Carbon Labels to Expose the Carbon Footprint of Everyday Products

Author: Brock Bourgase

Carbon Labels to Expose the Carbon Footprint of Everyday Products

by Lulia, Ruby & Elena

Carbon Labels to Expose the Carbon Footprint of Everyday Products
By: Elena Vlitas, Lulia Amaha, and Ruby Steinberg

In an increasingly environmentally conscious world, companies are beginning to introduce carbon labels to their products. A carbon label highlights the quantity of carbon emissions a product generates throughout its entire production process (including manufacturing, transportation and disposal). This will create a new category of comparison shopping, as in the past, only the price served as a judge of value, and nutrition and ingredient labels as a judge of health. Now that carbon labels are now being used to compare anything from shampoo to food products, environmentally conscious consumers will begin to compare products based on quantified data of sustainability. The use of carbon labels will allow customers to become more aware of their carbon footprint.

The looming threat of climate change has brought the conversation of sustainable practices to the forefront. Younger generations who will face the consequences of environmental downfall are especially concerned about the climate. Three quarters of NT students stated that sustainable practices encourage them to buy a product. That being said, as most companies with sustainable practices tend to be more expensive, only 33% of the students stated that they would be willing to buy a sustainable product that costs more than an unsustainable counterpart. When asked why climate action and carbon labelling matters, grade 10 student Amelia, stated, “It’s good to see how your shopping is affecting the environment. I want to be socially conscious and aware of my choices and not do something because it is easier or cheaper when it is harmful.”

Carbon labelling was introduced in 2007 and briefly adopted by Tesco, PepsiCo and Innocent Boots as part of a government pilot program. However, the companies dropped the carbon labels in 2011 because too few brands followed suit. Given the recent rise in climate concerns among consumers, companies like Unilever, manufacturer of products including Q-tips and Dove, are among the first to widely reintroduce these product labels. Unilever plans to introduce carbon labels to all 70,000 of their products. The company says that products perceived as sustainable are growing faster than those are not, and they aim to explore how to best present their efforts towards sustainability to the public. Another company moving in this direction is Quorn, a meat-substitute product now including on-pack carbon emissions from farm to table. Others to implement these labels include Oatly AB, a Swedish oat-milk company, and Logitech International, a computer keyboard company. While some consumers have had to make assumptions on which products have less footprint based on factors such as packaging and broad averages, specific carbon labels for each product will allow consumers to easily compare carbon emissions between products to make informed purchases. Ultimately, these are the companies that are paving the way for sustainability and carbon emission transparency.

The question is, what changes can be expected once companies start to commit to implementing carbon labels? Will their competitors start to make that same commitment? This could lead to widespread and standardized carbon labelling. Right now, companies like Dove are using this strategy to gain an advantage in the competitive hygiene product industry. The more consumers are informed, the more we can expect a shift. If carbon labels become more extensively used, it will not only encourage a positive rivalry among companies, leading to potential carbon neutral practices but also encourage consumers to reevaluate their purchasing decisions. Carbon labelling allows consumers to become more aware of the carbon footprint left behind from their favourite products. Ultimately the carbon labels could lead towards better sustainability and spark a conversation of company methodology, trust, and ethics.

These efforts, although on the path towards sustainability, will be unsuccessful without consumer interest and support. In a poll conducted of a grade 10 class, about 17% reported that they would take the time to compare carbon labels. This is just an example. Around the world, more and more people are discussing ways to minimize their environmental impact through their purchasing habits. If carbon labels meant that companies were competing for 17% of the market share, environmental sustainability would surely be a driving factor in production. Ultimately, it is up to consumers to demand sustainability, more so than government or corporations, as companies simply act in favour of the market interests. In a study conducted by Cone Communications, 92% of consumers stated they would buy an environmentally friendly product. If environmentally responsible companies and products were shown to be more successful, others would follow suit.

With that being said, there will be several barriers that may slow or limit the use of carbon labelling across a large scale of different products. While some companies may observe that their carbon footprint is low, thus making it a beneficial point to market to consumers, many other companies (particularly those with large factories and high carbon emissions) may be more hesitant to disclose their carbon emissions to customers. For instance, beef products have very high carbon emissions at 36 kilograms of CO2eq per kilogram, which is 10 to 100 times more than plant-based counterparts. Similarly, Proctor and Gamble (P&G), the manufacturer of Pantene and Head and Shoulders has been involved in numerous environmental disputes, being named in a lawsuit as one of 10 companies causing a “pollution crisis”. Given these companies’ unsustainable practices, they would not want to add carbon labels as it would expose their emissions to consumers and could cause many to switch to more eco-friendly products like Dove or Quorn. This poses an ethical dilemma between being eco-friendly and transparent while sacrificing profits, or maximizing profits despite the impacts.

