How the Blockchain Can Snuff out Eco-Unfriendly Manufacturers

This may sound like a broad statement, but the blockchain technology truly has the capability to snuff out manufacturers that don’t really care about the surrounding environment.

Considering the fact that eco-friendly business is slowly but surely starting to become the main focus of the larger population in the world, it’s important to note just what type of tools ordinary people like you and I have in order to somehow oppose corporations that continue to damage the environment.

This could be boycotts of a specific product from a specific manufacturer, but sometimes it’s very hard to identify these specific products. Therefore, even while consciously trying to avoid buying from these companies we may slip once or twice. And that once or twice slip including all of the consumers is millions, if not billions of dollars for these corporations.

These companies have already identified that bad PR only lasts for about a month, and after that, the market simply quiets down and everybody returns to their daily lives, continuing to buy these products. Therefore, the corporations don’t really bother to implement the changes that are being advocated for by the public.

But thanks to the blockchain, that may soon change very quickly.

Traceable products through Blockchain technology

It may be surprising but the blockchain technology isn’t necessarily all about cryptocurrencies; it has quite a lot of applications in things like data science, cybersecurity, and various other technology fields.

However, its adoption in the retail world is mostly according to data science. What contractors do is they convince large corporations to label their products with a small traceable code that is then identified through a blockchain application on consumers’ smartphones.

It’s so elaborate that people can even find where the raw materials came from in order to produce this specific product.

Thanks to the traceability and the transparency of this system, consumers are able to clearly and easily identify what the product went through, who made it and where it was made.

Any kind of tampering with the data would immediately be displayed on the smart contract and therefore would be very easily identifiable, thus making any “cheating” methods obsolete.

By simply being aware of the brand, of a specific product a consumer can voluntarily abstain from purchasing it due to its manufacturer’s poor business practices one of which is the pollution of the environment.

Almost every manufacturer has received an extensive audit on its operations. It’s just the policies that don’t necessarily change that give them the opportunity to continue production as they’re doing right now.

However, the loss in sales which simple transparency could cause in the manufacturer’s business is sure to convince them that their way of doing business is a thing of the past.

Same can be used for non-ethical manufacturing

Non-ethical manufacturing is mostly referred to as the exploitation of specific ethnic or social groups for cheap labor. Despite the millions, if not billions received in direct profits from the sale of said products, should consumers find out that the product was indeed created through unethical norms, they can abstain as well.

Through such “amendments” the consumer themselves will receive the steering wheel on how companies operate and not the government necessarily. The only weakness to this blockchain method is the manufacturers of necessities. In that regard, it will be very hard for the larger consumer base to abstain from it.

But regardless, it’s a start that could potentially result in a much better natural as well as the business environment in the world.

Removal of frauds and knockoffs

Another serious issue that our modern markets face is the sale of knockoffs for the price of originals. Unfortunately, not every consumer is aware of the give-away factors that most knockoffs come with.

Interestingly enough, the manufacturers of these knockoffs still have their legal side in mind, meaning that they don’t necessarily make the exact copies of designer clothes or expensive brands. They make just slight adjustments so that they can squeeze through the copyright laws.

In the end, the consumer is left with a worse quality product for the price of a much better one.

With the blockchain traceability system, consumers will benefit from the transparency of online retail shops and etc, thus snuffing out all the copy cats and opening the market for beginner designers.

Are these tangible achievements for the future?

Multiple industries have already implemented this blockchain traceability on their platforms and are supplying their customers with constant issues of information about where the product is being manufactured, and where the raw materials are coming from.

Currently, those products include wine from Australia and designer clothes from South Korea. Additional efforts are currently being conducted to broaden the range of this initiative and hopefully encompass the whole world at one point.