Sustainability Analyst at Voiz Academy
What are Voiz Sustainability Reviews?
Jan - March 2021
Voiz Academy is a movement of students in Gen-Z who use their voices to speak out about social and environmental sustainability.
As part of the 8-week internship at Voiz , I wrote 7 reviews of consumer products assessing them on their sustainability on 3 big questions:
What is it made of? (including product components and packaging)
How is it made? (including production of product and how it is used by the consumer)
Who makes it? (including working conditions and communities affected by productions impact)
We answer these questions by analysing sustainability reports and digging into the details of the product's components and company practices. At the end, we left a rating out of 3 planets on the sustainability of the product.
I decided to focus my reviews on food products specifically. I compared how traditionally unsustainable food products go about creating sustainability initiatives and how they practiced greenwashing. I identified how framing and leaving out key information in sustainability reports created a better picture of the company, such as Chiquita Bananas and Twinings Tea. This helped us understand how company green washing occurred and how we could combat their deceptive marketing strategies.
Learning Points
Critical Analysis
The Voiz training has taught me to read between the lines of sustainability reports and claims that company's make. I learned to uncover greenwashing and marketing strategies used to put products into a better light.
Design Thinking
We used design thinking strategies to help us understand how sustainablility plays into the creation of a product. To understand the sustainability of a product, you have to understand all stages of the Product Development phase and how sustainability fits in –Why is this product created in the first place? Who decides what the product is made from or how it is produced?
System Thinking
Voiz is all about the holistic approach – we have to look at each component of the equation. Whenever we talk about the environment, we need to recognise how everything is connected to each other and understand the nuances of each of the systems that a product crosses from ideation to consumption.
How has Voiz shaped me?
The program has opened my eyes to a topics and concepts that I have not come across before such as design and systems thinking, ESGs and many more. The Voiz program developed my critical analysis, questioning each aspect of the production and supply chain. One exercise that struck me the most was sorting through different materials and debating which one is more or less sustainable - how do we compare the social and environmental impact of cement to palm oil to lithium? As I decided to concentrate my re views on food, I was preoccupied with certain 'evil' components to watch out for. This debate with my peers – the community being one of the greatest assets of the Voiz community – opened my eyes to other areas and ideas of which I have not thought of before.