Top Sustainability Trends of 2024
Here are the current sustainability trends of 2024, found using our software tool and selected based on their growth and global popularity across sites like Google, TikTok, Reddit, Twitter, YouTube, Amazon, and more. These are not fads, such as new movies or social media challenges – rather they’re long-term global sustainability trends that are likely to see continued growth throughout 2024. We’ve also included our analysis on these new emerging trends below.
Aviva Zero
Aviva Zero is a new type of carbon-conscious car insurance policy that promotes environmental consciousness and sustainability. It's gaining notable popularity as climate-related natural disasters have been increasing, causing people to seek ways to reduce their carbon footprints as a preventive measure. Legislation and policy changes are also nudging businesses and consumers towards more sustainable practices. … Read more
Clean Vehicle Credit
Clean vehicle credit is a tax incentive provided by the government to encourage the purchase of electric or fuel cell vehicles, ultimately promoting environmental sustainability. Increased awareness of environmental sustainability has become mainstream, leading more people to switch to cleaner modes of transportation. … Read more
Reebelo
Reebelo is an online marketplace for refurbished tech devices, such as mobile phones, laptops, tablets, and more, providing an environmentally friendly way for consumers to upgrade their technology. Driven by an increasing awareness about sustainable choices, consumers are actively opting for refurbished tech for their environmental benefits and as a cost-saving measure. … Read more
Revibe
Revibe is a digital platform and online community dedicated to upcycling fashion. The platform enables upcycling fashion brands to manage, grow, and scale their brand through digital tools and services. … Read more
Bamboo Pajamas
Bamboo pajamas are pajamas made from bamboo fabric. The fabric is said to be softer and more absorbent than traditional cotton pajamas, and is also said to be more environmentally friendly. … Read more
Take Back Bag
Take back bags are an eco-friendly solution in packaging, made from recycled content and are fully recyclable themselves. They are designed to be returned and reused, forming a circular loop in packaging. Examples are polymailers made from 50% post-consumer recycled content. This innovation in packaging is driven by a heightened global awareness for environmental responsibility. … Read more
EV Charger
An EV charger is a device designed to recharge electric vehicles by plugging them into an electrical power source. Initiatives by some governments providing incentives for home EV charger installation have spurred their demand. Technological advancements resulting in faster charging times have also played a significant role, enticing more people to move towards electric vehicles and, consequently, EV chargers. … Read more
Truly Free Laundry Detergent
Truly Free laundry detergent is an eco-friendly, refillable option for laundry cleaning needs. The growing trend of socially conscious consumerism has individuals seeking out companies that are socially responsible; Truly Free's commitment to ethical and sustainable sourcing and production methods resonates with this new ethos, amplifying interest in this eco-friendly option. … Read more
EPR Plastic
EPR Plastic refers to a policy approach that transfers the responsibility for the lifecycle of plastic products, especially their disposal, recycling or recovery, from consumers or governments back to the producers. Producers are legally and financially tasked with reducing the environmental impact of plastic waste. The topic's popularity may be due to the more stringent regulations being enacted worldwide to combat plastic pollution. … Read more
EV Buses
EV buses are battery-electric vehicles, specifically designed for public transportation, run solely on electricity. They use on-board batteries which are recharged from an external source, often offering a more sustainable form of public transportation. Technological advancements have led to increased battery life and more efficient charging solutions, making EV buses a more viable option for public transportation. … Read more
EV Manufacturing
EV manufacturing refers to the process of designing and producing electric vehicles, which are increasingly seen as a sustainable alternative to fossil fuel-based transportation. Rapid technological advancements and the development of longer-lasting batteries have made EVs a more viable option for everyday use. … Read more
Carbon Accounting
Carbon accounting is a process through which an organization estimates its greenhouse gas emissions by applying either a spend-based or activity-based methodology. The rise in Global ESG (Environment, Social, and Governance) standards has triggered a surge in searches with companies aiming to improve their climate impact ratings, contributing to the increased interest in carbon accounting. … Read more
Solarcycle
Solarcycle is a service that provides comprehensive recycling solutions for waste solar panels, helping to manage the growing volume of solar photovoltaic waste. Due to the global shift towards renewable energy, more solar panels have been installed over the years leading to a surge in the need for recycling services as these panels reach their end-of-life. … Read more
Decarbonization
Decarbonization refers to the process of reducing carbon emissions by changing various aspects of the economy, from energy generation to goods production and delivery. New policies and legislation targeting net-zero emissions has compelled businesses to intensively search for decarbonization strategies and solutions, creating a momentum in online trends. … Read more
