in all kinds of industries, such as sustainable fashion, sustainable materials, sustainable architecture, sustainable branding, etc. In addition, the phrase is associated with many Call-to-Action phrases to spread brand sustainability, such as ‘Save the environment’, ‘Save the world’, ‘Think green’, and ‘Recycle products’.
The awareness of the sustainability factor has only increased during the ”COVID” pandemic. This is due to the environmental and social factors that have come to the fore. With thepollution reduction while people have stayed at home, it has demonstrated how much human activities affect our environment. At the same time, COVID has tested what companies really think about their initiatives and triggered internal conversations about the benefits of adopting sustainable practices.
Today, consumers gravitate towards brands that are in line with their values. Millennials and Generation Z are driving this sustainability movement – Capgemini research shows that 79% of consumers are changing their purchasing habits based on social responsibility, sustainability, or the brand’s environmental impact. At the end of the day, sustainable companies make consumers feel righteous in their purchases and build an emotional connection.
To find out which brands are doing the best with sustainability to connect with today’s consumer, we took a look at Futerra’s ‘Planet Brands Index’. It identifies 100 brands that could change the attitudes of a billion people. Brands are compared based on these 3 factors:
- Brand influence – because the world’s most trusted brands are the best agents to be able to establish sustainable attitudes as the norm,
- Global reach – mass market brands can reach consumers in a way will also change their attitudes towards their environmental contribution,
- Sustainability – consumers will only trust change messages from brands that have embarked on their sustainability journey.
All the companies listed below have been compiled as the best in their sector according to this year’s data, as the largest companies take into account the factor that they should be built as environmentally friendly as possible. To illustrate this, here are just a few examples of how companies are getting involved in preserving the environment for a better future:
Most recently, Adidas launched the ‘Run the Oceans’ campaign, open to everyone in the world. The goal was simple: every km run helped clean 10 bottles from the world’s oceans. Overall, the campaign was a great success, with more than 5 million people taking part and covering more than 56 million km. That’s the equivalent of almost 250 000 kg of bottles!
As of 2018, the business is CO2 neutral and by 2030 they expect all their products to be so. They have set up a ‘Restore Fund’ to help restore different ecosystems while achieving their goal of being a carbon-free company.
Volkswagen, one of the world’s leading engineering companies, has some pretty impressive targets. They plan to halve their “natural footprint” in the next 5 years. At the same time, they are recycling old parts for future use. In doing so, they are helping to conserve huge amounts of virgin materials and energy, as well as reducing CO2 emissions.
In 2021, they committed to a resource-positive future by introducing environmental targets to halve carbon, water, and waste emissions by 2030. In addition, the company wants to introduce carbon-neutral coffee and maintain water use for processing organic coffee at 50%. At the same time, they recently announced that all plastic straws will become paper, and coffee holders have already adopted a slimmer cardboard format.
Carrefour, one of France’s largest wholesalers, has also set targets. In their strategic plan, set now until 2022, they say they will sell more organic and local products and reduce food waste. They now produce 28.6% less CO2 emissions, 67% of their waste is recycled and there are 1867 tonnes less waste in the world thanks to them.
Companies are ready to change the world for a better environment. As you can see, there are many different ways to do this – from recycling our packaging to having a carbon-neutral world to getting everyone involved to clean our oceans in other unconventional situations. This is our cry not only to help businesses achieve their goals but also to help the environment.
