Week 6

Findings from brand archive week 5

Through researching various horror stories regarding sustainable practice and brands not being entirely transparent with their processes, I have discovered that all of the following can be detrimental to a business and result in scandals/very large fines on investigation:

• Excessive company emissions from factory/workers/drivers which can be minimised
• Burning stock in the name of ‘exclusivity’
• Greenwashing – plastic that is plant based but still PET plastic so that does not mean better, also different countries mean different percentages of ‘plant’ ingredients in plastic
• Material sourced in another country with poor labour working conditions, including underage, excessive overtime and unsafe conditions
• Companies shifting the blame as they use subcontractors/buyers/sellers to do the dirty work for them – when they are the ones responsible under the label/brand
• Sending unnecessary emails which creates a carbon footprint
• Pesticides – harming literally everything not just getting rid of one specific disease and doing more harm than good
• Gas, coal and nuclear power which could be switched to solar/wind power
• Greenwashing – when a company ‘claims’ to be sustainable but does the following: 1. releasing sustainable ranges of products but encouraging the consumer to buy more via marketing/discounts etc., 2. putting thought into the packaging but not workers rights and the other 101 important areas 3. sells a small sustainable range to make it seem as though the whole business is sustainable (but they mainly profit off non-sustainable goods) and 4. look out for words such as ‘vegan’ which does not necessarily mean products are ethical i.e. plastic
• Large corporations importing illegal materials and also signing up to oppose laws that will expose the company
• Not paying the correct amount of tax or none at all
• Using harmful ingredients when claiming to be safe
• Changing packaging from plastic to an alternative which can’t be recycled
• Checking fabrics in garments to avoid plastic based material
• Defeat devices to cheat tests ensuring conditions meet criteria
• Copying artworks/designs i.e. stealing