The majority of products could readily be more sustainable in terms of the resources they use, how they are made, the people that are involved and what happens to them when we are finished with them.

Taking the first step to understand and address some of these issues may well be the hardest thing to do since the transparency of a product’s story is rare to find unless you dig deep to find it.

Newleaf starts the journey by identifying the sustainability hotspots across the supply chain at various stages of the product's lifecycle.

We can look at specific issues, like carbon or water footprints, or we can look at wider challenges like land use, ecosystem services, ethics in the workforce, wider socio-economic considerations, closed loop systems, pollution and toxic chemicals, reduction in the use of virgin materials and many more.

Only when you know the nature and scale of the issues that you are trying to solve can you re-design products and processes with confidence.