Pinksheep In The Sustainability Times

November 2021 | sustainabilitymag.com

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WHY THE DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION VIBE MUST KEEP RISING FEATURING:

VERNE GLOBAL

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ORANGE MARINE

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TM FORUM

SUPPLY CHAIN SUSTAINABILITY

are leading the herd to

SUSTAINABLE MERCHANDISE In a plastic and single-use dominated industry, Pinksheep is producing sustainable, ethical and enduring merchandise – and a system of sustainability monitoring – which won’t pull the wool over your eyes WRITTEN BY: JOHN PINCHING

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t wasn’t so long ago that attending a conference brought with it an element of curious competitiveness which, in retrospect, perfectly crystalised our uncontrollable obsession with materialism.

I’m talking about the adrenaline-driven, hitcraving rush to accumulate as much free tat and disposable crud as humanly possible.

The pens! The mugs! The furry things attached to a ribbon bearing a company slogan! The reams of ‘reading material’ that you accepted in order to get more pens!

Oh, and the mass-produced bendy mascot (which was also a pen)!

We were like stationery-chompers in a bizarre game of corporate Pac-Man. Through the Earl’s Court Exhibition Centre or Olympia or NEC mazes we would travelate in our unending lust for shiny new items, never hesitating to consider where they came from, what they were made of and where the hell it would all end up. Finally, at the day’s end, sated and exhausted from our rampant consumerism, we heaved our plastic bags – overflowing with arbitrary and largely useless detritus – out into the wide world. Only then sustainabilitymag.com

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“ We work in an industry – branded merchandise – that's inherently terrible at sustainability.

Most of the products our industry produces end up in landfill and are not sustainably produced”

did we ask ourselves, ‘what have I become?’ or ‘Do I really need 14 branded coasters?’

Don’t beat yourself up, we all did it.

Ultimately, we can’t change the person that brought four different health insurance t-shirts home but, now that the conference ghosts have caught up with us, we can change how we navigate the corporate merch maze.

A golden Ora One company which is completely changing the game is ethical merchandise and printing producer Pinksheep and its accompanying Ora brand, a sort of ‘sustainability shepherd’ which taps into an increasing desire among organisations to boost green credentials and sustainabilitymag.com

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Bright lights Ora comes with three main benefits: 1. COLOUR-CODED SUSTAINABILITY Ora grades tens of thousands of products – from pens and notebooks to drinkware, bags and tools – according to a traffic-light system.

To earn a green light a product must be more than just recyclable or made in the UK. Ora’s sustainability metrics consider country of origin, if the manufacturer gives back to the environment, whether the factory runs on renewables or if the product is upcycled, recycled, biodegradable or made from more than 75% plant-based materials (as well as many other factors).

Ora’s algorithm processes all the information and produces a clear grade that’s easy for the user to understand: red products are not sustainable, amber signifies partly sustainable and green merchandise is fully sustainable.

2. ENVIRONMENTAL SUPPORT Ora rewards customers for choosing to buy sustainably, seamlessly issuing ‘EcoTokens’ for every order based on the products’ grade:

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• 1 x EcoToken per £ for red products • 2 x EcoToken per £ for amber products • 3 x EcoToken per £ for green products EcoTokens are then transferred to support environmental initiatives such as: • Tree Planting • CO2 Offsetting • Ocean-Bound plastic collection 3. INDUSTRY-LEADING SUSTAINABILITY REPORTING Ora members receive a live dashboard which displays detailed sustainability reporting about their purchases. Here they can keep track of: • A monthly breakdown of what % of their purchases are red, amber or green • How many trees they’ve planted and how much CO2 they've offset • How many plastic bottles they’ve removed from waterways This system allows them to keep track of how their buying habits are changing over time.

SUPPLY CHAIN SUSTAINABILITY

shift company culture towards eco-friendly products, sustainable supply chains and decreased carbon emissions.

