PRODUCT, SERVICE & DESIGN INNOVATION -
It’s no mystery why an energy company might explore applications for gaseous waste emitted from its power plants, but making shoes isn’t usually on the agenda. For NRG, shoes made from carbon dioxide emissions are just the beginning.
ORGANIZATIONAL CHANGE -
On Black Friday of 2011, Patagonia released a now-famous New York Times advertisement with a picture of a jacket and a simple plea: “Don’t buy this jacket.” The response, ironically, was a surge in sales. Some analysts deemed the whole thing a cheap trick. But the underlying message was clear.
CHEMISTRY, MATERIALS & PACKAGING -
Recycling single-fibre fabrics – such as denim jeans and wool sweaters – is mechanically possible, but garments are often made from a blend of different fibres, which has historically caused a host of challenges for recycling them. Even for many of the most popular blends such as cotton and polyester, commercially viable separation, sorting and recycling technologies are not yet available. As a result, used apparel of blended or unknown materials are typically discarded in landfills or down-cycled into insulation, carpeting or other low-value applications.
PRODUCT, SERVICE & DESIGN INNOVATION -
Have you heard the one about the fire extinguisher?
An auditor was completing an onsite assessment of a production facility for a major apparel brand when he noticed that fire extinguishers were mounted on devices that allowed them to slide up and down the wall. The auditor asked about this.
“Well,” the facility manager said, “you require that our fire extinguishers be 4 feet from the floor, but Brand X requires that they be 3 feet from the floor, and Brand Y requires 2 feet from the floor.”
PRODUCT, SERVICE & DESIGN INNOVATION -
Two design challenges are back and accepting new entries for products designed to help enable a sustainable future.
The non-profit H&M Foundation is accepting applications for the second edition of its Global Change Award through October 31st, 2016. The competition is seeking early stage ideas that present new circular approaches for the fashion industry – whether by changing the way garments are designed, produced, shipped, bought, used, or recycled – by adding disruptive technology or using a new business model.
PRODUCT, SERVICE & DESIGN INNOVATION -
NIKE, Inc. has announced a new strategic partnership with private equity firm Apollo Global Management, LLC, aimed at building a transparent and ethical apparel supply chain in the Americas. Through the partnership, Nike aims to increase regional manufacturing capabilities, enable quicker delivery of more customized product to consumers and drive investment in sustainability.
PRODUCT, SERVICE & DESIGN INNOVATION -
Ethical apparel brand PACT | ORGANIC today launched a new campaign that aims to show how dirty the fashion industry really is.
“The Skidmark,” a new digital campaign produced by the creative firm Denizen Company, shines a light on the proverbial (and in this case, literal) stain the $3 trillion global fashion industry is leaving on the environment and people affected by its production. What starts as your basic sexy underwear ad quickly shifts gears, and (fair warning) comes to a rather explosive conclusion.
PRESS RELEASE -
Thrift store chain challenges back-to-school shoppers to collectively save 700 million gallons of fresh water by replacing one new tee with a thrifted one
PRESS RELEASE -
The OEKO-TEX® Association congratulates DuPont on the fifth year of OEKO-TEX® Standard 100 certification for DuPont™ Sorona®, the renewably sourced fiber used in apparel, home textiles, and residential, commercial, and automotive carpets.
COLLABORATION -
The industry group Sustainable Apparel Coalition has opened use of its Higg Index suite of tools for measuring and evaluating supply chain impact to non-member small and medium-sized (SME) brands and retailers. SMEs may now take advantage of a special licence for full access to the Higg Index.
WASTE NOT -
In March, the governments of the East African Community, which includes Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Rwanda, and Burundi, proposed a ban on imports of secondhand clothes to their regional trade bloc. The ban would outlaw donations of clothing from wealthier countries by 2019.
THE NEXT ECONOMY -
As cool as it is to know a jacket was made with recycled plastic bottles – or even bio-textiles made from cow dung or kombucha – changing the raw materials is only one of the ways to reduce the environmental impact of apparel and footwear.
THE NEXT ECONOMY -
The story of fashion startup Tom Cridland is an impressive one. Established with the help of a $9,000 UK government loan just two years ago, the ethical apparel business has quickly become a $1m turnover organisation with a star-studded roster of famous clients, including Daniel Craig, Leonardo DiCaprio and Miley Cyrus.
PRESS RELEASE -
The Oeko-Tex Association has congratulated DuPont on the fifth year of Oeko-Tex Standard 100 certification for the company’s Sorona, the renewably sourced fibre used in apparel, home textiles, and residential, commercial, and automotive carpets.
CHEMISTRY, MATERIALS & PACKAGING -
You may have heard the term ‘trashion’ in reference to clothing made out of trash, an art form that has grown over the past few years among students, artists and fashionistas alike with passions for both style and the environment. Well, these two new “bio-textiles” give “waste fashion” a new meaning.
PRESS RELEASE -
DuPont Industrial Biosciences announced a collaboration with Chinese sports brand Anta in the design of champion uniforms for Chinese Olympic team members using DuPont™ Sorona® – a sustainable, patented fiber made with renewable, plant-based ingredients. Sorona® – which leverages innovation and sustainability to produce fibers that are uniquely soft, extremely durable and have excellent stretch and recovery – will be a key ingredient in the Chinese team’s “Dragon Uniform” at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
PRESS RELEASE -
BASF is contributing its polymer expertise to the three-year WRAP Consortium project kicked off by the European Commission
last year and aimed at developing high-performance sporting goods that can also be recycled. The “Sport Infinity” concept being pursued by cross-industry teams of companies is spearheaded by German sporting goods manufacturer Adidas and is focused in particular on applications in European football, or soccer, as the sport is known in the US.
PRODUCT, SERVICE & DESIGN INNOVATION -
Here are two innovations that give new meaning to the phrase "magic mushrooms": An Italian textile manufacturer has used a skin extracted from giant mushroom caps to create a leather-like material similar to suede; and a Colorado-based startup has found a way to use mycelium molecules to block bitter tastes on a person’s tongue as they eat, meaning they’ll only taste the other flavor profiles of the food.
PRODUCT, SERVICE & DESIGN INNOVATION -
Just one year after the brand’s launch, eleven-time world champion surfer Kelly Slater and menswear designer John Moore’s clothing company Outerknown has publicly released its supply chain. The young brand is taking the public ‘inside the factories’ for a closer look at their practices; the website details Outerknown’s suppliers’ locations, employment figures, which products they produce for Outerknown, and other information. Customers are also now able to ‘shop by factory’ which filters products by supplier.
PRODUCT, SERVICE & DESIGN INNOVATION -
Project JUST, an online platform that reviews fashion brands (75 to date) for their supply chain ethics and sustainability to help consumers make more informed choices, is crowdfunding to help expand its offering.