Comparison tool concept

At present, those that are driven to buy more sustainably might review product labelling or look on company websites to gather more information, or they might use sites like Ethical Consumer or Goodonyou, or specific apps. But most of us want convenience, we want to trust our favourite brands to take care of the sustainability impacts.

But, the problem with the labelling and obtaining information from companies is that there is a lot of greenwashing – including the use of selective information, that’s then used to claim overall sustainability. Also company information is difficult to verify, and time consuming to find, and it’s difficult to compare products.

A problem with third-party ratings and apps is that few look at the full range of sustainability impacts; we reckon there are about a dozen factors, highlighted in our foundation articles. 

Further, products rated highly tend to be high-cost, niche ones, that are aimed at consumers prepared to pay more for sustainability claims. Ocki is keen to promote the mainstreaming of sustainability. We want brands to ensure all their products are sustainable – as a norm – not just a few selected items.

We would love to develop a tool that helps companies communicate this information to consumers, and build up an Ocki directory of information on products and services covering all 12 key issues impacting sustainability.

Maybe progressive companies will support this move. What’s important to recognise, though, is that this isn’t going to happen overnight. Many companies will likely rate quite poorly…but the point is their intention to improve, to start the journey and stick a deadline in the calendar for achieving the end goal.

Below we’ve set out a combinations of questions and responses that also highlight where information is verified. They also don’t seek to replicate the many ‘single issue’ schemes that are already out there. We are just trying to bring it all together to provide an overview to help people in their decision making.

Once we’ve refined the questions, we’d like to develop a tool that automatically lets people send the questionnaire to companies, so we can keep track of who’s been approached, and then we’d like to publish any responses that come in. Of course, companies are welcome to be proactive and fill in the questionnaire, which we’ll publish too.

Questions for manufacturers and service providers

Can you verify that the product/service listed above has:

1. Been made or provided by people who’ve had their human rights respected, have access to workers representation, have equal opportunities and are not discriminated against, and are paid a fair wage (needs defining), right through the value chain?  
2. Been made or provided by people who have their health and safety protected at work to a (defined) level, right through the value chain? 
3. Been made or provided in a way that eliminates illegal pollution (for sites in countries without pollution regulations, you can not answer Yes to this question)? 
4. Been made or provided in a way that measures and minimises emissions of greenhouse gases, throughout the supply chain, including publishing this data, and an aim to achieve net zero by 2050 at the latest.
5. Been made or provided in a way that measures and minimises water use, including publishing this data, and an aim to adhere to best practice water management (what is this?).
6. Been made or provided in a way that measures and minimises resource use, including publishing this data, and an aim to adhere to best practice resource management (what is this?).
7. Been made or provided in a way that protects biodiversity (define). Any losses or impacts on biodiversity are measured and published.
8. Been made or provided in a way that fulfils fair trade criteria, and this information is verified and published.
9. Been made or produced in a way that avoids the use or addition of hazardous chemicals. (Where hazardous chemicals are essential to public health, products should be labelled clearly to identify the hazardous throughout the lifecycle of the product).
10. Has been designed to be durable, repairable, with a clearly stated life expectancy.
11. Has been designed to be reused or recycled to avoid the generation of waste.
12. Has been designed and implemented to avoid generation of waste that can not be recycled, taken-back, or treated and disposed of safely, avoiding landfill or incineration.

Companies can reply with the following responses and upload evidence to support their claims.

• Yes
• No
• Partially
• Our company has clear targets [specify] and deadlines [specify] on all these points
• Our company has clear targets [specify] and deadlines [specify] on some of these points
• We can verify our response 
• We have uploaded our verification
• Not applicable

Ocki will process responses in a way that is easy for consumers to understand and compare similar products and services.

If you are interested in providing your thoughts on such a tool, its value, its content, definition, how it might work, please get in touch at getinvolved@ockisustainability.com