World consumer rights day: Utomi urges sustainable consumption
World consumer rights day: Utomi urges sustainable consumption
Consumers
By Stellamaris Ashinze
Lagos, March 16, 2020 (NAN) Prof. Pat Utomi, Political Economist and Chairman, Feedback Hall Limited, on said on Monday that consumers had an important responsibility to consume in sustainable manner.
Utomi said this at a news briefing organised by Feedback Hall in Lagos to mark the World Consumer Rights Day with the year 2020 theme: ”The Sustainable Consumer”.
News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that World Consumer Rights Day is celebrated every March 15.
Utomi said that sustainable consumption required consumers to demand for and patronise products and services that preserved the environment.
According to him, it also requires consumers to use these products in a way that minimises their impact on the environment.
“Such ways include, limiting waste, that is, doing more with less, limiting pollution, reusing what is reusable and disposing the rest responsibly.
”Sustainable consumption is important to ensure that resources are available not only for the present generation but for future generations.
”For consumers to consume in sustainable manner, companies and organisations that regulate them have important roles to play,” he said.
According to him, since consumers cannot produce most of what they use, companies need to change their production model to offer products that are truly sustainable.
He said that in addition, companies needed to stop green-washing consumers noting that some companies claimed that their products were organic or natural when they were not.
Utomi said that regulators needed to ensure that not just final products but also production processes were sustainable.
He said the Feedback Hall would continue to provide consumer the intelligence required to formulate and implement strategies and policies by connecting consumers and companies through constructive feedback system as well as research.
Also speaking, Lead Consulting Visioner, Dr Chiugo Kanu, said that since the launch of the feedback hall website, there were over 5,000 users and about 6,000 feedbacks to different companies.
Kanu said that they encouraged companies to come online so as to know what people were saying about their companies.
She said that Feedback Hall would provide support for people and companies who were genuinely interested in promoting sustainable consumption.
According to her, the support will be a comprehensive nationwide consumer research on sustainable consumption, experience, satisfaction with current products and unmet needs among others.
She however said the mobile app of Feedback Hall would be launched soon to encourage more consumers/companies interaction.
NAN reports that Feedback Hall launched a website in August 2018 to bring consumer, regulators and companies on a common platform to address the challenges of consumers as well as encourage companies when necessary.(NAN)
SKA/CHOM/DCU
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Edited by Chioma Ugboma/Donald Ugwu