Category: sustainability

MABR Cohort Perspective: Single-Use Containers In Sports Venues

Kim Sheehan on

Today’s post is from Cole Rothman.

Every year, 8 million metric tons of plastics enter our ocean and more than 150 million people attend live sporting events each year in the US alone. While these two statistics seem entirely unrelated, think about the last time you went to a sports game. What did you eat? What did you drink? Whatever it was, it was likely wildly overpriced, but what didn’t you notice? What you might not have noticed —and what the sports industry has yet to notice— is that your food and drinks likely came in a single-use container.

Every time I go to a sports venue, I feel guilty about the amount of single-use containers I use. The problem is there isn’t usually a viable alternative. Venues typically don’t allow you to bring in outside food or beverages so that they can charge you $50 for a hot dog because they know you’re hungry. Venues, for the most part, don’t use reusable containers because they don’t want to deal with the cleanup after the game. That leaves you with one alternative. single-use containers… an absolute mountain of them.

One study estimated that sport event attendees account for more than “39 million pounds of trash per year in the U.S.” A small portion of this total is organic waste, but the majority of this astronomical figure comes from single-use containers. Many organizations around professional sports have committed to increasing their recycling efforts in their venues, but don’t understand that they’re missing the point entirely. It’s not about marginally improving their already incredibly environmentally damaging practices. It’s about addressing the foundational problems in the sports concessions business model.

We don’t need recyclable single-use containers. We need no single-use containers!

It’s high time professional sports organizations stop doing the bare minimum environmentally and use their enormous platforms to make meaningful and lasting change. The Hard Rock Stadium (Miami Florida) is doing just that. The Miami Dolphins Stadium recently committed to phasing out 99.4% of single-use containers in their venue. A promise, if kept, would eliminate more than 2.8 million plastic items annually.

THAT’S JUST ONE VENUE!

Imagine what the world would look like if every venue did that. It’s not like it wouldn’t be profitable either. If anything, it could reduce some concessions margins to have reusable containers. The Miami Dolphins are selling reusable, stainless steel cups for more than their plastic counterparts. The reasons for change are endless, but it comes down to sports venues around the globe stepping up and making the environment a priority. It’s our job, as consumers, to put endless pressure on sports organizations and venues until it happens. Climate Change is the fight of our generation. Everyone must do their part.

Thomas J. Grant Jr., Green Monsters: Examining the Environmental Impact of Sports Stadiums, 25 Vill. Envtl. L.J. 149 (2014).

MABR Cohort Perspectives: Time for Fast Fashion to adopt Sustainable Practices

Kim Sheehan on

Today’s opinion is from Haley Justus.

The time is now for fast fashion retailers to adopt more sustainable practicesFast fashion, stores like H&M, Zara, and Forever 21, has shaped how people shop for clothes in society today. By giving constant options and encouraging a consistent rotation of new attire, the consumer has become accustomed to searching for the next best thing. This has created a faster consumption of items that has a life span of about of no more than 10 wears, according to the New York Times. This system perpetuated by fast fashion brands fuels the amount of clothes that end up in landfills each year. According to the EPA, “Landfills received 11.3 million tons of MSW textiles in 2018. This was 7.7 percent of all MSW landfilled.”

In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic retail sales are in free fall as people reallocate their spending priorities. The pandemic has caused consumers to pull back spending by two-thirds according to Refinery29. As profit continues to fall across the board, retailers are looking to ecommerce as their primary revenue stream. This, however, presents a new set of sustainability issues for the fast fashion industry.The transition to more digital shopping in response to the pandemic also means an increase in shipping, handling, and packaging that brings those items to the consumers doorstep. According to the BBC, “Returning items can effectively double the emissions from transporting your goods, and if you factor in failed collections and deliveries, that number can grow further.”

As the fast fashion industry continues to dive into a deeper hole, CEO’s are wondering how they keep business alive. A Refinery29 article states, “The bigger question for fast fashion is whether the model, which hinges on its prodigious volume to make the razor-thin margins work, will survive the pandemic.”

