Large Retailers Shift Toward Sustainability
2 minute read
Brands that want their products to be sold by these retailers should demonstrate their commitment to environmental protection
One way brands can show their dedication to the planet is partnering with Ecodrive to offset their shipping emissions
Retail giants are making sustainability a larger component of their brand to reduce their impact and to respond to consumer demand
Sustainability is quickly becoming an essential pillar of most businesses. Large retailers including Target, Walmart, and Amazon have made sustainability a key component of their brand and have announced goals and initiatives to reduce their environmental impact. This move is both for the sake of the planet and in response to customer demand for sustainable products. Online searches for sustainable products increased by an estimated 71 percent in the last five years.
In a large survey of people from 54 countries, 81 percent of respondents said they planned to purchase more sustainable products in the next five years. Not only do most people want to buy sustainable products, they are willing to pay more for them. One survey found that 74 percent of consumers are willing to pay more for sustainable products.
Brands that want to build business relationships with large retailers are more likely to do so when they demonstrate their commitment to limiting their impact on the environment. Retailers are interested in selling products from brands that can be promoted as eco-friendly and fit within their company’s large-term goals for sustainability. Let’s take a look at three of the largest retailers in the world and their plans for going green!
Target
100 percent of products under private labels "designed for a circular future" by 2040
100 percent of packaging recyclable, compostable, or reusable by 2025
Net zero greenhouse gas emissions across their enterprise by 2040
This retail giant took a big sustainable step forward when it released its new climate policy in 2017. On June 22, 2021 Target announced Target Forward, a new plan to reach their environmental and equity goals. The comprehensive plan includes sections about climate, chemicals, deforestation, water, sustainable operations, and sustainable products. While all of their actions are important, we have picked out a few that we’d like to highlight above.
Amazon
100 percent renewable energy by 2035
Net zero carbon from shipments, with 50% of all shipments net zero carbon by 2030
Net zero carbon emissions by 2040
One of Amazon’s initiatives is the Climate Pledge Friendly label. This label helps customers shop for products that have at least one sustainability certification. These certifications include safer chemicals, carbon neutral, less packaging, fair trade, responsible forestry, organic materials, recycled content. Products with one of the qualifying certifications are marked Climate Pledge Friendly in green text underneath the product name. This label is just one of Amazon’s sustainable initiatives, above are the highlights of their other goals.
Walmart
100 percent renewable energy by 2035
100 recyclable, reusable, industrially compostable private-brand packaging by 2025
Zero emissions in their own operations by 2040
Over the last 15 years, Walmart has been taking steps toward sustainability. It all started in 2005 with land conservation; the company preserves at least one acre of land for every acre they develop. Over the years, they have harnessed the power of solar and wind energy, found more sustainable sources of seafood and coffee, developed a sustainability index for products, created a network of charging stations for electric vehicles, and more! Above are some of the highlights of Walmart’s newest and most ambitious goals.
Demonstrating Sustainability by Partnering with Ecodrive
A great way to show that your brand is serious about protecting the planet is partnering with Ecodrive to plant trees. We partner with brands to plant mangrove trees which absorb 680 pounds of carbon in their lifetime! For each customer’s order, we use the distance the package must travel, the weight of the package, and the form of transportation to collect how many trees should be planted to offset the emissions.
Brands that are able to say that they are carbon neutral are especially appealing to large online retailers and big box stores. Retailers know that brands’ eco-conscious reputations can bring customers into their stores to buy environmentally-friendly products. In the process, retailers get more customers in the store, and brands have more potential customers, it’s a win-win! If you’d like a chance to build better business relationships with retailers and increase the chances of your products being sold in their stores, start by offsetting your emissions with Ecodrive!
