Amazon EcoPoints
A Systematic Sustainable Rewards System
Mar 2025 - June 2025
Type of Design Practice: UI Design, Creative Strategy, Sustainable Design
Role: Group Project — Researcher, Design Head
Main Software(s): Adobe Illustrator, Adobe Photoshop, Miro
Overview
This project focused on exploring the UN Sustainable Development Goal #12: Responsible Consumption and Production, which emphasizes the importance of reducing waste and fostering ethical systems of production and consumption. As a team, we were tasked with identifying a global company whose practices both challenge and provide opportunities for addressing this goal. We selected Amazon as our case study due to its influence on consumer behavior and its sustainability controversies. While Amazon offers convenience and accessibility, it has also faced criticism for issues such as overconsumption, labor exploitation, and accusations of greenwashing in its sustainability reporting.
Our goal was to design a business framework that could help Amazon bridge this gap; maintaining the convenience customers value, while also shifting towards ethical sustainability. To do this, we conducted research using a Miro board to map out stakeholder perspectives, industry trends, and case studies on corporate greenwashing. This process revealed the complexity of balancing consumer satisfaction with genuine sustainability, and it guided the development of a solution that both addresses systemic problems and builds long-term trust.
Link to: https://miro.com/app/board/uXjVLc_L7pc=/
Problem Statement
We framed our problem statement around Amazon’s struggle to align accessibility and convenience with ethical sustainability in a transparent, scalable way.
"How might Amazon balance the convenience it offers customers with sustainable practices that reduce environmental impact and promote ethical consumption?"
Eco-Points: Solution + Outcome
Our framework proposed a multi-part solution that encouraged sustainable consumer choices without sacrificing usability. The central idea was an Eco Points Program: a rewards system that incentivizes customers to make eco-conscious decisions. This includes selecting slower shipping or purchasing refurbished products. To ensure transparency, we suggested integrating verified sustainability labels and clear communication strategies to avoid 'green fatigue'.
The outcome was a business framework that balanced Amazon’s market power with ethical responsibility. By connecting consumer engagement to measurable sustainability actions, our solution aimed to reduce the risk of greenwashing while still maintaining that long-term trust between Amazon, its stakeholders, and its many customers.
