Hopping at double digit pace, laundry practices in India can no more be surreptitious with no accountability of water and energy consumption. According to an MIT survey, 25% of the global laundry players have accepted that the adoption of sustainable practices has added to their profitability citing “Improved innovation in products & services.” This is widely seen as a ‘Pro-environmental behaviour model’ which includes the combination of knowledge and pro-environmentalism with sustainable laundry practices. The model advocates the latest eco-efficient laundry operations to ‘Go Green’. For Indian laundry operators, the buzz remains around the base model – the Hines Model of Responsible Behaviour Model – to minimise the waste consumption at work place.
Vijay Rodda, Veteran Laundry Consultant gives an account of the understanding of the elements accountable for the sustainable laundry.
AS THE laundry’s image in India shifts from dhobi & dhobighat to self-service laundry and online laundry apps, there is a growing concern to minimize wasteful consumption of energy, water, product, labour, and packaging.
There are five stake-holders for sustainability of any business, including Laundry – viz. Customers, Shareholders, Management & Staff, Suppliers, and Society. Laundry, however, has added advantage over manufacturing as it is a service industry and product is to be produced and consumed in a limited area. There cannot be import-substitute.
All five stake-holders are to be comfortable with the working of laundry for its sustainability.
- Customers:
Quality and price commensurate with it are necessary. For quality, steps given in this article are a must. [The steps shown will take care of staff & management requirements]. - Shareholders:
Growth and financial gains are necessary, hence profit needs to be generated through satisfied clients, as above. - Management and Staff:
Staff needs to be looked after, both financially and with facilities. Hence, more sales and profits are required. Only then, staff will feel motivated, & produce better quality product. - Suppliers:
They are to be treated well and paid dues in time. Again, this aspect is related to sales and profit. - Society:
Lesser consumption of depleting resources, less pollution, less noise and community welfare.
Quality will be good if following points are considered. It will be of utmost importance for customers, so that they are satisfied, & there are repeat dealings, a major requirement for any business to grow & sustain. There are other considerations as well, viz. price, delivery, collection, handling etc.
