In this new podcast, Ute Decker discusses how to start up a sustainable business with Juliet Fallowfield.
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"As this mini-series is a more practical ‘how to’, I wanted to speak to someone who has a great deal of experience in creating an ethical and sustainable business. In this episode, we hear from artist jeweller Ute Decker who simultaneously started her award-winning studio creating unique and limited edition sculptural jewellery alongside the world’s largest ethical jewellery resource, helping everyone in her industry to benefit from what she has discovered around creating an ethical company. Today her research is the basis of EthicalMaking.org, a website created by the Scottish industry body, The Incorporation of Goldsmiths."
Ute's advice:
- Set up the company right from the start with a view to sustainability
- Start by looking at the ethicalconsumer.org for your office
- Always be specific and precise in what you claim, otherwise it’s meaningless
- Be truthful: avoid “greenwash”, ie. claims that can’t be substantiated
- “Fairtrade” (whatever product it applies to) is a protected term, (whereas “sustainable” and “ethical” are often misused)
- Choose a green energy supplier from the start (rather than promising to offset the carbon footprint)
- Choose green banking
- Check out the Social Development Goals of the United Nations, and EthicalMaking.org
- Look at B Corporation Certification Assessment – which measures a company’s entire social and environmental performance. Freely accessible.
- Always consider the unintended consequences of your decisions
- Know your sources and check claims and certifications
- Being “sustainable” can never be perfectly realised; but you can work towards it
- Giving a percentage to charity does not compensate for unsustainable practices
- Remember the consumer is powerful and will increasingly ask questions