Regeneration, which goes beyond sustainability by creating a more profound and broader socio-economic impact, is right now the hot new virtue among new-age consumers.
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Step aside sustainability, for regeneration is in. In a 2019 survey by ReGenFriends, a staggering 80% of US consumers actively opted for “regenerative” over “sustainable” when selecting brands. For Gen Y and Z consumers, “sustainability” is seen as too passive, and the active choice of regeneration is the way forward, embodying the three noble qualities found in all living systems: renewal, restoration, and growth.
Regeneration goes beyond sustainability by creating a deeper and broader socio-economic impact. Sustainable brands strive just to do less harm to the planet. Regenerative businesses go beyond sustainability and vie to do more goodfor society and the earth.
Regenerative firms are not just about sustainability; they are about boosting the health and vitality of people, places, and the planet in a synergistic manner. This approach is proving to be more than just a feel-good strategy. There is a growing body of evidence suggesting that regenerative businesses can achieve significantly better financial performance and impact than their sustainability-focused peers.
In the Amazon, we find an example of how regeneration works in practice. The murumuru is a palm tree that grows in the Amazon forest. The Amazon’s Indigenous tribes chop this palm tree down and use its wood to produce and sell items such as brooms.
As it happens, we can obtain a highly moisturising butter from the seeds of this palm tree, which is very efficient at repairing and renewing damaged hair. The value of these seeds is seven times greater than that of this palm tree’s wood. As such, people in the Amazon can generate seven times more economic value by preserving the murumuru tree than by cutting it. Businesses are taking notice.
Natura, a Brazilian cosmetics firm, is collaborating with Amazonian Indigenous people to ethically source murumuru butter for a variety of hair care products using their traditional farming techniques.
This mutually beneficial collaboration means Indigenous communities are regenerating themselves and the planet along three complementary dimensions: economic(by increasing their income), socio-cultural (by preserving and utilising their traditional agricultural expertise) and environmental(by safeguarding the biodiversity of the Amazon and its forests).
