Our founder was asked to answer a few questions regarding sustainability and what it means to him.

For once he managed to give short answers (yes these are short… lucky you) and keep it to the point.

So we thought it could be something that we all could read and possibly learn something from. What is sustainable and what is the right way no one can really answer, perhaps it is more important that we focus on the effort and the willingness to change.  That will make it in the end more or less sustainable. If that will be enough only the future generations will know.

How would you describe the way you work with sustainability in your company today?

eicó is one of the most sustainable paint makers in the world. We as one of the few companies are looking at the processes from cradle to grave. For example, we do not use fossil fuel in production. We only produce in locations where there is no water shortage and also the quality of water is very pure. That in combination means that our products will make, already at the production stage, a significantly smaller carbon footprint - and thereby reducing the risk of our production having negative effects on the environment.

Adding to this, we are also very focused on what goes into our paint. We constantly improve and work to lessen our impact. As an example, we are soon to use food waste binders and food waste acrylics changing from what we use currently, plant based products. Most of our competitors are still using petrochemical products. We do not add any of the known poisons such as lead, heavy metals, formaldehyde and so on. Additionally, we are APEO (Alkylphenol ethoxylates) as well as MI (Methylisothiazolinone) free.

As we are mainly a product providing company, a lot of what we do is focused on improving our products and continuously reducing our impact. Sustainability is eternal and we can all improve.

We also promote sustainability in many different ways. Presentations in schools and workplaces. We support many sustainable and socially aware projects in all locations we have established. In HK we have helped Chinese International School to build a sustainable vegetable garden. We arrange beach cleaning. We collaborate with other companies that share our ethos. In short, every single aspect of what we undertake in the name of eicó, according to our own Eico standard, has to be sustainable and/or socially aware. 

It is not a "do-good" thing. It is all business. If companies, as well as individuals, ignore to change we will have nothing left. Constantly change for the better is the only way to survive as a business.

Tell us about your own journey within sustainability!

Being Swedish it is really hard not to have a sustainable mind. The brainwashing that most of us been exposed to during our informative years will make an impact. I do not think standing screaming on a soapbox is very effective or even very smart. You will get a following, but you will not change a lot. So my journey has had very little screaming and aggressively forcing my view on my surroundings. But the road to a better way of life is nevertheless straight and focused. As a former investment banker, I have had the fortune of earning some money and all of that is now spent on doing good. I have been given a chance to make a difference and I took it!

 
How would you like to help make Hong Kong and the world more sustainable?

I wish I could make enough money by selling eicó products so I can focus harder and more on making a real difference. Modern life is all about how much money you have as that will dictate what you can afford to do!

But before that can happen I have more modest targets such as to convince all in my immediate surroundings to use a better decorative product based on knowledge about the risks and benefits. If that ends up being eicó I am happy. However, first and foremost I want us all to question the providers we use. By changing what we consume we can change the world. Standing on soapboxes are little bit more than self-marketing! 

If I can help to change the way we procure I have succeeded. It is at the end of the day all about knowledge. The lack and the unwillingness to obtain knowledge are what make many companies a lot of money. 

What is sustainable?

When we, today, walk into any store the first thing you see is almost always something “healthy” “sustainable” or a to slogans to that at effect. Very few products today are free from a slogan on the packaging such as “good for you” something!

Have we ever stopped to think what it means? Is it sustainable if you buy a fresh apple flown in from New Zeeland? Or is a package of bread that is “Healthy fitness bread” with a sell-by-date 2 weeks from now?

When a product states that it is sustainable, I often wonder what is their reason for calling it sustainable?

We firstly need to decide what is most important to us. Healthy for an individual does not mean sustainable. Organic does not mean healthy and so on.

What is it we care about and what research do we do, if any at all?

Looking at sustainable. That is the most important part and also the one that supersede healthy, organic and all others.

