New Year, New Ambitions?

The tradition of making a New Year’s Resolution is entrenched in ancient roots. Originally, used as a promise or commitment to Gods to repay debts or return borrowed items, they were a form of restoration. Resolutions evolved through Roman times to include reflection on the past as well as promises for the future, that often included self-improvement and atonement for mistakes made.

During the 19th and 20th centuries, New Year’s Resolutions became less about religion and spiritualism, and more about personal goals, self-improvement and fulfilment, improving health, achieving career milestones or stopping bad habits.

Interestingly, current generations are making fewer resolutions, and we can wonder why that is; are people in a constant state of self-improvement already or do they not feel the value of commitment to something in the quest to improve? Are we living in a society where much more is expected without having to put any effort into achievement?

Businesses of all types in our leather industry can benefit from the ritual of making formal New Year Resolutions – business objectives – to improve their performance across specific areas within their control. Whether it is an environmental commitment, a social improvement for employees or enhancing ethical business practice, all leather industry organisations can realise a healthier, robust and more profitable triple bottom line (Planet – People – Profit) by applying the simple principles that have stood people in good stead for centuries.

Improvement is not finite. As we understand more than ever before about impacts that affect the health and sustainability of our planet and people, so our industry has to evolve to continue to meet the standards and expectations of society. It can sometimes appear that the goalposts are constantly changing, and they are, particularly in legislative terms when new regulations and legal requirements are being introduced at a rapid rate, but our industry must be dynamic in its approach to continue to thrive.

The most important factor that a business can do is to stop just thinking about profit at all costs and instead broaden the measures of success to include planet and people. Understanding that if you start to consider planet and people, you can still be profitable and money spent will bring a return on investment in savings through efficiency, and staff retention, knowledge and commitment.

The triple bottom line (TBL) approach encourages businesses to:

Operate more responsibly

Build trust with stakeholders

Contribute to long-term sustainability

Drive innovation through profit alignment with social and environmental goals.

It can be challenging to measure the success and impact of the TBL in a purely quantitative or monetary way, and it has to be balanced with operational need and profitability, but it is imperative that as an industry we adopt this approach collectively and emphatically. It will be worth it in the long term.

At the Sustainable Leather Foundation (SLF), our entire remit is based on our proven, systematic A.I.M. (Accessible, Inclusive, Modular) approach to sustainable ESG practice. Evaluation of where an organisation currently sits in terms of ESG performance, coupled with transparency and visibility of progress, visualised through our Transparency Dashboard™, means that any company can start to make meaningful resolutions (objectives) backed up by the Foundation’s support to achieve them.

So, let’s start 2025 with a commitment, a resolution to make improvements that can be measured and demonstrated. The time is now and wherever you are in terms of existing performance, certification and verification, you can start by making those resolutions.
We wish you all a healthy, happy and prosperous year ahead!

If you would like to talk to us about how you can begin your journey with SLF, please contact: info@sustainableleatherfoundation.com or arrange to meet with us at:
Lineapelle, Milan: 25-27 February 2025
APLF, Hong Kong: 12-14 March 2025