It is imperative to use innovative business practices that will reduce waste, encourage the use of recycled material and reduce the reliance on natural resources such as water. A business practice that is regarded as sustainable is one that allows organisations to reduce their negative impact on the environment whilst being economically viable and socially responsible. Corporate environmental responsibility (CER) is the conscious, proactive efforts on the part of a business organisation to reduce waste and keep its carbon footprint to a minimum. Going green and reducing plastic usage, as well as minimising single-use plastics is beneficial to the business organisation’s reputation and credibility. Reducing paper wastage, using biodegradable packaging for products and engaging in energy conservation are some of the sustainable business practices that are adopted by organisations.

In 2013, in an attempt to eradicate environmental waste and engage in innovative recycling, Levi’s introduced a new range of denim jeans called “Waste less” which uses eight plastic bottles for each pair of jeans. Plastic bottles and food trays are collected from municipal sites and are, thereafter, cleaned, sorted and crushed into flakes that are subsequently converted into a polyester fibre. This is then blended with cotton fibre which is finally woven with traditional cotton yarn to create the denim. These new products consist of 20% recycled materials that were infused into the denim fabric. The look and feel of the new fabric seem no different to the traditional denim. This initiative had positive effects for the brand in terms of adopting green marketing practices.

Discuss the concept of green marketing, its merits and impact on global businesses, as well as the green marketing strategies and the green packaging and labeling initiatives that businesses are implementing.

Answer to Above Question on Green Marketing

Answer 1: Marketing is an important function carried out by each and every organisation in order to promote its product and services among its target customers. Green marketing is an important concept that implies the process of promoting products or services on the basis of the environmental friendly attribute. This is aimed at allowing the end consumers to know how environmentally conscious the organisation is in selling its product and services. There are significant advantages of Green Marketing which include increased acceptability of products and services among customers, competitive advantage, brand development, compliance with regulatory requirements, and innovation and differentiation.