Waste not, want not

Brands can turn frugality into a differentiated purpose, build an identity in keeping with the times

An important milestone that environmental advocacy groups observe is the Earth Overshoot Day. The day marks when we humans have used up more natural resources than the earth can produce in a year. This year it fell on August 2, earlier than it did in 2016. Some estimates indicate that the equivalent of 1.7 planets will be needed to produce enough natural resources to match mankind’s consumption rates and the rapidly growing population.   

Clearly, something needs to give in our relentless desire to acquire things. But what of businesses and brands? How do they reconcile the imperatives of generating a productive cycle of sales and profits while doing their bit to temper the ever spiralling growth of more products and more waste? 

Responsibility towards the environment in terms of supply chain management, waste management, recycling etc. is a given that most brands have to comply with today. But there is plenty of room for brands to innovate in ways that satisfy both the conscience and the pleasure principles of the shopper. Premium clothing brand Patagonia has shown a way this can be done: it has encouraged consumers to trade in their old Patagonia purchases. Its Worn Wear brand logo is thus not just about responsible corporate behaviour but is seen as a “lifestyle” statement that shoppers want to be associated with. There will always be debate about whether a lifestyle brand that depends on new fashions and styles can truly be frugal, but it is a start. 

The opportunity for lifestyle brands in clothing, home-ware, books etc. in India to use innovative trading-in, reuse and re-distribution models is enormous. Technology in e-commerce along with sustainable recycling processes are at hand to enable business systems so that various stakeholders are serviced efficiently while the brand itself earns profits and does good. 

The success of such ventures will depend on how the brand promise is brought to life. The brand has to create a sense of shared responsibility—so that all stakeholders whether they are trading in the “old” or opting for reused/recycled /refashioned “new” are convinced that they are participating in an enterprise that is about common good for the self, the community and the immediate environment. The consumer segmentation in markets such as India give brands many choices to base their models on—from models that promise the payoff of responsible altruism to the recycler while ensuring smart value for money to the end-user to systems that position the virtue of responsible consumerism as a premium experience that the more affluent indulgers are happy to pay for. In other words, re-distribution/recycling of goods need not just be the domain of charity and hand-outs but actually be a part of a branded ecosystem.

Photo: iSTOCK

And what of brands in consumables? A Swedish start-up has launched a pressed juice brand evocatively branded as Rescued. The company takes fruits that come into the ports and is about to be thrown away because of blemishes in appearance, in texture or unwanted softness/over-ripe conditions etc. and presses them and bottles the juice. Conscious millennials are eagerly buying into this not-inexpensive juice brand because it makes them feel good and moral about reducing wastage! 

Now imagine the possibilities of harnessing the wastage in India’s vast agricultural output systems whether in foods or personal care—a brand could bottle and sell an oil from damaged fruits/berries not just for beautiful skin but also promise the shopper the glow of a superior sensibility and social conscience!

The author is a London-based brand strategist with Healthy Marketing