If we can’t sustain ourselves then being healthy is not really important. “Smart” marketing has really no value if there is no one to see it. Sustainable is the one and only important aspect in what we are doing to ourselves. On a business and company level it is even more pertinent and in the not to distant future it will be an asset and companies will stand and fall based on their sustainability. It is already making some impact in business. ESG and sustainable finance. At the moment most of the time it is still marketing but it is a small step in the right direction.

In paint and decorative materials, we are also inundated with “good for you” platitudes. Everything is this or that good. Fact is most of it is at the same level of goodness or badness...

Things to look for in paint. What you do not want from a health pesrpective.

Lead. One of the unhealthy additives found in paint in Asia. It is banned most other places. That is especially dangerous for our young. It is an endocrine disrupter and it can make serious damages. According to WHO. Read more about it here

https://www.who.int/ipcs/assessment/public_health/gaelp/en/

Other endocrine disrupters that is also found in many household goods as well as in paints. NFEO or APEO. These are bad and again something you need to make sure is not in the products you use. Today they are used in a large number of products mostly because we consumers have no knowledge of the damages and there is no regulation that stop the producers from using it. It is after all at the point of production about making money. Read more about it here

https://insights.basf.com/home/article/read/q-a-demand-for-apeo-free-coatings-drives-new-product-development

MI is a chemical used to help transporting and storing among other things paint products. There is a growing issue related to allergy caused by the exposure to MI and various acronyms describing the same product. Here you can read a recent American study on MI

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6489126/

There are more concerns and there are more things that is bad for you and the environment you live in. These are some of the major ones and one or all will be in most of the household goods and paints you use. Next time you go to the store ask them for a product without these. I am, sadly, sure that most will not even know about it and far less can tell you if they are added to the products they sell. If they do not know assume that it is in the products they are offering. Then you can decide for yourself if you want it or not.

Also, when we are talking about sustainable there are other aspects that are equally important for our long term well-being.

See part 2 for more.

This is part two of a discussion on sustainability.

Returning to what was said earlier on, being healthy with a lack of environment to be healthy in is kind of a wasted health?

If you like to with your purchase tell producers that you want only to use products that are not abusing the resources.

Look for products that uses alternative energy sources or at least a minimum of carbon-based energy. Water, a lot of water, is used for pretty much everything so make sure production is located where there are natural and not perishable water resources. Also find out what are the general ingrediencies in the products you are looking to acquire.

As all things. Sustainability and health are evolutionary. We did some generations ago give heroin to cure basic illnesses. The rich and famous ate food on lead plates. We learn and we adopt. Also in regards to health and sustainability.  

NB. The links are a small selection of information that is readily available online. Most is related to research in Europe and America. Very little is available in or regarding Asia.

Trouble and strife can also present opportunities.

We have seen Hong Kong life being suppressed for almost a full year, and there is no immediate end in sight. We all know it will end and that we need to be ready to roar and pick up where we left it.

It is also a fact that the latest disruption is a medical one and that all surfaces need to be clean and renewed. With few people, be they patients or pupils, moving around it is an ideal opportunity to do something that will reduce the health risk and make good on the sentiment felt by everyone.

Adding to this we can probably expect some changes to the summer break, we really need to catch up with the year as a whole and can assume that we will all be lot less free during the 2020 summer break.

Use the current disruption to do annual updates and make good the recent disruptions. Some good advice we came across recently. Cleaning and resurfacing, Take the chance to make a statement.

Use a material that will not only enable you to clean the surfaces rather than repeated repainting but also making a clear statement towards sustainability and health. Use eicó paint products and you will reduce the repainting cycle and you will help improve your sustainability effort, with minimum downtime of space.

eicó is one of the most sustainable decorative products in the market. It is also one of the longest lasting and highest quality products you can find.

A long list of new and returning clients, have already discovered this. eicó is often specified for hospitals, schools and other public buildings. Join the eicó family, do the right thing. Take the opportunity.