It's Sunday morning at "Chez Monde" and the menu's being written.
Chef bought fish on Friday. Two days later, it can't be sold as is, it's now too old and stinky, "So what is he going to do?"
'Throw all this unsold fish into the garbage and take the loss?' No way...
Being the crafty and morally onerous Chef that he is...he chops it up & throws the unsold fish into a stew...
...It's not old fish anymore - It's a whole new thing. Ok, so this is a metaphor.
A crack (pardon the pun) at the brands wanting to whisk (there I go again...) and confuse us all into assuming that steps, proper steps, are being taken to reduce harmful impact and tread more lightly.
Green washing is a thing. It exists and it's opaque - purposefully.
There are transparent options - people making genuine steps - which is amazing.
In the 17years I have been in the run and sports industry I have never known so many brands coming to market, many DTC (Direct to Consumer - websites selling to customers), many actually sustainable...
Small agile speed boats vs the big ocean tankers...
The market is open and will be driven by consumers and retailers voting with their orders...
The sub plot from a sustainability perspective is which of the big tankers turn quickly down the sustainability canal truthfully & effectively. We have recently seen global brands saying one thing and doing another…….
A capitalist society relies upon consumerism. Retail relies upon consumerism - on the High Street. and online.
Is consumerism sustainable? What is sustainable consumerism? What does that look like? What is Circularity like now? What could Circularity look like in the future and is that our end goal? Is that our best 'end goal' right now?
It took humans 100years to create, develop and agree on a global accounting system…
We can't wait 100 years to create, develop and agree on a global sustainability system...
We need to move at lightning speed. That means mind blowing products. Mind blowing innovations. Mind blowing collaboration. Mind blowing truth.
Performance is the driver, we’re not talking elite performance of 1:59hr marathons or 9.58 100m and everything in between, we talking product performance. At the moment product innovation is driven by how fast, how strong, how cushioned, how flexible, how breathable a the material and ultimately a product is.
What’s the trade off?
What are people and the industry willing to trade?
Super recycled carbon in super carbon shoes - this is possible if brands wanted it
Are we willing to trade performance for sustainability?
Is compromise our best option?
Is compromise our only option?
Investment in actual sustainable materials is required.
Recycling is a sticky plaster solution. Once a recycled bottle is used as a percentage of a material composition of a tee shirt it makes it harder to be recycled again...Single use recycling. What's the point? It's a step but feels futile...
The sustainability landscape is a minefield with many opinions and voices. We love product - It’s the cornerstone of our industry. It's time we all thought harder. Asked harder questions of ourselves. Ask harder questions of the brands we adore…
What am I actually buying?
Is it a sustainable choice?
What's the cost?
All manner of platforms and media outlets say 60 to 70% of us would buy more sustainably if prices were 15% higher. In the retail and DTC market the key question is how much have you spent?
Let's look at actual spend and then predict habits from that. Speak to any brand or business with sustainability at its core and they will tell you the demand is not as high as the media say it is….
So, as we wade towards another Winter, spending will be reviewed - by us all. How we make better choices in a squeeze is tricky - for us all. And so as we surf the wave of inflation, energy control, we still need to keep an eye on our futures.
Work needs to be done on product innovation.
Work needs to be done on global standards.
Work needs to be done on retail collections.
Work needs to be done on consumer habits.
It is through our collective contribution that we build collective responsibility.
Thank you for being curious.
Ben
