Introduction:

This report pertains to the value chain of Petal and Pup, and online fast-fashion boutique. Petal and Pup is an Australian based boutique that ships worldwide, selling clothing that is stylish and trendy, for an assumed predominately female audience (www.petalandpup.com.au)

Purpose

In this report, the value chain of Petal and Pup will be analysed and the relevant SDGs will be mapped along it. A justification for the location of each SDG mapped will be provided, followed by further explanation of the positive impacts Petal and Pup has, as well as the negative impacts, and how they can be minimised.

Justification of SDG Location

Overall, you can see that Petal and Pup has mostly negative impacts with their value chain on the SDGs. This is likely because they are a fast-fashion company, and fast-fashion is incredibly harmful to the environment (Niinimäki et al., 2020). There have been 5 SDGs mapped along the value chain. Their location is justified below;

• SDG 5 Gender Equality has been mapped for a positive impact in Product Use. It is mapped in Product Use because this is when customers are using the product, and their customers are mostly females who feel empowered buying and wearing Petal and Pup clothing.
• SDG 8 Decent Work and Economic Growth has been mapped both positively and negatively. First, it is mapped positively in Company Operations because petal and pup employs a range of people in Australia, and Australia has really good employment standards, meaning those employees have decent work. SDG8 has also been mapped negatively in Suppliers.  This is because many of the suppliers that Petal and Pup uses are China based. They have many products that are made in China, and there is no reports on how ethical the standards in these manufacturing companies are.
• SDG12 Responsible Production and Consumption has been mapped negatively in Product Use, that is because they encourage mass purchasing and consumption by offering a fast-fashion approach. They have a low price point and often offer sales. Secondly, SDG12 has been mapped in Product End Life because they don’t offer any advice, or any programs, for recycling or swapping of the clothes once the user doesn’t want them anymore.
• SDG15 Climate Action has been mapped negatively in Raw Materials, because many of Petal and Pup’s garments are made from synthetic fabrics, which are harsh on the earth to produce. In the same notion, SDG15 has been mapped in Product End Life because these synthetic fibres don’t break down when they are in the waste.
• SDG6 Clean Water and Sanitation has been mapped negatively in Product Use. That is because when clothing arrives to the customer it is often in soft plastics, which generally require more effort to recycle as you cannot recycle them at home. That means that it is likely that much of this plastic ends up polluting our oceans.

Increasing the Positive Impacts

Petal and Pup currently has two positive impacts. Firstly, SDG5, Gender Equality, is mapped positively in product use as it empowers females who wear the garments. The garments are currently worn comfortably by pregnant women, mothers, and working women alike. But, only for an exclusive size range- from size 6-12. Petal and Pup could empower women further by offering more inclusive size ranges. Secondly, while Petal and Pup shows some diversity of women on their social media, there are no women of colour promoted, and none of the models are diverse. Improving these would further empower women through inclusion. 

Secondly, SDG8, Decent Work and Economic Growth, has a positive impact on Company Operations as many employees are working in Australia, and Australia has good working conditions. To improve this further, Petal and Pup should continue to hire domestic labour, rather than outsourcing the work like marketing etc internationally for below minimum wage. Further, Petal and Pup should offer personal development opportunities for all employees.

Decreasing the Negative Impacts

Petal and Pup currently have many negative impacts on the SDGs and this can be turned around, so that the negative impacts can become positive. Firstly, Petal and Pup has a negative impact on SDG8, Decent Work and Economic Growth, because they purchase product of international suppliers, many of which are in China where the warehouse conditions are unreported or unknown. To better this,  Petal and Pup could either move production onshore to Australian Manufacturers, or alternatively, could keep product offshore but partner with a specific manufacturing company to set up employee agreements and other agreements to protect offshore employees.

Secondly, Petal and Pup has a negative impact on SDG12, Responsible Production and Consumption in product use, because they have a fast-fashion business model. The best option for change here is to implement a slower fashion model, similar to Sabo Skirt. That means limited designs, limited quantity, and limited sales on items to encourage consumers to buy less and wear them more. SDG12 also has a negative impact on Product End Life because they don’t offer any advice on how to recycle their items, or any recycling programs like H&M does. To improve, they could educate consumers on how to either recycle their clothing properly, they could partner with a charity that unwanted clothes can be gifted to, and they can launched a swapping program like H&M.

Petal and Pup also have negative impact on SDG15, Climate Action, in raw materials and product end life. To improve this, better quality fabrics need to be included in their garments, and this is an agreement that could also be reached with their partner manufacturing company. By switching to natural and organic fibres in their garments, production will be kinder to the earth, and when/if the garments end up in landfill, they won’t be damaging to the earth and will biodegrade.

Last, Petal and Pup has a negative impact on SDG6, Clean Water and Sanitation, in Product Use, because they use plastic packaging to deliver garments to customers. Firstly, the postal bags should be swapped for biodegradable ones. Secondly, all plastics that the garments come in should be kept in the Petal and Pup warehouse, so that Petal and Pup can recycle the soft plastics, taking the ownness and hassle away from the consumers.