Staying focused on what matters, throughout the supply chain.
Once again, SOURCING at MAGIC is excited to welcome everyone to our inspiring and informative events, this season in Las Vegas, online and — we’re happy to say —New York City this September. SOURCING’s focus on sustainability moves to the fore this season, quite literally at our Las Vegas event: Our ongoing collaboration with Hey Social Good moves its operations to the front of the show, greeting visitors with information about how our industry can be kinder to our planet and each other.
It's Time for Sourcing 2.0
As SOURCING Vice President Andreu David puts it, “Sustainability has an actual definition, and as an industry we need to return to that true meaning. At SOURCING, we are doing what we can to eliminate greenwashing by verifying our suppliers and exhibitors through Hey Social Good. “
David believes that one of our industry’s most important goals is to eliminate waste, so that fewer things go into landfills and consequently, into our oceans, atmosphere, and natural environment. “That's really the future and that’s what we're going to focus on at this coming event.”
Hey Social Good’s CEO and Co-Founder Dr. Cindy J Lin concurs. “Every single person has their own definition of sustainability, but now there is much more awareness of what the term encompasses. Not everyone understands it completely, but it’s getting better. It’s no longer a given that just because a brand offers, for example, organic T-shirts, that the company is otherwise sustainable. We understand that there are different decision points and practices throughout the supply chain.”
David describes that movement as “Sustainability. 2.0. It’s not just about what fiber or fabric you’re using, but is the factory using sustainable practices? What about ethical behavior?”
There may not be a lot that we as an industry can do to affect consumer choice at the point of sale. Depending on disposable income, purchase decisions have more to do with the price/value relationship than whether or not the product is made using sustainable and ethical practices.
“But what can we do to affect the development of those products? If we can convince companies, factories, suppliers, and brands to manufacture responsibly, then the residual effect of that manifests itself at the consumer level.”
Lin points out, “In the world of environmental science and sustainability, there’s a lot of doom and gloom. People don’t know how to handle that. The consumer can try to buy better, but it’s not always clear what that means. A more educated consumer can ask and demand things from brands. The conversation around sustainability becomes a great opportunity to create content. Instead of just saying ‘We're sustainable,’ a brand can talk about the whole supply chain, sharing practices and activities with the end consumer. It changes the focus to what we can do, instead of what we cannot do.”
Helping brands create products we can all love and feel good about? That’s just one part of SOURCING at MAGIC. We’re looking forward to even more. See you there.
Help shape the future of sustainability with us at at SOURCING at MAGIC Las Vegas and New York.
