Guide to the Beagle Button's sustainability values

The mission of the Beagle Button is to help our users find sustainable alternatives to the products that they typically buy online. To do this, we believe in finding products that meet the needs of today without jeopardizing our ability to meet the needs of future generations.

And we know that people care about joining us in this journey; an increasing body of evidence indicates that consumers around the world want both greater transparency and more sustainable options from brands. So, we hear you asking, how are you defining what counts as sustainable? Here’s our answer!

We’ve formulated five core sustainability values, listed in detail below**,** which our products all contribute to. These were formulated with the support of Ensight Consulting, through a review of published literature, existing science-based sustainability indicator frameworks, and customer research.

We’ve built up a broad selection of products across these five values, but we know that sustainability means different things to different people. For that reason, our users are able to select the aspects of sustainability that they care most deeply about when they create an account. So if you are particularly passionate about particular credentials, such as veganism, ethical supply chains, plastic-free or charitable donations, you can fine-tune your Beagle Button experience to find the most suitable products for you. By giving customers the opportunity to align sustainability with their values, and vice versa, we hope that we can make sustainability the easier choice.

The five Beagle Button sustainability values - reducing waste, minimising emissions, supporting workers, protecting animals, avoid harmful chemicals - are explained in detail below.

The world is beautiful and we want to stop filling it with our rubbish. Natural resources—such as land, water, air, minerals, forests, fisheries, fauna and flora—provide ecosystem services that support human wellbeing. Ecological processes maintain water purification, climate regulation, pollination, nutrient cycling and soil formation, among other regulating, supporting, provisioning and cultural ecosystem services. Environmental resource management is essential to maintain ecosystem integrity and ensure that ecosystem services are protected for future human generations.

Research conducted by Accenture indicates that 62% of surveyed consumers are attracted to brands that reduce their use of plastics and are committed to improving the environment. A separate study found that surveyed consumers were willing to pay above average for products made from waste or recycled materials (46.2%) and products packaged in biodegradable material (45.4%). Respondents also listed these as reasons for why they stopped buying from non eco-friendly brands.

We’ve identified brands that responsibly source their raw materials, reduce and reuse ecologically incompatible materials and byproducts, have strong recycling initiatives, responsible water and/or chemical management practices, are palm oil free, offer rental services and/or engage in environmental activism.

As well as being one of the 17 SDGs (SDG 13: Climate Action), climate change is a threat multiplier with the potential to worsen many of the world’s greatest challenges, including food security, conflict and poverty.

Evidence indicates that climate change and oil drilling are among the top environmental concerns of the public. We believe that customers should be able to support brands and products that are doing their part to mitigate the climate crisis. This is why we have identified brands and products that are making progress in their aims to reach net zero carbon emissions, or are already carbon neutral, are locally made, therefore minimizing the carbon footprint of their delivery services, and/or are engaged in climate activism.

When people are able to live healthy and secure lives, they are more likely to be able to contribute to sustainable communities. The importance of people's livelihoods to sustainability is evidenced by the many socio-economic objectives of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

A growing body of evidence suggests that consumers are becoming belief-driven buyers. Studies have found that 72% of consumers want brands to be positive contributors to society, while 64% of consumers want brands to deliver upon social issues, as well as their products. Moreover, a recent report conducted by Accenture revealed that, beyond price and quality, 65% of consumers were attracted to brands that treat their employees well.

We are committed to helping customers access socially responsible brands by identifying those brands that uphold workers’ rights, engage in local communities, uphold the value of gender equality, and are actively engaged within their communities and/or in social activism.

The welfare of domestic and wild animals supports human physical and mental wellbeing. A failure to acknowledge the intrinsic value of animals endangers the prospect of a healthy life for future generations.

Evidence suggests that customers will pay above average for cruelty-free products (60.3%), and have stopped buying from non-eco-friendly brands that conduct animal testing or engage in animal cruelty (75.1%)

At Beagle, we have therefore identified companies that follow strict animal welfare guidelines, do not perform animal testing, create vegan products, and/or are engaged in activism on issues of animal welfare.

Unnecessary and harmful chemical use is bad for the planet, and it's bad for us. Human health and wellbeing is an essential component of sustainability, as a healthy lifestyle is often synergistic with socially and environmentally friendly practices.

Research has shown that health and wellbeing are influential purchase decision drivers for 59% of survey respondents. Furthermore, surveyed consumers valued products made with fresh, natural and/or organic ingredients. A separate study found that consumers are willing to pay above average for organic (55.9%) and BPA free (42.8%) products, and list healthy living (68%) as one of their top motivations for helping the environment.

We’ve therefore identified products that are free from harmful chemicals, are organic, and/or are produced by companies that are activists for health and wellbeing.

The Beagle Button is here to help you find products across these sustainability values. We’ve scoured the internet to find the most sustainable products and brands for you, and when you become a user we’ll notify you whenever we’ve found a more sustainable version of a product you’re looking at. We’re building up to a launch soon, and you can become one of the first users by signing up on our homepage!