Conscious consumerism: How business must adapt

ESG : heard about it? 

Have you heard of Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) reporting? Possibly not, and yet you are the reason this exists, so give yourself a big clap on the shoulder.

But let’s start at the beginning, shall we?

The era of abundance

In the 80ties and 90ties international business was booming, and it was very much profit-driven with no questions asked. With air-travel having become the norm and easy accessibility to exotic markets, consumers demanded anything from food, faster changing fashion, cheaper electronics, and they got what they wanted at exceptionally low prices. For today's generation, our early consumerism is difficult to understand, and never before has there been a generation more aware of social injustices and environmental needs. It helps to know that today we have all the information available at our fingertips, if we only care to look for it (and many choose to look the other way, but that’s another story). But in those early days, stuff appeared easily, it was awesome, it broke, it was replaced. The abundance felt incredible, and no-one really asked any questions.

Actions have consequences 

As international business boomed, consequences started to become apparent. We became affected by unregulated and untested make-up, food, clothing dyes, plastic components and so on. And only when it started to affect a large majority of the consumers (mostly here in the affluent West), we started to ask questions....

The dawn of questioning

Where did this come from? What is in it? Who produced this for me? We started to understand that while in countries labour seemed to be in abundance, it was us who made the inhumane work conditions possible.

Finally consumers demanded that the companies that supplied goods make responsible decisions. To make the right decisions, the right questions need to be asked, and today we have an entire industry built around demanding reporting on environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG). Effective environmental, social and corporate governance (“ESG”) disclosure and sustainability reporting helps understanding of the value corporations create not just for their shareholders, but also their end consumers, and the planet we live on.

Our attitude as consumers has started changing. Yes, we are economically driven and yes, we do still want products - but not at any cost. We cannot go back to how the world was in the past. We have learnt a lot over the years. 

At Inclusive Trade

Inclusive Trade was not created to merely report on our responsibilities. Its simply what we do, every single day. There is no quick fix, but to take small steps and move towards the bigger goal and over time we will change the way the world does business forever.

Anyone who sells on our platform has been carefully vetted and welcomed into our family of conscious beings who want to make a difference.

Whether you are a consumer or artisan, we love to connect with you - leave your comments below or browse the beautiful products available on our website, start your journey and make #shopbyimpact your way of life!