Carbon labels are just one step towards addressing the climate crisis. Since carbon labels still are not widely used, teens can do a few things to encourage companies to take environmental action. First, teens can write, petition or email companies to be transparent about their emissions. Teens can also do research into the sustainability of their products and make an effort to switch should they find that a company isn’t producing their products responsibly. While alone, one may not think they can have a big impact, if teens come together to vocalize concerns and be conscious of their carbon footprint, in the long term, it will have a huge positive impact on the planet. Teenagers also have the ability to influence their families’ spending. Given that 80% of parents’ spending is influenced by their teens and adolescents, a combined $819 billion globally, teens have the power to shift spending to companies with more sustainable practices. In the long term, this would give all companies financial incentives to do better in protecting the planet so that they do not lose the teenage market share. Overall, it’s up to each and every person to ensure the success of carbon labelling, and to encourage more environmentally conscious steps like this in the future.

Works Cited

  • Kateman, Brian. “Carbon Labels Are Finally Coming To The Food And Beverage Industry.” Forbes, Forbes Magazine, 20 July 2020, www.forbes.com/sites/briankateman/2020/07/20/carbon-labels-are-finally-coming-to-the-food-and-beverage-industry/.
  • Giles, Jim. “Unilever’s Carbon Labeling Initiative Will Drive New Behavior in the Supply Chain.” Greenbiz, 10 July 2020, www.greenbiz.com/article/unilevers-carbon-labeling-initiative-will-drive-new-behavior-supply-chain.
  • Dolsak, Nives, and Aseem Prakash. “Unilever’s Climate Plan: Emissions From Supply Chain And Consumers Are The Real Challenge.” Forbes, Forbes Magazine, 20 June 2020, www.forbes.com/sites/prakashdolsak/2020/06/18/unilevers-climate-plan-emissions-from-supply-chain-and-consumers-are-the-real-challenge/?sh=52a0fa21fba9.
  • Smithers, Rebecca. “Quorn to Be First Major Brand to Introduce Carbon Labelling.” The Guardian, Guardian News and Media, 9 Jan. 2020, www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/jan/09/quorn-to-be-first-major-brand-to-introduce-carbon-labelling.
  • Ritchie, Hannah. “The Carbon Footprint of Foods: Are Differences Explained by the Impacts of Methane?” Our World in Data, 10 Mar. 2020, https://ourworldindata.org/carbon-footprint-food-methane.
  • Ciochetto, Meredith. “Cone Releases the 2013 Cone Communications/Echo Global CSR Study – Cone Communications: Cone: Cone PR: Cone Inc: PR Agency: Boston: NYC.” Cone, Cone Communications | Cone | Cone PR | Cone Inc | PR Agency | Boston | NYC, 7 June 2016, www.conecomm.com/news-blog/2013-global-csr-study-release.
  • Bona, Carmen, et al. “How Marketers Can Win with Gen Z and Millennials Post-COVID-19.” BCG Global, BCG Global, 8 Jan. 2021, www.bcg.com/publications/2020/how-marketers-can-win-with-gen-z-millennials-post-covid.

Why Buying Physical Copies of Media is Better than Digital

Sony closing playstation 3 and PSVita online stores reveals why it is still important to buy physical hard copies of games in this online dominated world.

by Tanzeel

As online networks become more reliable, people have been switching over to buying games online. Sony confirms that they are closing their stores for Playstation 3 and PSVita by August 21st, this would mean many well known and loved games exclusive to the PS3 and Vita would be completely lost to time. Sony did confirm people can still redownload and play games that they have already bought from the store but they can no longer buy new games. Giving people the ability to play owned online games still causes Sony to pay and run multiple servers.
Sony cannot keep these servers open forever and so at a certain point all of the online games you may own will stop working. The fact they shut down the stores means keeping the store servers up was getting too expensive for Sony making it only a matter of time till the servers that run games will also be shut down.
The positive of buying hard copy games is that you can never lose the game. Since the game does not run on a server you can play the game long after the hosting server is dead. You can also sell the game to retro game collectors for a far higher price as that game is no longer available for purchase anywhere.
This is not only true for video games but also for other media. An old niche movie can be lost to time if a disk is not owned as not every movie makes it onto a streaming service or the internet. Making said old movie extremely profitable to obtain.
As time passes, online stores and streaming services will close with physical media outliving them. Even if online stores are more convenient, hard copies will always be more profitable in the long run.

