Biodiversity as a guideline for product development

Diverse, healthy ecosystems are vital for humankind. They provide us clean air and water, and restrain climate change due to working as carbon sinks. Biodiversity also has a role as the supporter of business activity – for example, the supply of numerous natural resources and materials leans on healthy ecosystems.

Biodiversity loss threatens the well-being of nature and humans

Even though ecosystem services, supported by rich biodiversity, are fundamental for life, they are not self-evident. Just now, biodiversity is declining so rapidly that many scientists are referring to the phenomenon as the sixth mass extinction.

The reasons behind the biodiversity loss can be found from human action. Especially, intensive land use, contaminants burdening the environment and climate change are changing the living conditions of non-human species and thus, weakening their chances to survive.

Several countries and international organizations have reacted to the alarming state of biodiversity. As an example, the EU Biodiversity Strategy determines the union’s goals for protecting biological diversity until the year 2030.

Biodiversity as a guideline for business

Protecting and supporting biodiversity is also companies’ responsibility. At InnoGreen, we believe that every company has the keys to business activity that truly supports biological diversity. We think that addressing biodiversity is a strategic choice, which should lead every business decision. At InnoGreen, this can be seen in our new products and their development.

Besides nature, our customers and cooperation partners benefit from biodiversity-friendly product development. Since addressing biological diversity and creating new solutions and procedures go hand in hand, product development that supports biodiversity offers our customers and collaborators an opportunity to take part in pioneer work that tackles one of the most significant catastrophes of our time.

In a product development process guided by biodiversity we examine the product’s whole life cycle. We ask, for instance: How do the production, use, and disposing the product affect biodiversity? How can we reduce the negative effects the product has on biological diversity? Could the product even have a positive biodiversity effect? This way, we create solutions that, by their parts, ensure a healthy future both for humans and nature, as well as a wealthy economic situation not only for us, but the next generations.

How InnoGreen addresses biodiversity in product development?

1. We base our product development on scientific research and cooperation with experts of the field, so that the final products truly support nature’s well-being.
2. We prefer sustainably and responsibly, locally produced materials, whose production is ecological and the environmental burden from transportation is low.
3. We design our outdoor furniture’s vegetation to support the local plant and insect communities.
4. We boost our products with features that enrich biodiversity, such as insect hotels targeted to local pollinator species.
5. We ensure our products’ long life cycle by offering professional maintenance and renting services.