5 Tactics to Identify Responsible Green Manufacturing

Being ‘green’, buying sustainable products, and ethical manufacturing are hot topics because more and more customers are demanding products that are good for the planet and for people. Many companies are going through a shift in consciousness; looking more closely at their supply chains, trying to figure out how to be more environmentally responsible, and how to find ethically produced products. At a time when customers are placing increasing value on the ethical impact of their products - authentic and sustainable products matter.

Here are 5 tactics that can help you make more informed purchasing decisions that are aligned with your values.

1. Look for transparent sourcing and manufacturing processes

There are many layers to manufacturing apparel, accessories and homegoods. Each layer has a lot of opportunities to become more transparent. From environmentally and ethically responsible farming to the manufacturing of raw materials into the final products. Transparency in the lifecycle of a product is ideal and is becoming more commonplace.

2. Ask for sustainability and ethical manufacturing ‘Impact Reporting’

Verify as many of the claims within your sustainable supply chain as possible. Ask your partners to provide ‘Impact Reporting’ for more transparency into the supply chain. Information you’ll be looking for includes what the environmental impact is to produce a product, if the product is using sustainable materials, and if the products were produced using ethical manufacturing practices.

TO THE MARKET provides Impact Reporting for our clients so you can share that information with your customers.

3. Work with manufacturing partners who are committed to green practices

Work with partners that are committed to ethical and sustainable manufacturing. Get to know your supply chain partners and see if they are committed to continuous learning and improvement. As a B Corp, TO THE MARKET is committed to developing supply chains that support ethically and sustainably produced products and manufacturing processes that are good for the planet and for people.

4. Build trusted vendor relationships

Work with suppliers that are part of the solution, that care deeply about the sustainable and ethical production processes. Go beyond pure transactional relationships, ask questions, and get to know your suppliers so you can know if they are trusted partners in this ongoing process of being responsible corporate citizens.

At TO THE MARKET, we have developed trusted relationships with our suppliers, we know their stories and how they produce the products we sell. Our clients trust us to work with suppliers that make products they can be proud of selling.

5. Check for accountability through 3rd party verification

There are 3rd parties verifying the different raw materials, production processes, and how products are being made. These 3rd party agencies are helpful in adding accountability and shedding light on many of the phases of production. Some of these agencies provide standards for organic farming, sustainable practices for manufacturing, ethical principles in manufacturing, and more. You can get more information about 3rd party governing bodies in our TO THE MARKET Sustainability Guide here.

At TO THE MARKET we are committed to making sure our supply chains and products are more sustainable and that we use ethical manufacturing processes to make a difference. Join us in this journey.