SPROUT REPORT

SPROUT SUSTAINABLE BUSINESS TRENDS

CEO and founder of Sprout, Michael Stausholm, is frequently interviewed by international media. He’s got great expertise and knowledge about sustainability and business.

As sustainability becomes a need to have in all businesses, changes such as downsizing office space, and offering hybrid working and virtual meetings may be preferable even when face to face meetings are possible again, because it all helps to reduce our carbon footprint and save cost, says Michael Stausholm

This year, sustainability is on the agenda higher than ever before. The concerted move towards more conscious consumerism has been on its way for at least a decade but the pandemic has forced us to take the environment even further into account.

1 SUSTAINABILITY WILL MOVE FROM A NICE TO HAVE TO A NEED TO HAVE

Sustainability will no longer just be nice to have for business i.e. something you put on your website because it’s trendy or sounds good. Instead, it will be crucial for businesses. With the increased focus on the UN’s Sustainability Development Goals and with a rising demand from consumers, businesses will need to put their good intentions into action.

For example, an eco-friendly product is core to what we have at Sprout World – pencils that turn into plants after use. But our goal for this year is to become even more sustainable. It’s a work in progress; no business can be perfect or 100% sustainable to begin with but as long as you move forward towards environmental improvements, you are on the right track.

2 THERE WILL BE A CLEAN-UP OF GREENWASHING

Greenwashing is designed to make people believe that your company is doing more to protect the environment than it really is. It’s a common way for businesses to brand themselves as being good for the planet. But somehow, the pandemic has made us all more allergic to brands that sugar coat their businesses.

In 2021, we will see more demand for proof of what lies behind the words you use as a company. For example, expect to provide substantial detail and clarity to questions such as: ‘What do you mean when you state that your products are “biodegradable”, “eco-friendly” or “recyclable”? Many businesses use these terms, but can you explain exactly what they mean and how your product, service or business meets those standards?

3 PRODUCTION WILL BE BROUGHT CLOSER TO HOME

With the pandemic, I’ve seen many companies reconsider where they source their products, and this will continue in 2021. A large majority of consumer products are still made in China and this has shown to be a huge problem. Firstly, with manufacturing coming to a halt as a result of pandemic lockdowns in Asia, and secondly, companies have realised that they’ve lost control of how their products are produced. Low cost production is no longer that attractive if you make them at the cost to ethics and the environment. That’s why we will see many European and American companies pulling their production back to their continents in 2021. It’s easier to supervise and there will be more consumer demand for locally produced products.

4 IMPLEMENTATION OF BLOCKCHAIN TECHNOLOGY WILL BRING TRANSPARENCY TO SUSTAINABILITY

Adopting blockchain technology will now be highly sought after for sustainability driven companies. In fact, it’s something we’re implementing at Sprout World because it means that anyone will be able to see where every component i.e. the wood, graphite or seeds in the pencils come from, where the pencils are then produced and from there, the journey into the customer’s hands.

Put simply, blockchain provides a verifiable record as to who buys what from whom. This means that a company’s claims of being resource-positive or reducing their environmental impact can be counter-checked and verified

5 HYBRID WORKING AND VIRTUAL MEETINGS WILL CONTINUE TO DOMINATE TO FURTHER THE GREEN AGENDA

The pandemic forced us to rethink business travel, meetings, trade fairs and conferences. For years, many of us have spent enormous amounts of time and money on strengthening our business relationships by meeting in person. 2020 showed us how much remote work and meet-ups can do for us. It can’t replace all interactions of physical togetherness, and we still need that, but we’ve realised that we can be much more selective with how we spend our resources.

Many business owners have had to ask whether big, expensive office facilities really are a necessity with the increase in remote work? At Sprout World, we are looking into the possibility of quitting our sizeable (and often half empty) office for renting co-working offices when necessary.

In fact, for sustainability driven companies, downsizing office space, and offering hybrid working and virtual meetings may even be preferable even when face to face meetings are possible again, because it all helps to reduce our carbon footprint. Collectively, we will save CO2 by not commuting on a daily basis, and this will prove to be a major benefit for the planet.

OLTA