“When we talk about products, there’s waste in terms of products too. Like what happens when… we’re done using it, when it fails, when it’s broken. Certainly there are things that consumer can do in terms of being more mindful of the types of products that they’re purchasing… But at the end of the day, I think the two main issues…sustainable packaging and …sustainable products……many of the decisions about the functionality of the product and the packaging… those are business decisions.”
Boma Brown-West on Electric Ladies Podcast
More and more consumers are demanding sustainable consumer products, from packaging to ingredients to the manufacturing process, including cosmetics. More and more companies are issuing corporate responsibility reports, and many have sustainable supplier agreements. Yet, all of this is still voluntary, so the data cannot be independently verified or compared properly, and companies can still hide the bad and the ugly. So, how can we tell what’s really in these products and how can we hold them accountable?
Listen to Boma Brown-West, head of Consumer Health at EDF+ Business, part of the famed Environmental Defense Fund, who is working with companies who genuinely want to reduce the carbon footprint of their supply chain in this enlightening interview with Electric Ladies host Joan Michelson. (Electric Ladies was formerly known as Green Connections Radio.)
You’ll hear:
- What companies are really doing in their manufacturing processes.
- Why cosmetics for women of color can be especially toxic.
- How the EDF is working with the FDA, Consumer Products Safety Commission, and other government agencies to hold companies accountable for reducing the impact of their products and packaging.
- What us consumers can do to use our purchasing power to inspire or even force companies to take more responsibility for doing the right thing.
- Plus, insightful career advice.
And much more!
“I would say that especially for mid-career women to go back to those key questions around what is the future that you want to see? And what role or roles, plural, do you think that you can play in it?…I think especially in this space, there are a number of places that we can and make a difference. It could be inside a company, it could be in an advocacy organization, it could be working on policy. There are many different ways to go about it.“
Boma Brown-West on Electric Ladies podcast
Read Joan’s Forbes articles here.
You’ll also want to listen to (some of these are under the name Green Connections Radio):
- Kate Gaertner, Triple Win Advisory on Sustainable Business Processes
- Lara Ramdin, Chief Innovation Officer, Dole Sunshine Company
- Cindi Bigelow, CEO, Bigelow Tea, on converting a 75-year old tea company to combat climate change
- Haley Lowry, Dow Chemical’s Sustainability Director on reducing the carbon footprint of food packaging.
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