Manchester agency, Userism is behind a new research project aimed at understanding how sustainable manufacturers go about educating their customers (on the nature of sustainability within their organisation).
The project aims to give consumers a better understanding of the different ways a business and its products can be considered sustainable, and to what degree. The ultimate objective is to tackle greenwashing and give end users confidence they are making a truly environmentally positive purchase.
Richard Silk from Userism says:
“The problem with the term sustainability, is it's very broad and ambiguous. It means different things to different people. There are lots of frameworks and methods for calculating your sustainability, but understanding them is really out of reach to the average customer. This leaves the topic open to abuse from bad actors, which is hurting those who really do have sustainable values within their product offering.”
The first phase of the project is to gather insights from businesses that want to be involved via a benchmarking survey. All those who participate will receive a copy of the final report which will detail the different approaches manufacturing businesses have to their sustainable practices. It will cover topics such as: sourcing materials, transportation, energy consumption, recycling packaging, and overall how different products make a positive impact on the world once purchased.
It’s a very simple, low-effort first step for a business to take part, and one that will provide higher value data, the more get involved. The initial response has been very encouraging with feedback leading to optimise the survey which is now being rolled out to a wider audience.
For more information and to get involved, please visit: https://sustainableproductindex.com
More details on Userism can be found here: https://userism.agency
