The amiiko project

amiiko was founded to create awareness of important global challenges and, eventually, to show how negative trends can be changed.

The site currently covers 4 general themes. These are:

1. The environment
2. Energy & climate
3. Your health
4. People

Disturbing things are happening in each of these areas. We want to highlight some of them, and to illustrate how they essentially are linked to our consumption of goods and services.

We also want to emphasize and show that we all, as consumers, can make a positive difference by paying more attention to the things we buy. The “you & your stuff” section gives examples of how your choice of companies and products have real world consequences.

The vision: Powering consumer empowerment

Our vision is to create change through consumer empowerment.

As a consumer you have power. This power is exercised through your choice of products and services to buy. Companies produce what consumers demand. So if you start demanding and buying products that are both socially and environmentally responsible it has real world effects. In short, you vote with your money.

Yet, to make such an impact possible you need information. A lot of such information is out there, but it is not always easy to come by. We are working to change this.

We are still in development

Realizing our vision of consumer empowerment requires 2 steps:

1. To create awareness of important global challenges and how they are linked to our consumption of goods and services (why buy green?).
2. To give more specific guidance on “good” products and companies (how to buy green?).

The current site only deals with the first step – but we are working hard on the second!

To fund the development of this work we are looking for leading green companies and organizations to sponsor amiiko. Read more about this here.

The rise of the third factor

Traditionally, price and quality have been the main determinants of consumer choice in the market place. In recent years, however, a third factor has gained importance – namely the capacity for companies to conduct an environmentally and socially responsible business.

This “third factor” is different from the first two because it is much more complex and difficult to evaluate for consumers.

The reason for this is that many of the factors that determine the sustainability profile of a product are hidden for consumers. For example, you cannot spot bad chemicals, and you cannot tell if a product has been produced using child labor. You need information!

Our goal is to create transparency regarding this sustainability factor so consumers more easily can incorporate it into their purchasing decisions. In short, you “vote” with your money. In this way, socially and environmentally responsible companies will be duly rewarded for their efforts.

The barrier of “Greenwashing”

Greenwashing is a term used to describe false “green claims” by companies, i.e. misleading use of green marketing. It is a major obstacle for consumers to go green as it makes it even more difficult for them to know which companies are truly green. Likewise, it makes it much more difficult for genuinely “good” companies to stand out in the market.

Creating transparency regarding the sustainability profile of products will help to eliminate the problem of greenwashing.