Top 10 Tips on Sourcing Green Products

Tomato Source Ltd is a sourcing company with a difference – able to fuse the directors' experience in marketing with their natural flair and creativity.

Emma Beeson is fully conversant with and committed to eco and environmentally friendly practices. However, she does not impose her personal preferences on others and the company offers the service of devising, designing and sourcing manufacture for 'green' or conventional products as required and sources to customer's requirements giving appropriate advice where necessary.

Define whether your brief is to source an ethical, eco or environmentally friendly product or all three of these.

Fully check your clients CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) policy to find out if there are any other environmental or ethical commitments to be
considered.

Check your supply chain thoroughly to ensure that not only is the product eco or environmentally friendly, but that it is also produced to that remit – this is part of ethical sourcing.

If you are sourcing a product that is FSC (Forestry Stewardship Council) certified then the supplier will have proof of its FSC 'chain of custody', which can be validated by the Forestry Stewardship Council.

Ensure that any branding of the product is done in the most appropriate way too – vegetable-based printing inks are widely available and are much better than petroleum-based inks.

Always consider the end distribution of the item – can more eco and environmentally friendly packaging be considered? Can you reduce the amount of packaging, or do away with it all together? Using clever packaging designs can still allow you to protect, present and distribute your product without the excessive use of materials.

Doing the right thing at the beginning isn't all that counts – think about the disposal and recycling of your product. Have you ensured that there are clear instructions on the best way to dispose of the product? If your product is certified compostable, use the appropriate mark so that your customers know it is.

It is imperative that you don't let the 'eco and environmental' desires of a product overshadow other regulations – CE certification and any other certification for the country of distribution still needs to be adhered to.

Planning is critical – the right planning can also help to reduce the impact of transportation – there's no point in getting all of the right elements in place, only to find that time is rapidly running out and you have to express deliver the goods by air freight.

Finally, just remember to think about the complete life cycle of the product, from the source materials, its manufacturing process, right through to how the product is packaged, used and then disposed of!

Emma Beeson
Director
Tomato Source Limited
www.tomato-source.co.uk

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