Climate Finance
Climate finance is the investment of resources to help reduce greenhouse gas emissions and climate risks, as well as to help countries and communities adapt to the effects of climate change. The goal of climate finance is to make sure that everyone has the resources they need to take climate action. … Read more
Sustainable Packaging
Sustainable packaging is packaging that is designed with the environment in mind. The packaging is often made from recycled materials and is biodegradable. It is intended to reduce the amount of waste that is produced by the packaging industry. … Read more
Glass Straw
A glass straw is a straw made from glass instead of plastic. Glass straws are reusable and are said to be more durable and environmentally friendly than plastic straws. … Read more
GHG Protocol
The GHG Protocol, or Greenhouse Gas Protocol, is a widely-used international framework for understanding, quantifying, and managing greenhouse gas emissions. The intensifying effects of climate change have led to a rising number of companies seeking sustainable methods requiring knowledge in GHG Protocol. … Read more
Electric School Buses
Electric school buses are eco-friendly buses used primarily for student transport, combining traditional bus designs with an electric powertrain. The unexpected advent of superior battery technologies has made longer bus routes possible on a single charge, making them an increasingly appealing option. Electric school buses are rapidly becoming a valuable and practical alternative to their diesel counterparts. … Read more
Green Ammonia
Green ammonia is a natural product that is made from the fermentation of sugarcane molasses and intended to be used in carbon-neutral products. The green ammonia is said to be a more environmentally-friendly alternative to traditional ammonia, as it does not produce harmful emissions. … Read more
Insetting
Insetting is a sustainable practice whereby companies offset their carbon emissions by implementing solutions within their own supply chains, such as reforestation or renewable energy initiatives. Emergence of governmental regulations and legislation is demanding firms to reduce their environmental footprint, spurring the need for practices like insetting. … Read more
Just Transition
Just Transition is a concept underpinning a transformative process towards an equitable and sustainable society. It seeks to ensure that, as we move away from fossil fuels and towards renewable energy, communities and workers are not left behind. … Read more
Net Zero Energy
Net Zero Energy is a term used to describe a building or home that produces as much renewable energy as it consumes over the course of a year. The energy can come from a variety of renewable energy sources, such as solar panels, wind turbines, or geothermal energy. … Read more
Recycled Cotton
Recycled cotton is cotton that has been repurposed from other garments or materials. The cotton is often used in new garments or other products, such as bedding or towels. Recycled cotton is beneficial for the environment as it reduces the amount of waste that is produced. … Read more
ESG In Business
ESG in business refers to environmental, social, and governance principles companies integrate into their operations to manage risk, adhere to regulations, and align with evolving societal expectations. Businesses adopting ESG practices assure stakeholders they are part of the solution, which attracts more investment. … Read more
Trend Highlight – Zero Waste in the Hospitality Industry
By letting guests opt out of towel cleaning in the name of sustainability, hotels have been able to cut costs. They’re now extending this logic to shampoo, by replacing single-use shampoo containers with wall-mounted dispensers.
Tiny shampoo bottles are a high-waste product, since the bottle is thrown out if any of it is used, and the amount of plastic required per unit of shampoo is higher when the bottle is smaller. A dispenser can be cleaned off and topped up, at a lower marginal cost—and with less attention paid to keeping a stable inventory of small bottles. When Marriott started a plastic waste reduction program, they estimated it would cut their plastic use by 30%, eliminating 500 million bottles each year.
Shampoo dispensers, like pillow spray (Glimpse, March 2021), were popularized by hotels but have started moving into homes as well. Wall-mounted dispensers don't just reduce physical clutter, but visual clutter, since they mean replacing a product that has a label with a dispenser that doesn't. Much like cereal storage containers (Glimpse, April 2021), shampoo dispensers are a sort of in-home ad blocker, replacing a callout to a brand with a more minimalist display. Brands know that an appealing package can increase sales, and then increase usage after the sale; for customers who don’t want to be pitched products while they shower (even products they like), dispensers are a good solution.
Shampoo dispensers are part of a long-running evolution in how liquid consumer packaged goods get dispensed: when shampoo was first mass-produced in the early 1900s, bottles had unscrewable tops, followed by push buttons, then pumps. Single-serving dispensers may expand soon, into products like mouthwash; it’s already one of the popular features of the increasingly popular toothpaste tablets. Covid also affected the supply for dispensers, since it led to much higher deployment of hand sanitizer and touchless dispensers, and that manufacturing capacity can be redirected to other products afterwards.
