PRESS RELEASE -
Outdoor lifestyle brand Timberland recently celebrated the close of the ninth consecutive harvest season of its Victory Garden, a plot of fresh fruits, vegetables and flowers outside the company’s Stratham, New Hampshire headquarters. Each year, a dedicated group of Timberland employee volunteers manage and cultivate the 1,000 square foot area of raised garden beds. The fresh flowers and produce are then made available to employees for purchase, with proceeds going to the New Hampshire Food Bank (NHFB). Funds raised from this year’s harvest will provide close to 2,000 meals to feed local adults and children who struggle with hunger this holiday season.
LEADERSHIP -
Bangladesh is no longer one of the world’s poorest nations. Today, this emerging nation is steadily growing as one of the world’s leading apparel manufacturers. However, the country’s economic structure remains fragile due to its heavy dependence on textile exports and overseas remittances from emigrant workers, and the country’s manufacturing base and infrastructure require urgent improvement.
SUPPLY CHAIN -
According to a recent survey of 287 sustainability professionals, working conditions are the most important sustainability issue in supply chains. That’s not too surprising; in the short time it’s taken to read this far, 153 people around the world have had a work-related accident.
SUPPLY CHAIN -
Purpose-driven US outdoor clothing giant Patagonia is calling for business leaders to back regenerative organic agriculture, claiming that certain textile standards are “not going far enough.”
SUPPLY CHAIN -
Growing concerns over the environmental and social impacts of the footwear and apparel industry have kickstarted efforts to create more transparent and ethical supply chains and practices, but there is still a significant amount of work to be done, according to a new benchmarking system launched today by KnowTheChain (KTC), a resource for businesses and investors who need to understand and address forced labor abuse
CHEMISTRY, MATERIALS & PACKAGING -
Columbia Sportswear says its new OutDry Extreme ECO Jacket, which hit shelves last week, marks a milestone in sustainability - as the first high-performance, environmentally friendly, breathable, waterproof jacket made without the use of a common synthetic additive known as perfluorinated compounds (PFCs).
As part of the launch, Columbia has partnered with hip-hop artist and environmental advocate Macklemore to help raise awareness on the impact that PFCs can have on the environment. Macklemore (aka Ben Haggerty), who finds inspiration and solace in the forests in the Pacific Northwest and other natural places around the world, shares his thoughts on environmentally responsible rainwear in a new video:
PRODUCT, SERVICE & DESIGN INNOVATION -
Gifts for our loved ones that also help repurpose waste, benefit people in need, expand the next generation's horizons, and overall provide alternative to "products as usual" ... How is that not a win-win? Here are just a few of our favorite socially and environmentally beneficial gift ideas that will help you celebrate this season of giving (and spending) with a clear conscience.
PRODUCT, SERVICE & DESIGN INNOVATION -
The Sustainable Apparel Coalition (SAC) today launches the Higg Index Design and Development Module (DDM). Along with the release last month of its updated Higg Materials Sustainability Index (MSI) - a cradle-to-gate scoring tool that measures and communicates the environmental performance of thousands of materials used in creating apparel, footwear and home textile products - the DDM is the latest tool in the Higg arsenal aimed at empowering product designers and developers to make sustainable choices at the earliest stage of apparel, footwear and textile prototype design.
WASTE NOT -
On Friday, the Zero Discharge of Hazardous Chemicals (ZDHC) Programme - a collaboration of 22 leading brands, including Kering, Marks & Spencer, Primark, Coop Switzerland and New Balance, along with 13 value chain affiliates and 7 associates - released its Wastewater Guidelines, a unified expectation on wastewater quality for t
PRODUCT, SERVICE & DESIGN INNOVATION -
This week, ethical shoe brand Po-Zu will unveil its Star Wars-themed footwear at the FFANY trade show in New York as part of a major collaboration with the movie franchise. It’s a highly significant launch for Po-Zu, as it will enable the UK-based manufacturer to bring its products to a wider market and raise public awareness over the ‘dark side’ of the shoe trade.
CHEMISTRY, MATERIALS & PACKAGING -
Hot on the heels of its release earlier this month of the world’s first football and running performance products made from upcycled marine plastic waste, adidas continues its journey toward revolutionizing materials with the unveiling of the world’s first performance shoe made using Biosteel® fiber – a synthetic version of spider silk.
PRODUCT, SERVICE & DESIGN INNOVATION -
Ramblers Way, an ethically sourced, American-made sustainable clothing company announced today an extensive rebrand across the company along with the new tagline ‘Clothing for a Good Life.’ The new brand look and feel embodies Ramblers Way’s commitment to protect the planet, support local economies and build its business based on lifelong values.
CLEANTECH -
Tom Singh, founder of UK fashion brand New Look, has backed a London-based fashion technology company to help apparel retailers and manufacturers manage their supply chains.
PRESS RELEASE -
The Illinois Sustainable Technology Center (ISTC) at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and Purdue University
have diverted almost six tons of waste from landfills through an innovative recycling program that turns used lab gloves and garments into shelving, flowerpots and lawn and garden furniture.
PRODUCT, SERVICE & DESIGN INNOVATION -
The Sustainable Apparel Coalition (SAC) has launched a new version of its Higg Materials Sustainability Index (Higg MSI), a cradle-to-gate scoring tool that measures and communicates the environmental performance of thousands of materials used in creating apparel, footwear and home textile products.
WASTE NOT -
This past week saw even yet still more circular economic initiatives sprouting up in the apparel industry.
First, the C&A Foundation granted €250,000 ($276,000) to the social enterprise Circle Economy, which is dedicated to accelerating the practical and scalable implementation of the circular economy. Circle Economy will use the funding to advance its Circle Textiles Program with a mission to close the loop for textiles and create a zero-waste industry.
PRODUCT, SERVICE & DESIGN INNOVATION -
Fast fashion has followed a trend similar to the fast food chains that inspired its name - explosive growth, massive popularity, and then consumer skepticism. Turns out that having access to clothes en masse mere days after the latest runway shows requires production practices that aren’t healthy for societies or our planet. Just like factory farming and consuming Whoppers and fries consistently isn’t healthy or sustainable, inexpensive clothing meant to be worn once or twice and constantly replaced isn’t much better for us.
PRODUCT, SERVICE & DESIGN INNOVATION -
Today, sportswear leader adidas and environmental organization Parley for the Oceans unveiled the first football and running performance products made from upcycled marine plastic waste, recovered via Parley’s interception and cleanup operations in coastal areas of the Maldives.
CHEMISTRY, MATERIALS & PACKAGING -
The issue of hazardous chemicals isn’t new in consumer products; the Romans knew lead was harmful over 2000 years ago.
Scheele’s Green, a copper-arsenic-based pigment, was one of the first colourfast greens used for textiles in the early 1860s. However, as the picture below demonstrates, it didn't take long for the toxic effects of this pigment to become known.
Something has to be going wrong if hundreds of years ago we knew arsenic and lead were hazardous, and today, we still have to communicate this to the value chain.
PRODUCT, SERVICE & DESIGN INNOVATION -
Apparel company Kering has launched a new curriculum to help fashion students understand the environmental impacts of their designs, just days after the Ellen MacArthur Foundation (EMF) partnered to embed systems thinking and circular economy into the International Baccalaureate (IB) curriculum across Europe.