THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN LONGEVITY AND SUSTAINABILITY IN GLOVES
What is the first factor you consider when purchasing safety gloves? More often than not, people will respond with 'price', which just goes to show how overlooked glove longevity is. Not only does the longevity and durability of yours safety gloves impact cost, time and storage space, but it also has a massive effect on the environment and our planet. Let us tell you how.
Less Disposal
It's no secret that landfill is one of the big causes of climate change and contributes toward the increase of greenhouse gases. To give you a brief idea, here are some impacts that landfill can have on the environment.
- Sending waste to landfill results in the production of CO2 and Methane, both of which are greenhouse gases and contribute toward global warming.
- Deforestation is carried out to make room for landfill sites, destroying habitats and depriving the areas from a source of carbon absorption.
- Hazardous chemicals, gases and toxins can leak from landfills and mix with the soil and groundwater, thereby contaminating it and endangering the lives of plants, animals and humans.
Getting through gloves quicker results in significantly higher amount of waste going to landfill, which of course leads to an increased level of CO2 being released into the environment. Are you trying to reduce your carbon footprint? By ensuring that the gloves you buy and wear have a good level of durability, you can do just this. The longer your gloves last, the healthier our planet stays!
Less Financial Cost
It's a no brainer that quality gloves that are slightly more expensive are more cost effective in the long term than poor quality gloves that are cheaper, simply because they last longer! Cost can be deceitful when it comes to safety gloves. It's easy to think 'those are cheaper so I'll just buy them', but when you stop and think about it for a moment, it's simple to see where you're going wrong. A pair of safety gloves that costs £5 and lasts for 2 months works out at £0.62 per week. A pair of safety gloves that costs £1 and only last a week are already less cost effective despite the huge differences in upfront price! However, it is not to say that all the more costly gloves are better quality, but by nature, this is how it works. Safety glove longevity saves you money long term, so it's definitely worth considering.
Less Time Off the Job / Less Downtime
Safety gloves that last longer are going to result in less downtime. If your safety glove fails prematurely, disposing of the gloves, going to the store to get new ones issued, ordering more and then waiting for them to arrive are all seemingly tasks that require little time, but it all adds up! In addition, there is a greater risk of an operative continuing to work without gloves, in the way that they can't be idle whilst waiting for new ones to arrive or they simply don't have the time to go out and purchase more. Either way, it's a substantial safety hazard to carry out tasks hazardous tasks without wearing the correct PPE, or any PPE at all! Investing in quality hand protection that boasts a good longevity is a much easier route than purchasing cheap safety gloves that don't last half as long as others and are much likelier to leave you stranded.
Less Storage
Using long lasting gloves is quite simply going to mean that less storage space will be required to host hundreds of additional safety gloves. Think about it this way. If you're going through 15 pairs of gloves a month (which is quite probably if a poor quality glove with little durability is being used) as opposed to 2 pairs (which is probable if a quality, long lasting glove is being used), your workplace is going to have to allow for the extra storage of the reserve gloves. This may not be an issue depending on how much storage you have available to you, but if you are lacking, this would definitely be a factor to consider.
With that said, hopefully this has provoked some pondering and opened your eyes a little with regard to the relationship between longevity and sustainability. If you're looking for safety gloves that have good longevity and durability, Traffi is a good place to start. To contact us, please use the link below, and we're more than happy to help with any questions you may have.
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