THE NEXT ECONOMY -
The North Face today announced the expansion of its Clothes The Loop recycling program to all of its retail and outlet stores in the U.S. in tandem with an in-store and social media campaign to encourage consumers to recycle unwanted apparel and footwear from any brand in any condition.Clothes The Loop extends the lifecycle of apparel and footwear brought in by consumers by giving them a new life through reusing items or reverting them to basic materials used for new product manufacturing. Initially piloted at 10 The North Face retail locations in February 2013, Clothes The Loop is now available in all 83 of The North Face retail and outlet stores nationwide.
STAKEHOLDER TRENDS AND INSIGHTS -
This series has been taking a dive into the five phases of sustainable business described in the Hagen-Wilhelm change matrix published in Making Sustainability Stick. We want to offer a roadmap for those working to change business from inside large organizations. By capturing and sharing over a decade of experience implementing these ideas, hopefully we can help accelerate success.
CHEMISTRY, MATERIALS & PACKAGING -
This week, W Hotels Worldwide, part of Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, became the latest company to jump on the plastic-waste-to-fabric train when it announced a new partnership with global music artist and entrepreneur will.i.am and The Coca-Cola Company, to bring the EKOCYCLE™ brand to W Hotel rooms around the world.
COLLABORATION -
Among mounting concern over the dire water shortages in California and around the world, several well-known companies are taking matters into their own hands, reducing water in their production processes and educating consumers around water conservation.
CHEMISTRY, MATERIALS & PACKAGING -
The Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) this week announced the stunning latest results of its Clean by Design program, a global model for sustainable manufacturing that is working with multinational apparel brand partners Target, Gap, Levi Strauss and H&M
NEW METRICS -
H&M more than doubled the amount of collected garments with its garment collective initiative in 2014, according to its new sustainability report. In total, more than 13,000 tons of textiles have been collected — as much fabric as in 65 million T-shirts.Now, the apparel company has established a new goal of increasing the amount of products made of recycled fibers by at least 300 percent by the end of 2015.
COLLABORATION -
On Tuesday, the Fair Wear Foundation (FWF) — a Dutch non-profit that works with companies and factories to improve labor conditions for garment workers – launched the Living Wage Portal, a platform through which FWF aims to uncover and overcome the many obstacles that prevent garment workers around the world from earning a living wage.FWF says the best wage is a negotiated wage, set by businesses and workers together. But in major garment-producing countries such as Bangladesh and Cambodia, productive dialogue between workers and factories is rare — a key roadblock to better wages. Other major obstacles addressed in the portal include:
BEHAVIOR CHANGE -
In recent years it’s become common knowledge that companies using palm oil in their snack foods or publishers sourcing paper fiber from Indonesian pulp mills may be at risk of contributing to deforestation and labor rights abuses.
PRODUCT, SERVICE & DESIGN INNOVATION -
After years of searching for a solution to the worldwide problem of textile waste, pioneering textile upcycler Worn Again has joined forces with fashion retailer H&M and luxury, sport & lifestyle group Kering to bring to market a revolutionary innovation in clothing production and recycling.
CHEMISTRY, MATERIALS & PACKAGING -
Patagonia today announced a strategic investment in a chemical company focused on making high-performance textile treatments based on natural raw materials.Beyond Surface Technologies, a Swiss firm, was founded in 2008 by scientists and marketing experts with more than 40 years of experience in the textile industry. They left careers at big chemical companies to build a business based on the premise that it is possible to make textile treatments based on natural raw materials — without sacrificing performance or reducing the lifespan of a product.
WASTE NOT -
With two billion pounds of waste generated by the seafood industry in Alaska alone, finding creative ways to repurpose this waste represents an economic opportunity as well as an environmental imperative. We’ve seen shrimp shells turned into everything from bioplastic to solar cells … but upcycling seafood byproducts into clothing likely wouldn’t be a top-of-mind solution for most people.
PRESS RELEASE -
$2.2 billion in sales; $168 million for members; $8 million for outdoor accessToday, leading outdoor retailer REI announced that it is sharing more than ever with the outdoor community through its annual dividend, returning $168 million to its members1. In 2014, 945,000 new members joined the co-op, taking active membership to a high of 5.5 million. The co-op reported record annual revenues of $2.2 billion, a 9.9 percent increase from 2013.
PRODUCT, SERVICE & DESIGN INNOVATION -
International fashion brand EILEEN FISHER has announced its new Vision2020 campaign, detailing the strides it plans to take in the next five years to attain 100 percent sustainability in its practices.
PRODUCT, SERVICE & DESIGN INNOVATION -
Levi Strauss and Co. today announced it has saved one billion liters of water since 2011 through its Water<Less™ process, which reduces the water used in garment finishing by up to 96 percent. This announcement coincides with the release of LS&Co.’s new Product Lifecycle Assessment (LCA), an update on the company’s groundbreaking 2007 study on the environmental impact of its products.
SUPPLY CHAIN -
Fairtrade International — a coalition of 28 organizations working to make trade fairer throughout the world — is welcoming comments from throughout the garment and textile supply chains on the new Fairtrade Textile Standard, now under development.
PRESS RELEASE -
Ultramid® polyamide derived from renewable feedstock helps save fossil resources and reduce greenhouse gas emissions- Maintains trusted Ultramid® quality and technical properties- Italon is first textile company to use new solution from BASF
PRODUCT, SERVICE & DESIGN INNOVATION -
Los Angeles-based fashion brand Reformation is helping to challenge the paradigm of wasteful “fast fashion.” Designed and produced in its factory in downtown LA, Reformation’s limited-edition collections of everything from ready-to-wear staples to bridesmaids dresses, all made with a cheeky attitude and sustainable or reclaimed textiles, are filling the wardrobes of celebrities and fashionistas across the country.
PRODUCT, SERVICE & DESIGN INNOVATION -
“It was pretty basic. We self-financed. Five workers plus myself working inside a workshop situated on my grandmother’s plot of land inside our village of Zenabwork,” recalls Bethlehem Tilahun Alemu, now CEO and managing director of soleRebels, one of the first global footwear brands to emerge from a developing country.“Right from the start of 2004, we aimed to create, grow and control a world class footwear brand that would bring even more jobs and prosperity for the workers by leveraging the artisan skills of our community.”
CHEMISTRY, MATERIALS & PACKAGING -
Today, the adidas Group announced that in 2014, it sourced more than 30 percent of all of its cotton as Better Cotton, exceeding the originally planned 25 percent target. This marks the sportswear giant’s highest volume of sustainable cotton use to date. The Better Cotton used in 2014 was predominantly sourced from farmers located in India, Pakistan and Brazil.
PRODUCT, SERVICE & DESIGN INNOVATION -
L-R: Mart and Rob Drake-Knight | Image credit: RapanuiAs more and more brands begin to tout their sustainability credentials, increasingly savvy and conscientious shoppers are looking for companies that are walking their talk, with products and practices that reflect an authentic commitment to doing better business.