Host: Guillaume De Dorlodot
Guest: Lizzie Horvitz | Founder & CEO | Finch
Category: ☁️ Carbon Reduction | Consumer Products
Podcast’s Essential Bites:
[5:25] “Finch was designed to decode products’ environmental impacts and incentivize consumers to make better purchasing decisions. We rate products based on their environmental impacts on a score of 1 to 10. And then tell people what they should be looking for when they're buying these products and what products are better than others.”
[15:39] “I find that the most sustainable, best products are the ones that are filling an additional need aside from sustainability. I don't think what is sustainable […] is promoting something that's lacking in quality or function or something else, but make people feel good that it's sustainable. […] And I think the more we can get into that mindset of let's build these products that people want, but on the side make them sustainable in a way that maybe people don't even know about, I think that is a real goal.”
[17:24] “One of the problems, I think, and the barriers to sustainable products is really our need for convenience. It's that people want something on Amazon Prime within 24 hours or less. People still want to buy clothing that they wear once and then can toss. I think it's taking a long time for people to come around to the idea that waiting longer for things, it's often worth it and keeping things for longer will pay off.”
[20:16] “Gen Z cares more, according to Deloitte, about the environment than any other […] issue facing the world right now. And as they are graduating from college and buying things for themselves for the very first time, or even graduating from high school, they're demanding this more than ever before. And so, as Gen Z demands it, we're seeing waves in their parents who care more about it.”
[21:04] “In the sustainable market, […] there are two different ways that consumers can play into different types of products. There's consumer behavior change light, and then actual consumer behavior change. We've found in our research that 50 to 70% of the population are willing to change products if it's a similar experience. […] What we're excited about is these shifts in real behavior, […] [for example] buying a shampoo bar. […] That penetration is a little bit smaller, it's probably closer to 5 to 10% at the moment. But Finch is really marketing towards that 50 to 70% of the population who want to make these changes, but are going to do it in baby steps.”
[23:15] “What's really dangerous that's happening right now is the amount of greenwashing and the amount of words used that really don't mean anything. There's two different camps of what's happening. There's certifications, which are absolutely fantastic […] and actually mean something. […] But there's really nothing stopping any other company from slapping on something that says, we're eco-friendly, or we are non toxic or chemical free, which becomes really dangerous, because those words don't mean that much and they're not regulated.”
[27:39] “If we look at the food industry, which is why Finch isn't it, there's a lot of really fantastic regulation and labeling happening. […] If you care about buying free range chicken, or humane safe eggs, there are labels for that. And it's pretty simple to navigate, in my opinion, if you just do a little bit of research. In the consumer goods space, there are those certifications that I mentioned, but otherwise, it's like the wild wild west.”
[29:21] “Our first product is this browser extension that unfortunately only works on Amazon right now, but hopefully that will change soon. […] When you go to Amazon Finch will show up in the corner and when you type in a specific product Finch will show you what that score is out of 10, what we like about it, what we think could be improved. And then if it's not one of the best ones, we offer three or four alternatives in case you're interested in making a better purchasing decision. And it's all within the Amazon ecosystem.”
[34:35] “Our rating system is based on probably 30 attributes right now. We've identified 90 that go into the sustainability of our product, everything from what's the likelihood that this will shed microplastics to what type of child labor is being used, etc. […] We depend on peer reviewed articles, NGO reports, academic studies, etc. […] Although we have aspects of waste water, raw materials, etc. in our scores, we would never claim to have that perfectly figured out today. It's an ongoing process, and it will only improve over time.”
Rating: ⚡⚡⚡
🎙️ Full Episode: Apple | Spotify | Google
🕰️ 54 min | 🗓️ 04/07/2022
✅ Time saved: 52 min