There's a continuous tradeoff between usability, the cost of materials, and designs that increase usage and thus increase sales—but as Heinz discovered when they switched to inverted ketchup bottles, giving their customers the last drop of the product is a great way to earn goodwill, since it means the last interaction the customer has with the product is a reminder that they got their money's worth.
Trend Highlight – Carbon Offsets
As doing good for the environment becomes more and more of a social statement for consumers and businesses alike, carbon offsets are increasing in popularity. What's appealing about carbon offsets in particular is that they allow businesses and consumers to address their negative environmental impacts with money instead of a change in behavior or in business practices.
The goal of offsets is to cancel out the impact of emissions-heavy activities such as taking a flight, driving a car, or ordering a package online. In theory, carbon offsets allow environmental projects to make sense economically, where they may not have before. A company considering building a coal plant could instead choose to build a solar plant, and use the money generated from selling carbon offsets in order to cover the higher cost. The company doesn't have to invest any additional funds of their own to complete the project, and those on both sides of the equation can accrue brownie points in consumers' eyes for making more sustainable choices.
While the idea of carbon offsets was first introduced in the context of business, it has been an increasingly popular topic among consumers. This shows in the data: the rise in online consumer discussion of carbon offsets (orange) is noticeably more sudden than the rise of searches (blue), which includes both businesses and consumers.
While the concept makes sense on paper, though, it's far more complex in practice: accurately pricing certain offsets requires measuring environmental impact far into the future, for instance, and it's hard to know for sure whether certain projects would have been undertaken even without the aid of this additional funding.
Trend Highlight – Making Ecommerce Delivery Eco-Friendly
The global rise in ecommerce has led to a corresponding rise in porch pirates and package theft. While some consumers resort to buying doorbell cameras like Ring, or even cameras with “porch pirate insurance” like Kangaroo, others have instead opted to schedule deliveries for when they’re home after work. In this way, getting a delivery only when you’re home is a partial substitute for porch pirate insurance or a doorbell camera.
In e-commerce, the moment a product is delivered is the first and last time a company can make a physical impression on their customer. Budbee, a third-party delivery service popular in Scandinavia, is growing rapidly as it offers to make that first impression better. Like every other customer-facing part of business, it's a combination of a potential cost center and a potential revenue enhancer. In Budbee's case, the revenue enhancement comes from a combination of convenience and eco-friendliness that makes people more likely to make their next purchase from the same place. Home delivery is also more sought after in countries like Sweden where many e-commerce deliveries go to collection points rather than homes by default.
Budbee offers scheduled delivery, with a two-hour window or a paid upgrade to a one-hour window. This essentially allows customers to set a value on their time: if they have precise plans, they can still collect their package, but they need to pay. This also lets Budbee fully capture consumer surplus by precisely tapping into the tradeoff between the two tokens of value we use - time and money.
The app also lets customers track the package in real time. Deliveries are scheduled for the afternoon and evening, which means customers are more likely to be there to receive them. In contrast to corporate customers, who are happy to receive a package during the day and usually have someone on hand to receive it, consumers are choosy about when it’s convenient for them to receive their deliveries. This also means the company can leverage part-time workers, like students, whose other commitments during the day are time-aligned with that of Budbee’s customers.
Budbee mostly uses electric vehicles and sometimes even cargo bikes. As more people become aware of the zero-waste movement, and start to worry that online shopping might be more environmentally costly than physical visits to a store, services like Budbee that can visibly reduce the environmental impact of online shopping are getting more popular. The delivery vehicle is like a life-sized ad calling out the brand’s environmental awareness—and sharing the shopper’s carbon-consciousness with the neighbors, too.
Trend Highlight – Sustainable Toilet Paper
When it comes to toilet paper manufacturing, bamboo has surfaced as an attractive alternative to trees given that it grows very quickly, requires little water and zero pesticides, and can grow back after being cut down.
This is far better for than the environment than using trees, since the production of toilet paper alone accounts for an astounding 15% of deforestation globally.
One of the top brands selling Bamboo Toilet Paper, called "Who Gives a Crap" is growing rapidly. Their site, riddled with entertaining puns, saw traffic reach more than half a million unique visitors in August 2019.
While bamboo's characteristics would suggest it would be a cheaper alternative to trees, it lacks the tremendous economies of scale held by tree-based paper products, which have kept prices down.
As we've seen with mission-driven products like metal straws, mounting environmental concerns have made certain demographics more comfortable spending extra — a shift that will help drive products like these to a larger scale, eventually bringing prices down to compete with their more traditional counterparts.
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See all 1,814 Sustainabilitytrends