If they are already going to have to think about how to reshape their business because of the pandemic, why can’t they rethink their business models and encourage more sustainable consumerism?As much as people have stopped spending, they have also started caring. Caring more about who or what they are giving their money to and what those entities represent. An AdAge article about Gen Z stated, “73 percent of those it surveyed would pay more for sustainable items, with the majority of that chunk willing to pay a 10 percent price premium.”Fast fashion brands have an opportunity here to help save our planet as well drive some consumers back to opening their wallets for their products. They will need to vet their authenticity and actually follow through with affective strategies that address their sustainability issues if they hope to see the shift save them from decline. It’s time for them to authentically step up to what their consumer base is demanding more of and start to put planet over profit.

https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20200310-sustainable-fashion-how-to-buy-clothes-good-for-the-climate
https://www.refinery29.com/en-us/2020/04/9714553/coronavirus-effect-on-fast-fashion
https://adage.com/article/cmo-strategy/generation-z-willing-pay-more-eco-friendly-products/2227101
https://www.epa.gov/facts-and-figures-about-materials-waste-and-recycling/textiles-material-specific-data
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/climate/sustainable-clothing.html#:~:text=A%20separate%20study%20found%20that,of%20textile%20waste%20per%20year.

MABR cohort perspective: the luxury fashion market

Kim Sheehan on

Today, Pamela Herring provides some thoughts about the luxury fashion industry.

I have always had a keen interest in the luxury market, throughout these past few months, my interest in this market has further developed into quite a passion of mine, and has quickly turned into a field that I see myself working in later in life, specifically in the lines of corporate social responsibility.

As someone who is interested in sustainability within the fashion industry, a quote that caused me to do a double take was a statement posted on vox.com, stating that “Burberry brought in $3.6 billion in revenue last year — and destroyed $36.8 million worth of its own merchandise.” (Lieber, Vox 2018) Question 1. Why? Question 2. Again… WHY?? (I hope that you feel my frustration through the screen.)

Though public outrage caused Burberry to abolish this practice, according to the article, numerous brands use this strategy and also destroy their unsold goods, too. Richemont, Nike, Louis Vuitton, Victoria’s Secret, and plenty of other well-known retailers use this same practice to “preserve [their] reputation of exclusivity”.

I do understand where these brands are coming from; if their goods are donated, they could easily be resold for less, and could cause the brand image to potentially decrease in value. However, simultaneously, these iconic, high-value companies are wasting tons of materials only to have them be shredded or burned up. It’s interesting to me that the “top of the food chain” brands are the ones that are seemingly the most wasteful, and makes me wonder what kind of unsustainable practices these brands are doing behind the scenes that perhaps aren’t known to the public.

With all of this being said, I do feel for these luxury brands and resonate with why they partake in these choices. But more so, I firmly believe that all brands have a responsibility to make the right environmental choices, which in this case would be coming up with a plan to either having some sort of second-hand system in place for their goods, or making all of their products to order. Hopefully one day I will be in a position to aid in making these choices for brands such as Burberry, and coming up with a strategy to leave a better environmental imprint within the fashion world.

Cole, Brendan. “Burberry Burns Millions of Dollars of Clothes to Stop Them from Being Sold at Discount Prices.” Newsweek, Newsweek, 19 July 2018,
www.newsweek.com/luxury-brands-prefer-burn-millions-dollars-worth-clothes-over-letting-wrong-1032088.
Jonathan Andrews Follow. “Marketing Plan for Nest Thermostats.” SlideShare, 20 Aug. 2015, www.slideshare.net/JonathanAndrews10/marketing-plan-for-nest-thermostats-51868271.
Wicker, Alden. “We Have No Idea How Bad Fashion Actually Is for the Environment.” Racked, Racked, 15 Mar. 2017, www.racked.com/2017/3/15/14842476/fashion-climate-change-environment-pollution.

MABR cohort perspectives: Meeting the Moment in uncertain times

Kim Sheehan on

Today, Hannah Reinhardt shares her thoughts about meeting the moment in uncertain times.

We are amidst a pandemic, have just reached the end of one of the most polarizing presidential elections in the history of the United States, are experiencing the devasting effects of climate change, the mental health crisis has never been more pronounced, and marginalized groups are still being marginalized to unacceptable degrees. And yet, this is just the current predicament. As a society we will need to brace ourselves for the aftermath of all of these atrocities. This aftermath will be another new normal and we all will need to adapt. With the complexity, sadness and unpredictability of 2020 there is no better time for brands to ‘meet the moment’. We need brands like we need each other during this time of the looming unknown. Extending our community will enable us to collectively move together into each moment, but what we don’t need is disingenuity.

