Do Viet Anh - Chairman of BOO Trading Jsc: "We are the first company to have a separate department on the environment"

DNHN - Since its establishment around 2009, BOO has had many activities towards environmental protection and sustainable fashion production and business. What makes you have such a relatively "advanced" point of view, at a time when it seems that environmental protection is still just a concept with slogans and slogans, but not yet put into practice?

Later, as the business grew, especially when Cow Milk by BOO was born, I realized that I could also make a definite impact on a set of customers. Since then, the programs have been made larger and more systematic, such as a t-shirt design competition, in conjunction with WWF (International Organization for Conservation of Nature) and the London School of Fashion Design. The first year it was held, the contest received a lot of submissions! We do the best exams, maybe 50-100 or so. 

When I first came back to Vietnam, to be honest, I didn't have enough awareness about environmental issues, only that Vietnam was so dusty. I also learn more and interact more with NGOs, and with people working on the environment. Since then, I realized the complex nature of environmental problems, decided I was "small", and then I started to do small things to protect the environment. 

At that time, I thought it was simply that my customers were young, I could convince them to protect the environment, the same way I brought skater fashion to them. 

I have a mindset when doing business, profit is not everything. I think that businesses need to create positive value. It is the joy behind the business, the pride we always hold and the fire of enthusiasm that keeps us going for the long haul. Is it possible that because of that mindset, we have been in business for many years, and now we are still poor? (laugh) 

What is different about BOO's environmental protection programs? 

Mr Do Viet Anh: In the beginning, environmental protection is still something that seems far away. The State also has many banners, slogans, many propaganda programs on environmental protection, but in my opinion, these have not touched the emotions of young people. I decided to spread the message about the environment but in a way that touches the emotions of young people. 

Take for example a t-shirt design contest. Instead of organizing a painting contest, and drawing posters as many places do, we chose to print a message about the environment on the shirt. If it was a painting, people would finish watching it and then go home, not knowing how much would be left. But with T-shirts, customers feel beautiful, they wear them on the street. I just made a rough calculation, assuming each of you wears that shirt and comes into contact with 10 people, then with 100 shirts, I will spread the message to 1,000 people. 

For the first 5-7 years, we propagated the message of environmental protection in that way. It was only because, at that time, I thought it was good enough to change people's awareness of the environment. 

One day, I suddenly came up with the question: "So what do I do when I propagate it"? Just cheering without doing much, don't wait for anyone to judge, even my mind doesn't recognize me. 

Fortunately, gradually protecting the environment has become a "trend", talked about by many parties, from the State, and organizations to businesses. Those parties did a better job of propaganda than we did, so we moved on to something else. 

So right from 2009, BOOVironment was born, as a division for separate activities and projects on the environment. Perhaps we are the first business to have its environmental department! 

The strategy I outlined is how to make myself "greener" so that my business is "green" right from the start of operation. The fashion industry "contributes" terribly to the destruction of nature, so how do I make greener production, use cleaner and more sustainable materials, and find a way to sell products at the end of their life cycle? for collection and recycling. 

Businesses now talk about the environment a lot, but some of them do it, while others just "borrow" the reputation of environmental protection for advertising and marketing activities. However, consumers are very smart, and can easily recognize who is doing things. 

There is a term "greenwashing" to refer to businesses that polish their names with environmental protection messages but have no real activities and do not comply with their commitments. 

I am very afraid of the name greenwashing. Scared to connect, in the early years, there were programs and projects, we enlarged the logo of BOOVironment as much as possible, and the logo of BOO was kept very small, not even allowed to. 

What exactly is BOOVironment doing, sir? 

Mr Do Viet Anh: BOOVironment operates based on 3 strategic areas: green stores; green offices and green production. 

Some programs are still running through the years, such as collecting old clothes. BOO organizes a collection of old products from customers. Goods that are still in good use can be given to people in need, called "old people, new people". Broken or torn items can be recycled to make other items, such as bags. 

