photo credit: juanpol

Making its way through the business blogs this week is a discussion of an article Umair Haque wrote for HarvardBusiness.org blog musing about how Apple could produce its devices in the USA under fair labor conditions and how much more it would cost them and cost the consumer:

how much would it cost to produce a “Good iPod”? One not produced in a sweatshop, but under decent labour conditions. Like, for example, one produced in the USA — hardly a paragon of labour standards, but a starting point.

That’s what I calculated. The Sloan Foundation data estimate just $4 of an iPod’s cost is the final assembly in China. Using average Chinese hourly compensation costs, that’s about 2.7 hours of labour. I then used American hourly compensation costs to adjust for what that final assembly might cost in the States.

The results are surprising. An American made iPod Classic costs just 23% more than a Chinese made iPod Classic: $58 more, to be precise.

A 23% increase in price would almost certainly deter a subset of consumers, but one has to assume that the fair labor practices would attract a different subset, and one that would potentially exhibit loyalty to Apple as it demonstrates the values these consumers espouse. In the end, would it even out? Who knows. It’s a meaningful thought exercise, though, and moreover, it’s the kind of question American businesses should be asking in order to aid the recovery our own economy and workforce.

Hague goes on to say:

If goods cost what they should, we would consume what we could authentically afford, instead of overconsuming what we couldn’t. If their prices reflected real human costs, perhaps yesterday’s unsustainably large macro imbalances wouldn’t have built up in the first place. And that, from an economic point of view, would be good for everyone.

I couldn’t agree more.

But how about you? Does this seem like an unnecessary step, or is it a change Apple should be exploring immediately? What is your take?

It’s not often that I do a double-take when I’m shopping for routine household goods, but last week I was actually on my tiptoes with excitement over a new version of an old product. What had me so enthusiastic? If you can even believe it, it was plastic bags.

Having a small child in the home, we seem to use a lot of sandwich and snack bags these days. Nothing is quite as convenient for Cheerios, cheddar bunnies, carrot sticks, graham crackers, or even a handful of wipes as a Ziploc bag, and we go through plenty of these plastic disposables every month. I’ve been less than thrilled with using even this small amount of plastic, but it never occurred to me that the bags would or could become more environmentally friendly.

Enter my show-stopping product: The new eco-friendly Ziploc evolve sandwich and storage bags are made from a new resin that uses 25% less plastic than their regular bags, are manufactured using approximately 50% renewable wind energy and packaged in a 100% recycled box, with at least 35% postconsumer content. I read these stats over and over again in disbelief. Ziploc is a brand of SC Johnson, a company that has been working rather diligently to transform their brands into “green” products; frankly, until the evolve bags, I wasn’t really convinced they were serious. I suspected that most of their effort was re-marketing the same old thing with new words and label designs without actually making a change.

It’s difficult to deny the statistics behind the new product. Significantly less plastic, 100% recycled packaging, and what impressed me the most, clean renewable energy as a major power source in production. As a consumer, I truly appreciate the opportunity to put my money into a company that is making a positive change in how it brings products to market and in how that product makes an impact on our world through its lifecycle.

I’m going to keep trying to cut back on the bags and use more reusable plastic products; but SC Johnson has my gratitude for their new direction, and my support with a new loyalty to their brand when I do need some sandwich bags. I only hope they will retool their entire lineup to meet the same standards of this one product!

This may not be the product that gets your attention, but I’m sure something has. What companies have you made a conscience effort to support because they are willing to change? What are you willing to change in your work that will encourage new supporters for you?