How To Find a Summer Job

by Eric

In the summer of every year, you are happily ready to get a job but since the pandemic has hit, continuing or finding that summer job will greatly impact you and the company’s business.
In these tough times of 2021 during the pandemic, have you ever wondered about that one summer job you were looking for? Yet it is not attainable because of your safety and its availability? This is an article about the many ways you can find a summer job, even if there is a pandemic. Whether you want to be a camp counsellor or work at a clothing store, there are many ways of finding a summer job in this virus-filled year of 2021.

If you would like to become a camp counsellor for your summer job but you are worried about your safety, you could always do the counselling online. Abdi a grade 11 student commented “The real difference between online and in person counselling is the experience. It differs from building a community with the people around you, instead of going on a computer and teaching a bunch of lessons” This is a lot more safe, and you still have the feeling of helping people with their difficulties/problems.

If you wanted to work at a clothing or shoe store like Nike or Roots, but these jobs are not available. A possibility is you could call different companies and ask a couple of questions like: Is there a possible position I could fill? Are there any precautions I need to take before I look to attend this job? Could you describe a typical workday, or week for this job? Depending on how available you both are and if there is an available position for the job, you now have the chance of getting a job.

How to Succeed at Remote Learning

Anonymous

Adjusting to a new learning environment after years of doing it in person, isn’t a smooth transition for some people. A number of problems arise from this such as feeling lost or unmotivated, having distractions that take away from your learning and too much exposure to blue light. Here are four tips to help you succeed in remote learning:

Organize your time well

It can be hard to get motivated when you don’t know what the first step is. Using a calendar or daily planner to find to time finish assignments or mark dates for tests can help you manage your time well. It also lets you know when you can do other things that are not school related.

Eliminate distractions

Finding ways to amuse yourself can be especially easy when you’re logged on to a boring virtual class. It might be easier to focus on the lesson if you minimize distractions in your environment. A good place to tune into a virtual class is a quiet room, free from a T.V or other people talking. Turn off notifications from social media and remember that you can always get back to it later.

Take a break from screens

Depending on how your school coordinates your lessons, you could be spending at least 5 hours looking at a screen. That doesn’t count checking social media, writing and submitting assignments or streaming movies during your free time. Too much blue light, which screens emit, can affect your health.

Firstly, blue light can alter your sleep pattern by disrupting melatonin secretion, a hormone released to encourage sleep. This intern goes to disturb your Rapid Eye Movement cycle during sleep which is crucial for brain function. To avoid this, power down devices 2 to 3 hours before going to bed. Benefits attributed to REM include better memory, regulated mood and can increase how fast you can process information. Blue light can also cause eye strain or blurry vision. Instead of spending more time looking at a screen after school, opt for reading which can improve brain connectivity and increase your vocabulary and comprehension. Or walking which can reduce anxiety and stress and improves your heart health.

Get extra practice

From personal experience, I have found that getting into the groove of learning online can be extremely un motivating and is a difficult task for some people. From the comfort of your own home you can be inclined to slack off since your teachers aren’t there to tell you otherwise. Thanks to the internet, you can teach yourself almost everything. Math and science videos can be easily found on YouTube or Khan Academy. If you feel like you’re falling behind the rest of your class, consider getting in the extra practice.

Biological Heritage vs Environmental Upbringing

Which Factor Contributes Best To Your Business Mind Set?

Emily, Leah & Sydney

A person’s biological heritage and environmental upbringing are two factors that shape a person from a young age, but how do these two predetermined circumstances determine an individual’s impression in the business world.

What is biological heritage and environmental upbringing? Biological heritage Is based on a person’s ethnic culture, traditions, and genetics, as it is not chosen but is passed on by your parents. Environmental upbringing, it is the way you were raised at a young age. The customs your parents or peers made accustomed to you, but do these two elements of a person’s life shape a young business mind.

We interviewed two North Toronto students in grade 10 and how they’re affected by biological heritage. “My mom is Spanish and dad is British, you would never be able to tell from just looking at me.” -Ben. Biological heritage doesn’t necessarily have an impact on one’s business mind. As described in this quote not all people really resonate with their ethnicity. Although as proven in this quote “As a Mexican born in Canada seeing how hard working my ancestors were it has inspired me to continue their hard work ethic.” – Asier. This proves that biological heritage can be a big contributor to someone’s business mindset.

