“There’s definitely an age aspect to [the environment],” King says.
“Telstra put [businesswoman] Bridget Loudon on the board and just because she’s in her 30s, that was a massive deal. That should be the norm and yet that’s called as an exception. That tells it all,” he says. In addition to most consumers being dubious about the social and environmental claims companies make about their products and services, just over a third of consumers have first-hand experience of purchasing a product that they believed was environmentally friendly, only to find out later that it was not.where shoppers could return soft plastics to Coles and Woolworths, do not help.
“It’s a problem of standards. There’s not a particular standard that has to be observed. You can’t go into a supermarket and buy something that is made, say, in Bangladesh and know whether that manufacturer is using modern slavery. Although there will always be well-heeled consumers willing to pay a handsome premium for environmentally friendly products, Baker says that being able to demonstrate a base level of sustainable and ethical practices will increasingly become a basic hygiene factor for consumers.