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It's never too late to improve.
And when it comes to sustainability, it's in a brand's best interest to make improvements sooner rather than later. Consumers are increasingly demanding products that claim to be environmentally and socially responsible, according to recent McKinsey data: Sales of products with environmental, social, governance claims grew an average of 28 percent over the past five years, compared to 20 percent growth for products without those claims.
Seeing the trend lines, companies big and small are innovating their existing offerings to be more eco-conscious. Some are investing in more environmentally friendly packaging while others are shifting their supply chains to be more sustainable. Still others are taking a more holistic approach and transforming everything all at once.
Herschel Supply Co., the Vancouver-based accessories brand founded in 2009, for instance, recently redesigned its entire core collection of backpacks and bags to be made with around 95 percent recycled fabrics--compared to just 7 percent, pre-redesign. The brand launched its more sustainable styles in July, but it took about two years of design work, manufacturing, and retail strategy revisions to pull off the shift. "It was really, really challenging to do it all," says co-founder Lyndon Cormack. "But as the old saying goes, we ripped the BandAid off."
This approach won't be the right strategy for all brands. Fortunately, committing to and hitting sustainability targets doesn't have to happen all at once.
That's what the New York City-based lingerie brand Adore Me did when, in 2019, the company began the process of improving its overall sustainability, which later helped it achieve B corp status in 2022. "Rather than hiring a head of sustainability, the idea was, 'We're going to get everyone within their own functions to start thinking about this and learning,'" says VP of strategy Ranjan Roy. "People in the supply chain could think about how we could bring in recycled packaging; people on the creation team could think about how we can start incorporating sustainable materials."
The brand's first steps included transitioning to fully recyclable external packaging and developing an evaluation process to help its suppliers improve their environmental impacts by enhancing energy savings and improving water management, among other strategies.
Herschel similarly made its core product re-launch a company-wide effort, which helped the brand handle the overhaul. "Once we started to get into it, you could just see it energized the team," Jamie says. "It wasn't about [hiring] new staff--it was a refocus."
Keap, a Brooklyn, New York-based candle brand, ran into pitfalls experimenting with a new, more sustainable wax formulation before it found the right experts to help it scale its R&D, says co-founder Harry Doull.
With a team of just seven and limited production equipment, Keap's ability to experiment with its wax formula without disrupting its overall business operations was limited. The result: the company launched a new formula before it was perfected, hoping that it could continue R&D in its normal production process. But some unhappy customers and continued formulation difficulties led Keap to reverse its launch, going back to its previous wax formula.
"We made the mistake of trying to do this all on our own, but it wasn't a totally intentional mistake," Doull says. "We tried to look for people, but it's not these kinds of consultants have webpages that are well-indexed by Google where it's like, 'Oh, sustainable candle consultant.'" Keap is now working on its R&D with its supplier, a fully traceable palm oil provider called Natural Habitats and expects to relaunch its new, more sustainable wax in Q1 or Q2 of 2024.
In some instances, outside organizations can help brands make environmental offsets that help them reduce their negative impact while they work towards more gradual product improvement. Lemon Perfect, an Atlanta-based enhanced water company, became certified Plastic Neutral in 2023 in partnership with the organization rePurpose Global. The partnership--which essentially means Lemon Perfect will help to finance the recovery of nature- and ocean-bound plastic--cost 8 percent of the company's marketing budget, about $1 million. "There is some unmeasured social component," says founder Yanni Hufnagel. "But I believe that by being plastic-neutral, we will sell more bottles."
When converting to more sustainable products, you'll need to be mindful both of your rollout and how you handle existing merchandise. "We had to figure out we could launch new stuff without having this mixed story of, 'Why is this black bag on sale and this one is full price?'" says Lyndon. Herschel, which sells about 50 percent of its products direct-to-consumer, communicated with its retail partners, which include Nordstrom and Revolve, about its planned relaunch to suggest that they reduce their order volume. However, Jamie says, "It's a tricky thing to thread because they want to hit the sales numbers they're accustomed to hitting." Transparency, the co-founders say, helped. The brand sold excess inventory of its old designs, discounted by around 35 percent, through sample sales that it advertised through geotargeted digital advertising.
Framingham, Massachusetts-based Melanin Haircare ran into a similar challenge when rolling out more sustainable versions of its packaging, made with 30 percent post-consumer recycled plastic. Products on shelves of its retailers, including Ulta and Sephora Canada, need to be uniform, which means that products with outdated packaging are sent back to the company, at the company's expense, so that the new packaging can fill the shelves. Once Melanin Haircare receives inventory back from retailers, it can sell it through its direct-to-consumer site.
And it's not just shipping that's expensive. "Once a product is returned from a retailer, you are charged for that product," says co-founder Whitney White. "So if you can't afford to have all your inventory shipped back to you, don't try to do it all at once." Melanin Haircare is in the process of transitioning to its new packaging with all its retail partners and expects to have all products swapped by April 2024.
Finances are a big reason many businesses can't necessarily pull off a grand-scale product relaunch like Herschel. Focusing instead on incremental improvement can help businesses reach their sustainability goals without causing financial stress or disruption to their businesses. Lemon Perfect will use 25 percent recycled plastic (rPET) for its bottles by January 2024, and it has pledged to create its bottles with 100 percent recycled plastic by 2026. It will take time and money to develop a more sustainable supply chain, Hufnagel says: "I'm competing with Coke and Pepsi. We need to scale this brand a little bit further down the field before we're 100 percent rPET."
White, too, has not written off the possibility for Melanin Haircare to eventually use more recycled plastic or other sustainable materials in its products. But that decision will come with time. The more PCR used in a bottle, the "cloudier and more green and brown the packaging gets," White explains--and Melanin Haircare's transparent packaging aligns with its brand value of transparency. "As the brand evolves, the packaging can evolve with it," she says. "But the 30 percent PCR bottles and jars are a great first step because it still allows us to promote and market our products as they have been marketed since we first launched, and it's more sustainable."
While its current focus is perfecting its more sustainable wax, Keap has a 10-year roadmap for its ambition to become a "regenerative" company--one that leaves the planet even better than it found it, rather than simply being environmentally neutral, Doull says. But that doesn't mean his company's path is perfectly planned out. "It's a very, very high bar that I don't think we'll reach in 10 years," he says. "The vision is very descriptive and very practical, and sometimes it has to make some guesses on things." Many of Keap's sustainability goals, he explains, will require time as much as they do money.
So yet-unknown innovations can serve as inspiration for businesses as they make environmentally conscious innovations--but they should also remember that smaller changes add up in the meantime, Roy says. Sea shipping, for example, is both cheaper and more sustainable than air shipping--but it requires a business to have better inventory management because it means it can't get products to warehouses as quickly. "You have to be better at the boring stuff to make things cheaper and more sustainable," he says. "It's really just focusing on that versus mushroom leather."
A refreshed look at leadership from the desk of CEO and chief content officer Stephanie Mehta
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