Environmental upbringing also has a huge impact on young minds, as Anna Wintour’s whole environmental upbringing shaped her for what she is now, which is why she is the editor in chief of Vogue magazine. Anna was surrounded by novelist during her early years as her father was the editor of the Evening Standard and two of her siblings were journalists known for their newspapers. Her great great great grandmother was also a late 18th century famous novelist as her parents always supported her love for fashion and showed enthusiasm for her to get involved. Her grandmother would send her issues of fashion magazines from the U.S. Her father oftenly asked her to consult on ideas for the youth market. This proves that Wintour’s environmental upbringing helped her achieve who she is to this day.

In conclusion, biological heritage and environmental upbringing affects many successful business workers either for the positive or negative, as it also affects an individual’s impression in the business industry.

New Frontier or another failure: Bitclout

by Tanush

Cryptocurrency has finally expanded into social media- and I’m not talking about crypto Twitter. Bitclout is the fresh new child of the crypto market, and it aims to combine the two things millennials love the most; social media and cryptocurrency.

Bitclout was released less than a month ago as a social media platform by anonymous blockchain users. According to its statement with Hypebeast last week, it allows users to “speculate on people and posts with real money, and it’s built from the ground up as its own custom blockchain”. Users are able to establish accounts to post images, share stories in a similar fashion to Twitter, a clear inspiration for the platform. Each account acts as its own NFT, and can be treated as its own coin. From there, other users can interact with the user and pay real money to invest in them, which boosts the price of the account. In essence, Bitclout commodifies your account into an NFT that you can profit from- depending on what you post.

Tony Wu, a pioneering junior investor notes the platform’s appeal. He suggests that his “early investments into people like Elon Musk have led to (him) making huge amounts of money”. He is currently in hold of several accounts that total to a portfolio worth over 10 thousand dollars. As the app is in its fledgling stages, early investment has seen massive returns due to the initial growth. The growth doesn’t appear to be slowing down either, as Diamondhand, the anonymous creator of Bitclout, reports legitimate foundations such as Jordan Belfort, Coinbase and Social Capital are backing Bitclout- adding to its own legitimacy as a platform.

But it isn’t all sunshine and rainbows for the newfound NFT. For one, Bitclout has created accounts for the top 15,000 users on Twitter, and commodifies their identities without their consent. Brandon Curtis, a victim of the auto-account system has filed a lawsuit against the platform for using his name and identity without his consent. Many also rallied arms on Twitter to point this out. Furthermore, it is unclear what power monetizing social media holds. As user prequelmemes on Bitclout points out, the capacity for “cancel culture” is heightened as money can be weaponized in a far worse manner than words. Techcrunch also points out that while investment may be easy, cashing out is not.

So, should you opt into Bitclout? Jordan Belfort was right when he said the answer is yes. If you have a decent knowledge of diverse investment and blockchain, then I would highly recommend creating an account and getting started. The site gives you an initial amount of coins, which is more than enough to get you started and grow- especially if you ride the early bird wave. If you feel comfortable enough to spend some money, then maybe dish out a little bit and practice investment through Bitclout.

Ultimately, the site is an enticing new twist on social media and investment, and should be watched by anyone interested in cryptocurrency. With a few hiccups regarding user information, it is fair to say that there is risk- but growth likely means that the platform will iron out its issues as times goes on. As for whether it’s a new frontier, only time- and money- will tell.

Resources

  • Dale, Brady, et al. “What Is BitClout? The Social Media Experiment Sparking Controversy on Twitter.” CoinDesk, 24 Mar. 2021, www.coindesk.com/what-is-bitclout-the-social-media-experiment-stoking-controversy-on-twitter.
  • Matney, Lucas. “Crypto Social Network BitClout Arrives with a Bevy of High-Profile Investors – and Skeptics.” TechCrunch, TechCrunch, 23 Mar. 2021, techcrunch.com/2021/03/22/crypto-social-network-bitclout-arrives-with-a-bevy-of-high-profile-investors-and-skeptics/.
  • Perper, Rosie. “BitClout Is the New Crypto Social Network That Lets You Bet on People’s Reputations.” HYPEBEAST, HYPEBEAST, 2 Apr. 2021, hypebeast.com/2021/4/what-is-bitclout-crypto-social-network-buy-trade-creator-coins.

Online Shopping on the Rise

The increase in online shopping because of COVID-19

Claire, Meighan & Sage

Ask almost anyone you know and they will probably tell you that they have engaged in online shopping. E-commerce sales have doubled exponentially each year but this pattern proves significantly more prominent this year. Will the recent pandemic have a lasting impact on the shopping industry?

