Dear Customer

You might have noticed ACCC, ASIC and even APRA getting in the mix of combatting “greenwashing”? Everything from “green practices” to “green investments” are under the microscope.

Why? Because there is a lot of BS out there being spruiked as being “sustainable”. Much of it using marketing spin that puts it in a grey area of truth.

Greenwashing, if you haven’t heard of it, is the practice of calling a product, practice, process, company sustainable. Using vague terminology or outright fibs, it is designed to mislead the consumer into believing that the product/practice/process/company is better than the others in their charge to protect the environment. Therefore encouraging them to purchase more from them than their competitors.

Coming from my background, I saw a lot of greenwashing (alleged) in both my accounting days and also in the clothing industry. And it irks me. I hope those who practice greenwashing gets what’s coming to them.

But before I get off my high-horse, we also need to consider other elements as well. It is not always black and white.

For starters, sustainability is really a spectrum. There is no (that I am aware of) fully sustainable products in the world. Yes, there are biodegradable, organic, etc. products, which can be great, but there is a cost to growing/making them. Clearing land, farm machinery, processing, transport to consumer, etc. So it becomes more of a “what is the least worst thing”, rather than what is truly sustainable.

A reasonably recent EU mandate means any country making clothing for sale in the EU needs to have a certain % of renewable energy. That is generally fine for a wealthy first world nation, but last I checked it was third world or developing nations making most of our clothes. They can’t afford wind, solar, hydro, wave, geothermal, etc. like we can. So what happened there? Tens of thousands of low paid workers lost their livelihoods with no prospect of securing another. Great for the environment, MUCH less great for people who were already struggling to live.

But we are lucky in Australia. We have ample resources, technology, capability, etc. to implement genuinely helpful practices. Most, unfortunately, cost money and the perception of competitive advantage is not easy to justify to a Board of Directors or Shareholders. Cost, lost sales to competitors, more complicated handling practices, etc. can really hurt. Leading from the front often leads to being the first to get hit.

Here at Coritex, we sell (mostly) products made from petroleum. Yeah, I know, ouch.

Sure we can tap into RPET (recycled polyester) and we do, but there is plenty of anecdotal information out there that RPET might not be all it is made out to be. It MAY actually be more harmful than virgin polyester.

We did have a recycling program that repurposed used polyesters into a component in Sealy mattresses. Unfortunately that has ceased because of a machinery failure. But I am knocking on every door I can to find an alternate. Something that is less bad than landfill. I have a few options on the boil and am chomping at the bit to introduce them.

Until then, we are tying to reduce our transport use to cut down on fuel and carbon and exploring some radical new technologies which should shake things up a bit.

It’s up to all of us to ask the right questions when someone tells you it is “sustainable”. Tell me how it is sustainable.

Author: Daniel Watts – Managing Director – Coritex