Energy Efficiency

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Strategy 2: Green eco-wash balls – ‘3p a wash!’. We suggest your organization to start sourcing or manufacturing green eco wash balls which are multi-use, anti-bacterial, fabric softening and detergent free laundry balls. They contain non-toxic solid washing pellets and can be used for 1000 washes equivalent to 100 kg of detergent. This could result in 1200 million kilograms of lesser detergent use in UK thus eliminating significant amounts of phosphorus and packaging wastes (eBay, 2008). Since this product has not hit the UK retail markets yet and is available only on online shopping sites like Amazon and eBay, selling it could give you a great first mover advantage. This product could be sourced from Japan or US markets where it currently exists. However, if you choose to produce it in-house you may face technological difficulties and hence we recommend collaborating with research institutions or universities to manufacture this product. The other potential problem is that customers may be hesitant to switch to a completely new product. Hence, you could educate them on the benefits of the ball such as its anti-bacterial characteristic which helps in reducing skin irritations. Also, the product is currently available online for around £30 and pricing the product at similar prices would translate to roughly 3p a wash which would results in great savings for the customers.

Conclusion

Hence, our strategies address not only the environmental aspect of the triple bottom line of sustainability, as mentioned above, but also the economic and social aspects. The strategies are economically viable not only for the customers, who get cheaper products, but also for you as a retailer as they do not require huge investments. The cost implications of our strategies can be provided by our team if needed. As for the social aspect, we emphasize on educating children for a more responsible and sustainable future and also suggest donating a small amount from every laundry product sold, towards charity.

According to the ‘Stakeholder Theory’ of Fisher and Lovell (2006, p.16), our strategies will impact not only internal stakeholders but also the external ones. Not only are we looking to drive your organization towards sustainability but also customers, the future generation and your suppliers who will incur less costs in manufacturing, therefore having an incentive to produce ‘greener’ products. Competitors will be forced to follow market leaders like you and will therefore work towards selling more sustainable products. Lastly, your organization could go a long way in helping the government to build a better tomorrow thus benefiting the community as a whole.

REFERENCES

Bartos, L. (2008). ‘Using Concentrated Laundry Detergent’, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, May [Online]. Available at:

http://lancaster.unl.edu/home/articles/2007/laundryconcentrate.shtml. (Accessed: 4 March, 2015).

Department for Environment, Food, and Rural Affairs (UK). 2009. ‘Impact Assessment of Ban on Phosphorus In Domestic Laundry Cleaning Products’, 21 September [Online]. Available at:

http://www.pesticides.gov.uk/Resources/CRD/Migrated-Resources/Documents/D/Defra_Impact_Assessment_ai-phosphate-detergent.pdf (Accessed: 7 March, 2015).

Department for Environment, Food, and Rural Affairs (UK). 2011. ‘Future Water: The Government’s Water Strategy for England’, 16 June [Online]. Available at: http://archive.defra.gov.uk/environment/quality/water/strategy/pdf/future-water.pdf (Accessed: 10 March, 2015).

eBay. (2008). ‘Ecozone Eco Wash Balls (Non-detergent laundry)’. Available at: http://www.ebay.co.uk/gds/Ecozone-Eco-Wash-Balls-Non-detergent-laundry-/10000000005803943/g.html, (Accessed: 6 March, 2015).

Fisher, C. and Lovell, A. (2006).Business Ethics and Value: Individual, Corporate and International Perspectives. 2ndedn. Essex: Pearson Prentice Hall

International Association for Soaps, Detergents and Maintenance Products. 2015. ‘I Prefer 30o’. [Online]. Available at: http://www.iprefer30.eu/en (Accessed: 5 March, 2015)

Robert, Kates W., Thomas M. Parris, and Anthony A. Leiserowitz. (2005).’What is sustainable development? Goals, indicators, values, and practice’, Environment: Science and Policy for Sustainable Development 47(3), pp. 9-10, [Online]. available at:

http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/00139157.2005.10524444. (Accessed: 8 March, 2015).

Unilever. 2015. ‘How to be an Energy Saving Laundry Champion’. [Online]. Available at:https://www.persil.co.uk/sustainability/energy-saving-laundry-champion/. (Accessed: 11 March, 2015)

Unilever. 2015. ‘Washing Green: How to Save Energy and Water at Home’. [Online]. Available at:

https://www.persil.co.uk/sustainability/washing-green-save-energy-water-home/. (Accessed: 11 March, 2015).

Unilever. 2015. ‘Washing Green: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle’. [Online]. Available at: https://www.persil.co.uk/sustainability/washing-green-reduce-reuse-recycle/ (Accessed: 11 March, 2015)

Waste and Resources Action Program. 2011. ‘Valuing our clothes’. [Online]. Available at: http://www.wrap.org.uk/sites/files/wrap/VoC%20FINAL%20online%202012%2007%2011.pdf (Accessed: 6 March, 2015).

Yates, L. and Evans, D. (2014) ‘Eco laundry habits are about more than sustainable washing machines’, The Guardian, 9 October [Online]. Available at: http://www.theguardian.com/sustainable-business/behavioural-insights/2014/oct/09/eco-laundry-sustainable-washing-machines (Accessed: 9 March, 2015).