The story of 'green inside and out' at BOO 3 

Last year, due to some personnel problems, I "lost" this department. However, this year I will rebuild BOOVironment, with the "legacy" leftover from the past 10 years. 

A new activity that will be implemented this year is "green KPI", that is, assigning "green" targets to each department and department of the Company, instead of just applying KPIs related to profits and sales. 

The green KPI, for example, for the manufacturing department, is to find ways to increase the use of cleaner materials, so that the production process has less impact on the environment. The marketing department has to change the perception of more customers, and it must be measurable, for example, the green message of BOO must reach 1 million customers. 

Or like the human resources department, we set rules such as minimizing the order of takeout because that will create a lot of disposable plastic waste, or "fine" a small amount for the use of food. use nylon bags. 

I see, have done, talked about the environment, it must be really "green" internally, in the culture of the organization and business. To be honest, BOO's culture is still not very "green", so there must be more activities like that to build the "green" that we want. 

Wanting to build a green corporate culture, setting sustainable goals above profits, have you ever encountered opposition from your associates? 

Mr Do Viet Anh: Referring to BOO, I must mention that my partner is Mr Do Viet Hung, my twin brother. 

In the beginning, when we came up with the idea, we also argued a lot. In the end, Hung decided to "give up" me. I came up with the idea, and Mr Hung took care of the backstage. Thanks to that, I was free to go, go wrong but still go quite fast. 

There is a story that when we started building BOO, we found the print quality in Vietnam was too poor, every two or three times it would peel off. So decided to "play big", and spend 600 million VND to buy a good printer from China. 

After I bought it, I don't know how to use it. Hung is the one who goes around asking people for instructions on how to print, but most of them "hide their jobs". Fortunately, he finally learned how to print, and even accidentally found a source of Japanese ink, which was the best ink at that time, and the least polluting. 

So back then, there was a quality label on the products, and there was always a line about quality ink. Sustainable values ​​always accompany us, whether by accident or purpose. 

Do you have any goals for BOO's "green" orientation? 

Mr Do Viet Anh: This year, I set a goal that at least 51% of the cotton material that BOO uses must be sustainable, and more environmentally friendly. 

This number of 51% has been achieved a few years ago, but Covid-19 made many activities difficult, so BOO was "retarded". This year I set a goal to recover, in the next 3-5 years, the rate of sustainable materials will be over 90%. 

In the next 3-5 years, the proportion of sustainable materials in BOO's production will be over 90%, so are you thinking of 100%? 

Mr Do Viet Anh: I think that nothing is perfect. For example, with plastic items, plastic bags, I am willing to hold a disposable plastic cup in front of the public if there is no other "green" option at that moment, wherever I go, talk about environmental protection. 

So, achieving something 100% sustainable, and 100% environmentally friendly is unlikely, but we will still try to make it "greener" day by day. 

Once, in a conversation, sharing with students, a friend asked me: "If the fashion industry still has an impact on the environment, why don't you stop it"? 

At that time, I replied to you that stopping was very easy, the easiest. However, if we look at the fashion industry as a whole, we are just a small dot in a million dots. 

If stopped, the world would be one less "black dot", not bringing any significant benefits. But if we continue to work hard on greening and instilling a green lifestyle from production to operation and consumption, we will not only reduce the harm to the environment but also create a spillover, so that businesses in the same industry are as “green” like us, or more than one us. It means and has a much bigger impact than I stopped. 

That answer popped into my head as a "mutation" but it was my guideline for all future actions. I do not follow consumerism, do not encourage customers to buy as much as possible, but advise customers to buy only when needed. BOO's products are also very durable so customers can use them for a long time. 

I often joke "advise customers to buy less". It's not telling them to buy less of their own, but maybe to buy less sustainable products, instead of buying a few poor-quality shirts, buy a BOO shirt, both saving money and protecting it. environmental protection. Or if anyone has a more sustainable product than BOO, they can buy less from BOO and buy from them. With the business philosophy that is always towards sustainability, I believe that BOO will still have a certain place in the market no matter what. 

Thank you! 

Pham Son