When buying products or developing products for your business, there are two considerations:
Parts and Packaging.
Parts
Parts are the ingredients and materials used to create the product.
These can range from mechanical parts to liquid ingredients and much, much more.
When thinking about the parts, we want them to be safe and have the lightest impact.
A key question for shoppers is:
Are any of these ingredients or parts bringing toxins into our home?
This could be ingredients in personal products that can seep into our bloodstream.
Ingredients in foods that are processed and not “real”.
Elements of furniture, paint, and carpet that release VOCs (volatile organic compounds) into the air.
Turning to the business, a key question might be:
Is there a more eco-friendly option?
The answer to this question can look through several different lenses.
We could look at the toxin question above and find a better solution.
Looking through a logistics lens we might find a supplier closer to us to reduce transportation impact.
We might look at manufacturing and find an alternative that makes the assembly more efficient.
Packaging
The second area for both homeowners and businesses to consider is packaging.
Just because a product is environmentally friendly, doesn’t mean the packaging is.
Here the rule is the same for both groups – try to avoid plastic.
If plastic is the only option, look for recycled plastic options instead of “new” plastic.
Also ensure that the plastic used can be easily recycled.
Your Turn
When you consider products do you look at parts & packaging?
How could you make this check a part of your purchase process?
Is there one product or category that you can make your first step?