NEWS | Round-up SUSTAINABILITY NEWS
Our climate change champion Richard Hagan, managing director of Crystal Doors, looks at how to sell the concept of sustainability to your customers
Sustainable customer RELATIONSHIPS
FOLLOWING A year of lockdowns, online sales, and little personal shopping, our KBB market is enjoying a fl ood of consumers who have amassed £135 billion of savings that they are keen to spend improving home life or home working. I know welcoming everyone to enjoy a personal service through our independent shops is a dream, rather than the high-pressure sales used by some national brands. Most of our customers enjoy repeat sales from replacements years later, or from their friends and family. These are our sustainable customers and many independents have prioritised reputation and relationships over cutting costs. Selling sustainable is hard, believe me, I have tried. However, offering customers a holistic lifestyle design, tailored to their needs and desires, is our strength. The concept of sustainability is not just in the manufacturing, but the use and end of life of a product with lower environmental impacts, better energy ratings and electrical goods that are capable of being repaired.
Knowing our customers has become critical. We need to learn today about their future purchase choices through regular digital contact, sharing our stories on social media to build a community, brand, and value where our customers are ambassadors, sharing not just their fantastic installation, but also updates, news, and celebrations. Starting your journey to achieve net zero does not cost money, it saves money. Reduce consumption, improve effi ci- ency, choose long-term gains over short-term, low-cost investments.
Choose long-term gains over short-term, low-cost investments
Crystal Doors began in 2015. Back then, we didn’t have access to all the information
that’s readily available now.
Starting with baby steps, each year our team wanted to achieve more, which became a personal refl ection on our environmental impacts. Today, my operations director has been vegetarian for 16 months and myself vegan where possible, otherwise vegetarian, after realising this was our most signifi cant impact reduction possible. Lifestyles, social interaction, work/home activities are all changing rapidly.
Our customers’ experience was that we offered informative advice, the best design and value. Now we can inform all our past and present customers that we do more than furniture design. Sustainability has just begun to be talked about and there is lots to learn, share and gain real growth of sales and profi ts. They join a community, a family with a purpose to build back better.
• Check out our Sustainability Special in the June issue for even more tips and advice on how to make your business eco-friendly
12
HPP wins PEFC accreditation for sustainable sourcing
HILL’S PANEL Products (HPP) has gained global PEFC accreditation for its work in supporting sustainable forestry and timber suppliers. The furniture components manufacturer, which is celebrating its 30th anniversary this year, gained the accreditation from the Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certifi cation (PEFC) after undergoing a rigorous assessment process to ensure it buys its timber products from sustainable, legal and traceable sources.
Commenting on the achievement, HPP purchasing director Alan Bolton (pictured) said: “We are committed to sustainability right across our business and a key area is procuring wood products from responsibly-managed sources. So, we are very proud to demonstrate our support through this PEFC accreditation. It assures our trade customers that the materials used to make our products can be traced back to the forests certifi ed to a credible, international standard.” Products that display the PEFC label guarantee that they are sourced from sustainably manager forests and can be closely traced from the forest to the end user, with proof that they are linked to legally managed and certifi ed forests.
Top eco award for Bauformat, Burger and Badea
THE BAUMANN group’s Bauformat, Burger and Badea furniture brands have been awarded Germany’s Blue Angel eco certifi cation.
The Blue Angel certifi cate, issued by German’s Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety (BMU), applies to the complete kitchen and bathroom furniture ranges and not individual components. To qualify for the Blue Angel certifi cate, the entire life cycle of the products is taken into account, including the environmental impact and pollution created during the production and disposal of the products.
Not only must wood come from sustainable sources, but the auditors are also very strict with regard to pollutants.
Commenting on the achievement, Baumann
Group managing director Matthias Berens, said: “The ‘Kitchen Family’ does not do things by halves – even
more so when it comes to matters that are as important as the protection of the environment and our health. To be awarded the Blue Angel certifi cation, we have invested lots of time and effort and have had our entire product ranges vetted. After all, the decision to purchase one of our brands is not made based on individual doors, this is about a whole room and sustainable design. Such a purchase is not only supposed to be beautiful to look at for many years to come, but also to permanently offer a safe and healthy environment providing reassurance for everyone.”
Samsung in carbon offsetting push on washing machines and tumble-dryers
SAMSUNG HAS committed to offset the lifetime carbon footprint of all its washing machines and tumble-dryers purchased in the UK and Irelan d between March 24 and June 1. Samsung has partnered with Carbon Footprint Ltd to facilitate the campaign and will take part in several initiatives, including solar energy projects, wind power schemes, forest degradation and deforestation reduction activities, and tree planting. Rachael Ward, marketing and product director, Home Appliances, at Samsung Electronics UK, said: “At Samsung, we are committed to building a better, more sustainable future. From developing technologies that address our customer challenges, to making Samsung products as eco-friendly as possible, we are prioritising the planet, people and society by creating solutions that benefi t us all.”
Sustainability has been a focus for Samsung and this new project adds to its growing list of sustainable plans from improving the energy effi ciency of its appliances and making new products are easy to recycle.
· May 2021
Climate
Champion Change
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76
