I’m a great fan of the internet as a tool for sustainable marketing, but its low resource use and the ability to ‘communicate rather than commute’ sometimes results in tunnel vision to other potential downsides. Let’s just think about procurement – today we can source products on a global basis and compare prices ensuring we get the best possible deals. That ease, however, can often mask other impacts our purchasing habits can generate – economic, environmental and cultural.
I was delivering a workshop a few weeks ago and was very impressed by one of the delegates whose company marketed a quite high-tech product to reduce the amount of chlorine used in swimming pools. As if that was not enough, it was his procurement that impressed me. Everything in his manufacture and marketing was sourced from withing 3 miles of his premises. This included his marketing collateral and packaging.
Sometimes our global vision means we don’t see what is available on our own doorsteps. Perhaps our first choice for supply should be to think local. We can reduce transport miles, support and stimulate local economies and sustain local cultures. Sure, sometimes we may pay a little more but it is usually possible to negotiate prices, especially face to face. But there are other benefits as my delegate pointed out; “If there is a problem, I just go around and see them – saves a lot of hassle dealing with wrong or faulty deliveries and returns”.
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