ZINIO

How will the sustainability industry change over the next year? We will continue to see conscious consumerism grow. Industries are being forced to own up to the environmental cost of convenience that society had previously demanded above all else. Gen-Z, for example, has been known to boycott fast fashion companies whose products end up in landfills. The next decade? There will be an increased focus on “the how.” Manufacturing, distribution, and marketing of goods and services will be held to higher standards of transparency. That begins at the inception of the supply chain, what materials we use, how factory workers are treated—all the way through to the point of purchase and receipt. For us at Healthynest, it means working with our carbon-neutral facility to enhance our diaper with organic cotton, knowing that conventional…

Do you know where your breakfast cereal comes from? How about your brand-new jumper? Or the metals in your iPhone charger? Ethical shopping is on the rise. Consumers increasingly want their money to make a positive impact – and are quick to shun businesses that fall short. Eight in 10 shoppers are more likely to support brands that “reflect their beliefs”, a survey commissioned by Big Issue has revealed. Some 70% of the poll’s 2,000 respondents said they were more likely to buy products from brands actively promoting their ethical and sustainable credentials, and 86% agreed that companies have a responsibility to set a good example in being environmentally aware. Morality matters to shoppers and businesses should take note, said Allyson Stewart-Allen, a retail expert and CEO of International Marketing Partners. “Increasingly, consumers –…

From covering seahorses to the catastrophic impact of highways and the work of Black environmentalists, the most outstanding environmental books reviewed in Booklist over the past year offer resounding revelations. —Donna Seaman Black Earth Wisdom: Soulful Conversations with Black Environmentalists. By Leah Penniman. 2023. Amistad, $26.99 (9780063160897). Penniman draws on interviews with African and African American farmers, climate warriors, food-justice activists, spiritual leaders, and agronomists as she chronicles Black environmental action. Blood Memory: The Tragic Decline and Improbable Resurrection of the American Buffalo. By Dayton Duncan and Ken Burns. 2023. Knopf, $40 (9780593537343). “Blood memory” is how Kiowa poet N. Scott Momaday defined the “kinship” between Indigenous peoples and the buffalo versus the catastrophic buffalo slaughter by white outsiders, two poles in this richly illustrated and illuminating history. The Conceivable…