Ethical Sourcing: "Green" is the New Black

The debate surrounding the issue of ethical sourcing continues and this blog aims to uncover some of the major concerns associated with "green" becoming the new black. I hope you will find this blog insightful and I encourage you to leave a comment, I would love to know what your opinion is on this highly debatable matter.

So, what is ethical sourcing exactly? This notion is often taken on by organisations to make sure that decent labour conditions are being met during the manufacturing of their products, be it the fair trade coffee you buy, or the organic clothing you wear. Company's who source ethically ensure that all of their employees (regardless of the manufacturing stage they are part of) are paid a fair wage, work in safe, hygienic conditions, are working reasonable hours, are not subject to discrimination and are of a decent working age.

Many brands today have an ethical sourcing initiative in place and I will attempt to determine the real value of these initiatives. In the past, companies have decided to source their products ethically for mainly moral reasons, but today more and more companies see it as a strong selling point, which is primarily used to attract new customers as well as retain existing ones. Naturally, businesses are realising that consumers are becoming increasingly concerned about where their products are coming from and unsurprisingly, consumer-facing company's are corresponding by increasing the demand of ethical sourced goods.

On the surface this all seems to be very well and good, but at the same time it raises some issues of concern. These days organisations openly demonstrate to their stakeholders that they are practicing ethically. I'm not sure about you, but I'm finding it more and more difficult to spot the differences between those who are genuinely dedicated to making a difference and those who are merely exaggerating their green credientials in order to win over business. This is the notion of Green washing, which is - according to Greenpeace - the cynical use of environmental themes to whitewash corporate misbehaviour. If an organisation is exposed for Green washing, surely this would cause more harm to that company's reputation - so why are companies jumping on the band wagon and exaggerating, or even lying about their green credientials?

Consider those extra pounds you hand over when purchasing a fair trade product in a supermarket. How can you be sure that the profit made on this purchase is going to the agricultural producer at the start of the chain and not into the pockets of the big supermarket giants? Because of it's increased price, we naturally assume that the former notion would be the case. Sure enough, if the system of ethical sourcing worked as it were supposed to and the producers receieved a good income, then as a consumer I wouldn't mind paying that little bit more for the ethically sourced product, unfortunately however, I don't think that's always the case.

Businesses today are falling over themselves to express their commitment to their three favourite words - Corporate Social Responsibility. Their level of actvities however, varies from organisation to organisation. That said, should we be celebrating the fact that a lot of organisations are at least, making enormous progress in tackling green issues. Yet even the most socially responsible companies do not know what the future holds for them in terms of ethical sourcing but as a consumer I feel that I can have trust in them to know that they are, at the very least, attempting to raise the bar.

It's hardly surprsing that a lot of companies are jumping of the green band wagon. However, I hold the view that the widespread evidence of green washing means that companies are starting to think about the social and environmental impact of their operations. As a consumer I admire seeing a company making continuous improvements on ethical sourcing issues.

Ethical sourcing is all the rage for many organisations and I think this is only the start of things to come so, watch this space!


What are your thoughts on this? Do you think that green washing has the potential to be really damaging to a company's reputation? Do you think that being green is simply a fad that won't be around for much longer? Let me know your thoughts...