Kissel + Wolf sales and business development director Jon Field details how retailers can embrace sustainability.
I have always contented that you have a choice in life and with everything that you do.
Whether it be on a personal level by way of choosing what you put in your mouth, whether to stay in bed or get up and exercise, whether you save, spend or party, how you parent, partner and conduct yourself and the values you chose to live by.
On a professional level whether you lead or follow, keep on doing the same job or look for new opportunities internally or externally, pivot your business and embrace change, and what you want your business to stand for and business ethics to be.
In other words, “if it’s to be, then it’s up to me”, you just need to commit your mind, body and sole to the cause.
For the fashion and textile industry (in fact, all industries) the evidence to embrace and own sustainable manufacturing, sustainable business strategies and conduct, is more than compelling if you want to not only survive but thrive.
Consumers demand it, employees are demanding it, investors and stakeholders certainly are.
So even if your motivations aren’t driven by doing the right thing by your fellow citizens and the planet, you might want to consider following this path because that’s what the ‘smart’ money is doing, and I’m ‘telling ya’ it’s fast turning green.
As a brand and or business, how do YOU effectively embrace sustainability?
Top down, bottom up!
Well no surprises here when I say that it starts at the top but it needs to flow throughout the entire organisation.
To do this, your business needs a purpose - a strong sense of purpose to change to a sustainable future (document your purpose).
Without a strong sense of purpose, and a compelling reason to change, no organisation will fully stay the course and achieve its goals reaching its full potential, when it comes to sustainability.
Once you have a strong sense of purpose things just flow and my tip would be to develop a group within your organisation whose goal is to develop an action plan that defines and connects what the organisations documented purpose is, to your organisation’s sustainability goals.
In larger organisations, look at developing the purpose at a board or senior management team level and the “connected” action plan from members throughout organisation, because this in itself helps everyone to know and embrace your business' purpose and action plan surrounding your sustainability goals.
When doing this, don’t just think internally about the business and how it operates, think externally how your customers and the market perceive your brand, their perceived trust in you and your transparency, and think about demanding transparency and sustainable supply from all your suppliers.
Don’t be afraid to make bold commitments or set stretch targets for your business but break it down into incremental steps and set realistic time frames.
Review and if need be reset regularly.
Another tip to embed a sustainability culture throughout the organisation is for the management team to not let the purpose be a passive thing.
Rather to be an active living thing that’s rewarded and to publicly applaud peoples good behaviours and efforts around striving to obtain your sustainability goals and targets on a regular (monthly / quarterly) basis.
This sends a message and reinforces to everyone that it’s a real priority to the business.
Finally, as an industry we need to come together as a whole and commit to making a real difference.
Kissel + Wolf ’s difference is through supplying sustainable digital printing solutions to the textile and fashion industries.
We achieve this through supplying Kornit digital printers to the direct-to-garment (DTG) and direct-to-textile (DTF) markets that are environmentally safe, produce no waste, toxic fumes or harmful effluent.
A key part of our waterless printing system, is due to our Neo-Pigment ink and energy saving processes that when combined, makes our Kornit printing systems a best-in-class eco-friendly printing solution.
So if you’re thinking of making the move into DTG or DTF please think, sustainable manufacturing and contact Kissel + Wolf.
Kissel + Wolf is the exclusive supplier of Kornit’s high volume, digital printing systems in Australia and New Zealand.
For further information or enquiries on how you can successfully enter the lucrative direct to garment (DTG / DTF) digital printing market, email sales@kiwo.com.au or call + 61 3 8318 5555