It’s not asking you to stop having fun at conferences or immersing yourself positively in the corporate ecosystem. It is, however, encouraging you to use your imagination.

“Imagine a platform that clearly graded every product you bought, so you could make informed buying decisions,” explains Phil Law, co-founder of Pinksheep and Ora. “Imagine if the same platform actively rewarded you for making sustainable buying decisions by planting trees, offsetting CO2 and removing ocean plastic. Imagine too, if it captured rich data about your buying habits and neatly displayed this live information on your very own dashboard, where you could see the positive impact you are having and share it with your stakeholders.”

Imagine indeed. The Pinksheep crew actually came up with the idea for Ora during the pandemic – a time when we all had a bit of soul-searching to do. It gave the company, which was already committed to the mission of leading hearts and minds to the promised land of sustainability, the space to reflect on what is truly important. So, with no industry guidance whatsoever, Pinksheep decided to pioneer its very own sustainability scheme.

“ Pinksheep has a bespoke central system, meaning it can provide customers with realtime sustainability data about their buying habits”

Ora Revolution When you do join the Ora revolution, you receive a membership pack which includes • A certificate • Membership badges • A sustainable gift These items serve as green credentials and a vital reminder to people that Ora is a flourishing, tangible system that people can truly believe in.

Phil remembers the seed of an idea quickly germinating: “From the start, we set out to be the leader in sustainable merchandise. The entire concept of Ora was born from within our own team, from concept to development. Many late nights were spent brainstorming, researching and creating the foundations for an initiative which could ignite the sustainability ambitions of its members.”

Mind over matter The emergence of Ora highlights the possibilities of a mindset modification within the industry and the ability of companies to take greater responsibility for their activities. sustainabilitymag.com

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“We work in an industry – branded merchandise – that's inherently terrible at sustainability. Most of the products our industry produces end up in landfill and are not sustainably produced. Furthermore, ‘greenwashing’ is rife and misleading information is common-place. We hated that and wanted to change it,” insists Phil.

The company knew it was uniquely positioned to deliver a new, compelling perspective. Most companies in the industry run off-the-shelf software, but Pinksheep has a bespoke central system, meaning it can provide customers with realtime sustainability data about their buying habits.

This data is displayed on a pioneering sustainability dashboard where customers can track their performance, look to make improvements over time and share the data with their stakeholders. Check out the dashboard demo here.

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“ It is our job to look after their corporate identities and reputations, after all, we are – quite literally – putting their brands on our products” “When creating Ora it was essential to understand that we were venturing into unknown but life-affirming territory,” reflects Phil. “We wanted total transparency for our members, particularly as sustainability is a hugely complex issue. Consequently, we now actively seek feedback, ideas and constructive criticism, and many of our developments have come directly from them. It is our job to look after their corporate identities and reputations, after all, we are – quite literally – putting their brands on our products.”

Trending now Already, Ora has several hundred members – all benefiting from clearly graded products, environmental support and rich sustainability data so they can track how their buying habits are changing.

Each month, thousands of trees are being planted, thousands of plastic bottles removed from waterways and hundreds of tonnes of CO2 being offset. The biggest game-changer, however, has been the way Ora members are evolving; fundamentally changing their approaches.

In addition, Ora’s clearly graded system has been central to this remarkable transformation and indicates that people are not just willing but passionate about changing their buying choices – away from non-sustainable items and towards fullysustainable ones; gravitating towards the useful and away from the useless (sorry fuzzy ball on ribbon thingy, your days are numbered.

“Because of the traction we have, suppliers and manufacturers are coming to us with offers and discounts unique to our members,” concludes Phil. “This lowers the price for sustainable items and increases the chance of a company choosing to buy sustainably. This is key – if the price reduces, the quantities will increase and the supply chains will improve – increasing the chance of a sustainable future.

Following the launch of Ora, the company now finds itself as the number one sustainable merchandise brand in the country. Now that really is taking things to the next level.

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