The Warehouse makes sustainability affordable
Feel like sustainability isn’t accessible or affordable? The Warehouse is changing that.
The impact of Covid-19 has left New Zealanders with a heightened awareness of the importance of caring for our health, wellbeing and our environment.
We’re giving greater consideration to our purchasing decisions and why we make them. But, most significantly, our attitudes and expectations around sustainability and environmental responsibility will remain forever changed. New Zealanders are also looking to get more for less, and there’s a renewed focus on purchasing higher quality products without spending more than necessary.
“Recent global consumer research shows that the pandemic has accelerated consumers’ expectation for business to demonstrate commitment to sustainability. Most importantly, business needs to demonstrate action,” says The Warehouse’s chief sustainability officer, David Benattar.
He says New Zealand consumers are increasingly educated on sustainability and are looking to businesses for solutions and tangible action.
“This includes providing access to essential products sourced sustainably and delivered at affordable prices. Today, more than ever, consumers are rejecting the trade-off between affordability and sustainability. They are asking for both.”
With the vision to become New Zealand’s most sustainable company, The Warehouse is leading the way when it comes to delivering products that are both sustainable and affordable.
“We are responding to accelerated consumer needs for affordable sustainable products and for businesses to demonstrate environmental stewardship,” Benattar says. “By working closely with our suppliers, we are transforming our global supply chain; to bring affordable essentials to New Zealanders with the extended benefits of better, and certified ingredients, as well as improved and reduced packaging.”
The transformation of product delivery, which is underpinned by ingenuity and innovation, will see an ever-expanding range of quality, sustainable products at value prices being offered by The Warehouse, he says.
Driving change is a course that was mapped by Sir Stephen Tindall when he founded the company in 1982, by making hard-to-access goods available to all New Zealanders.
Today, the company remains committed to supporting Kiwis to care for our planet by making it more accessible for everyone to buy sustainable products at affordable prices.
Wander down the aisles of any ‘Red Shed’ and you’ll start seeing a greater number of these products in store. More than 4410 of The Warehouse’s private label products have a sustainable feature. In addition, sustainable packaging guidelines are being rolled out across all new products to reduce plastic usage and improve packaging recyclability, reusability or composability. Consumers can therefore expect to see more recyclable and recycled packaging, and less packaging overall on the shelves.
For example, The Warehouse mink blanket range’s original PVC satchel, which weighed 225g has been replaced with a card belly band, a change which will prevent approximately 712kg of waste plastic from entering landfill each year.
The Warehouse’s sustainability impacts start from where its products are sourced. After launching its Ethical Sourcing Programme in 2004, the company has continued to make improvements year after year in the global factories they’re working with. Additionally, The Warehouse now boasts over 2400 products which are sourced as Better Cotton. Through The Better Cotton Initiative, of which The Warehouse is a member, farmers receive training on how to use water efficiently, care for the health of the soil and natural habitats, reduce use of the most harmful chemicals, and apply decent work principles.
“Mass retailers don’t just have a responsibility to look after the environment through their own actions, they also have one to provide a demonstrable commitment to teaching other people how to look after the environment and provide the means for them to do that,” says Benattar.
Sustainability is increasingly becoming a priority in the homes of everyday Kiwis. As one of New Zealand’s largest companies, The Warehouse is playing an important role in encouraging, enabling and supporting consumers to make more sustainable choices. To learn more about The Warehouse’s journey to become New Zealand’s most sustainable company, go to thewarehouse.co.nz/c/herefor-good.