As the public adapts to a new virtual world, a majority of Canadian consumers have flocked to online shopping. The COVID-19 pandemic has had a major effect on the shopping industry and e-commerce sales. Will the pandemic have a lasting effect? Or is it just a temporary situation. There isn’t a concrete answer. What we do know is that ever since the pandemic began, consumers have switched from in-person shopping to online shopping. Many people find it more convenient and therefore easier. With just the click of a button, you can order items to your house instead of taking time out of your day to drive to a brick-and-mortar store to search around and buy them. Even though brick-and-mortar stores have taken huge negative hits from these changes (especially small businesses), this switch is a positive for businesses that were already based online and for everyday consumers. Having the option and flexibility of being able to pick between online shopping and in-person shopping is great as they are two different channels of distribution.

We interviewed a couple of students from North Toronto Collegiate Institute to ask them about their shopping habits and if and how they have changed over the past year. Leah Reskinezy, a grade 10 business student said: “I shop online more because finding clothing items online is very straightforward and easy. When searching online, the items are usually tagged with direct links to the products, which is much more convenient than searching for the exact clothes in-person”. Another grade 10 business student, Dylan Vlaad also reports similar shopping habits: “I used to solely shop in-person but now I will only shop online.” From these two quotes, there is a significant pattern and connection between the pandemic and what type of shopping people take part in. Shopify reported, “in 2020 that over 150 million new shoppers migrated online in the past year, with 79% of consumers indicating they plan to continue shopping online.” This will undoubtedly affect the shopping industry for a long time to come but many consumers will still shop in person for the same reasons they did before: being able to try things on, the fun of it, not having to wait for delivery/shipping.

UNCTAD Secretary-General Mukhisa Kituyi reiterates that “The COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated the shift towards a more digital world.” This supports the fact that many people have modified their ways of shopping to purchasing online and are not as interested in going into stores and malls. Whether they are open or not, people gravitate towards online shopping because it’s more practical, and at this time, safe. We can see from this situation that when one market rises, another one tends to fall. The retail sector will most likely never be in a pre-pandemic state again as this unmatched time in history has emphasized the popularity and benefits of online shopping and the e-commerce market.

Works Cited

  • Akhtar, A.. “50+ Breathtaking Online Shopping Statistics You Never Knew.” MonsterInsights, 27 Nov. 2019, https://www.monsterinsights.com/50-breathtaking-online-shopping-statistics-you-never-knew/
  • “COVID-19 Has Changed Online Shopping Forever, Survey Shows.” UNCTAD, 8 Oct. 2020, unctad.org/news/covid-19-has-changed-online-shopping-forever-survey-shows.

Teenagers in the Workplace

Ben, Reed & Matei

Many teenagers are pressured to get their first job and as a result, there is a lot of stress that is put onto their backs when trying to find a job. Not only is it hard for them to find jobs, but they also aren’t paid as much, given as much freedom, and they are generally just not treated as equal to adults.

A student/teenager makes 13 dollars an hour if they work 28 hours or more in the week, but if they work less than that they only get paid $9.60 an hour, An adult gets paid 14$ an hour, and in comparison, this is quite a bit more money than a student makes, especially if you look at it over time. In a 52 week year, someone works 28 hours or more as a student they make $18,928, but if they work it as an adult they make $20,384. If you are a Teenager that works 18 hours a week, you only make $8,985.

The workplace isn’t always accepting, Kyle (not his real name) is a 15-year-old student at North Toronto that works a part-time job at a local store, and he believes that he isn’t treated equally and fairly when compared to others at his job. He works less than 28 hours a week which is what is required by the government to be worked for a student if they want a full minimum wage. He says “ I’m treated differently because I’m new” and, “I think it’s BS” which strongly shows how he doesn’t like the way he’s treated, and that he doesn’t receive the respect he thinks to deserve.

This is just one example of age bias in the workplace, but it is all around us and with society’s norm being that people should get a job as a teen it is unusually difficult.

DECA Provincials

Forty North Toronto students competed in the DECA Provincial competition and thirteen won certificates because of their placing in the top ten.

Congratulations to Jasmine Lem and Lee-Ashley Keshet for winning their event and qualifying for the International Career Development Conference in April. Their proposal for revitalizing the International Career Development Conference at Yonge St. and Davisville Ave. won the Business Services Operations Research competition. Angela Krstic, Owen Macgowan, Cynthia Zhou and Audrey Gong for earning certificates in their events.

Thanks to all the N.T.C.I. Deca members who competed this year and good luck to Jasmine and Lee-Ashley.

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