I looked up what others think ‘meeting the moment’ means and what I found was encouraging. The crucial elements of how and why individuals should and can ‘meet the [hypothetical] moment’ spoke to some of the most foundational values instilled in responsible brands. Author and founder of Sensitive Evolution Maria Hill states, “It is a place that includes all history and the unknown, a way of seeing that allows the current reality, and a way of addressing what is important, not what we want or do not want…” See for responsible brands it is not only about taking action just because it is what is expected of them, but it is more than that. It is about holding true to their purpose, their values, their goals and being so enormously confident in their identity that when the time comes to ‘meet the moment’ they don’t have to concatenate responses out of thin air to meet the demands of the current climate. These brands simply look through their metaphorical tool kits of strategy that have served them through their history and will continue to serve them as they face the unknown. Looking in from a stance where I have a rough sketch of what it truly means to be labeled as a responsible brand—it is overwhelmingly encouraging to see brands not waiting for their time to ‘meet the moment’ but rather to embody the concept of continuously ‘living in, beyond and among these moments’. Citations:Bharwani, S. (2020, June 30). Healthcare brands stand out amid sea of COVID-19 messaging. Retrieved November 14, 2020, from https://adage.com/article/AcuityAds/how-make-impression-amid-sea-covid-19-brand-messages/2264446Forman, T., & Morgan, S. (2020, August 14). What Does Brand Purpose Mean in the COVID-19 Era? Retrieved November 14, 2020, from https://www.bynder.com/en/blog/what-brand-purpose-means-in-covid-19-era/Hill, M. (2019, January 17). Meeting The Moment. Retrieved November 14, 2020, from https://sensitiveevolution.com/meeting-the-moment/

MABR Cohort Perspectives: Thoughts on the Restaurant industry during and after the pandemic

Kim Sheehan on

Today we feature two MABR students’ opinions on marketing during and after a pandemic. In this piece, Julia Gesink shares her thoughts on Bagging COVID: Restaurant’s Responsibility in the Pandemic and the Fight Against Plastic Pollution”

Before COVID-19 rocked the restaurant industry in early March, it seemed progress being made when it came to sustainable efforts within restaurants. Perhaps you noticed your favorite restaurant making the simple switch from plastic to-go materials, or the banning of plastic straws. Maybe you even noticed restaurants implement food waste composting. Regardless, it was proactive and important. These sustainability efforts shouldn’t be pushed to the side during this pandemic.

As we all know, when COVID-19 hit, many restaurants were forced to close abruptly for several months. When restaurants began re-opening in late May, sustainable practices recently put in place, were decimated. Fearful of spreading the virus through reusable glassware, plates, and silverware, restaurants provided single-use plastic for dine-in customers and take-out orders.

It’s no secret that plastic pollution is detrimental to the environment, but in April 2020, research also found that “the virus remains viable 3x longer on plastic than any other tested surface,” (The New England Journal of Medicine).

I currently work as a server at a popular Eugene restaurant, and for the first few weeks of the pandemic, corporate believed that using disposable cups were the safest alternative for customers. In addition to this afront on sustainability, most dine-in customers demanded plastic to-go silverware because they didn’t believe our dishes and reusable flatware were safe. For months, I cringed as I served these plastic ramicans, disposable cups, and silverware. All the while, asking myself, “is this pandemic a free pass on sustainability efforts and the ongoing climate crisis?”

According to The Economist, “The International Solid Waste Association estimates consumption of single-use plastic may have grown 250% to 300% in America since the coronavirus pandemic began.”

Although handling the pandemic is at the forefront of every business right now, it’s crucial that the restaurant industry recognizes its role within the climate crisis, and it takes new approaches in order to lower that 300% increase in plastic pollution.

During this pandemic especially, restaurants should immediately stop the use of single-use plastics for dine in, and disposable utensils and sauce packets should only be available upon request for to-go orders. Although restaurants were already cleaning dishes extensively in pre-pandemic times, new sanitization procedures approved by the CDC could be adopted in order to further gain trust with customers when it comes to reusable utensils and glassware. If financially possible, restaurants could also invest in more eco-friendly dishwashers and appliances, especially if during the pandemic things are being cleaned several times before use.

It’s imperative that restaurants find the balance of following protocols and precautions in regard to COVID in order to keep everyone safe, and that they explore solutions against single-use plastics throughout this global pandemic and beyond. The planet simply cannot afford another disastrous year of plastic pollution and extreme waste.

Links:https://www.plasticpollutioncoalition.org
https://www.economist.com/international/2020/06/22/covid-19-has-led-to-a-pandemic-of-plastic-pollution
https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMc2004973