Supply Chain Mis-Steak
With the news that milk and meat from clones cows has covertly entered the UK food supply comes the latest example
of just how crucial it is to know the source of our products.
It’s not the fault of the consumer, nor the animal – but they’re the ones that suffer. The consumer gets a product they were unaware of and when they hear of it, it’s already too late. And for the animal, research shows cloned animals are born with a range of health defects.
It highlights just how important it is for clear information about where the things we buy come from. The food industry is already leading this trend with remarkable power and has done great things for the British food supply. Should we not, therefore, be looking just as carefully at where everything else we purchase and use is from, what it’s made of and how it’s made?
After all, just like we are seeing the some meat may conceal a darker past, so do many of the things we use every day – but it’s rarely reported except in various cases of child labour and the current (but incredibly important) concentration on palm oil.
This still leaves a mass of consumable not being looked at with such rigour. The pens you use, the chairs you’re sitting on. Yes, it might be FSC wood, but who put it together? How was it done? Without knowing this, we don’t know if we’re unwittingly supporting un-environmental or unethical practice.
Perhaps the way forward would be to start being proud of our British products, just like we are of our food and our ales. There’s an abundance of innovative engineers, designers, builders and more waiting to make a change for the better. If we use them, champion them, we can perhaps work towards a greener and better nation, whilst supporting our economy and home-grown businesses.
In addition, we can keep a careful eye on the full supply chain and know exactly how our products were made and that they were done the right way: helping us avoid incidents like the cloned beef from happening elsewhere.
How Green is Your Office?
Being green has become a lot more commonplace now. A lot of people are doing it and, importantly, a lot of people
want to know who else is. It’s likely visitors to your office will ask more and more “so, just how green is that? What’s it made of?” Do you know? More often than not, you probably won’t.
After all, something can say it’s recycled, but that doesn’t mean it is. 23% recycled is great – but it’s not 100%. If you were given a chicken breast made up of 23% chicken, you probably wouldn’t fancy it. So where’s the difference in the things you use every day?
You also might know what something is made of, but perhaps not where it’s come from. A USB stick made of cornstarch is a brilliant concept. The problem is, it’s been brought in from Asia. That doesn’t give it a very good carbon footprint, which in turn becomes part of your office’s carbon footprint.
This is why, at The Green Desk, we’re incredibly picky. We want to know everything that’s in our green office supplies and exactly where they’ve come from.
By doing so, we can ensure you receive the most eco friendly products that genuinely boost your company’s environmental impact. In most cases, it will be made in the UK. If we can’t find it here, then we’ll search nearby Western Europe. If it can’t be attained there, we won’t be stocking it. So far, there’s not been anything we can’t find.
Be a good Apple – know your supply chain
How well do you know your supply chain? In fact, how much do you care? Hopefully it’s a lot, because it matters. Just look at Apple, who’s recently come under fire for its lacklustre approach to the ‘blood minerals’ used as key components for its iPhone.
Apple’s not the only company in the firing line. After all, minerals like tantalum are key ingredients for many electronic devices. The problem is, when a company is unaware where its supplies and materials come from, it ‘s also unaware of the environmental and ethical impact it’s inadvertently having around the world. Remember, a supply chain’s only as strong as its weakest link.
Just as it’s important for companies, like Apple, to know where its materials come from, it’s essential for you to know where your office supplies come from.
Why office supplies? Not every business uses minerals, but virtually every company uses them, whether it’s a pen, some paper or a dozen printers. It all adds up. And you can have the best environmental policy in the world, but if you’re ordering in hundreds of pens made using child labour or toxic pollutants, all that hard work doing the right thing will be reversed.
That’s why we at The Green Desk work hard to find green, ethically produced products manufactured in the UK and Western Europe. We get to know our manufacturers and supplies so we can understand the full supply chain.
So next time you need a new pen or some folders for the office, just think – where’s it come from? If it’s from us, you can be sure it’s come from a good place.
- @dogwoof surly Lassi the curry loving healthy yoghurt dog
- Playing with my new hand operated shredder , clean green and addictive- I love testing new product ranges!