The Wall Street Journal has a great article about the green sustainable global supply chain - specifically within the apparel industry - describing a new tool for consumers to determine how green their products are.
"How Green Is My Sneaker" describes a new software tool, developed by 100 retailers and apparel manufacturers, can determine the "Eco-Index" of their products. The tool calculates the score from a series of questions answered by the company and its suppliers:
The Eco Index, which is basically a software tool any apparel maker can use, poses a series of questions to companies on their environmental and labor practices—some of which require answers from the companies' suppliers. It then assigns a score representing a percentage of a perfect score.
The questions cover every step in the life of a product, from raw-material production to manufacturing, shipping, and even disposal. For instance, Levi's gets points for having a recycling program that lets consumers drop off their old jeans at Goodwill, and Timberland earns points for using leather tanneries that have wastewater-purifying systems. Points are lost for using bulky packing material or transporting goods long distances. The Eco Index also includes estimates of how consumers will wash and eventually dispose of their clothes.
The tool and scoring have been in development for over three years, but roll out to the public is not expected in the immediate future - even though retailers are announcing the Eco-Index at next month's Outdoor Retailer trade show.
Levi's vice president of social and environmental sustainability, Michael Kobori, says the tool will be available "as soon as we can get everybody to agree" on how to publish and communicate it.
Nike is one of the sportswear and apparel makers using the Eco Index to measure its products' environmental impact.This sounds about as easy as herding cats, given the numerous brands involved. It's one thing, many companies say, to use the data internally, but quite another to trumpet it to the world. They want to be sure everyone communicates the data in the same way. For instance, they don't agree on whether the index should be communicated as a single number on a hang tag or in a more detailed manner that might involve directing customers to data on the Web.
Personally, I found the interactive graphic to be a great addition to the article. It shows how 1 pair of Levi's jeans travels throughout the US and Caribbean - and even after purchase, how that one product continues to affect the environment.
For example, the majority of CO2 emissions over the life-cycle of a pair of jeans come from the consumer's washing machine & dryer. Switching to cold water and line-drying cuts the CO2 emissions to a fraction compared to washing with hot water washing and machine-drying.
Levi's also looks to be making a lot of progress in sustainability based on their research into the greenness of their products:
As part of its participation in the Eco Index, Levi's did a separate internal study of its own practices. As a result, Levi's changed its transportation routes last year to make them more efficient and reduced carbon emissions by 700 metric tons. In addition to the Goodwill agreement, Levi's also cut back on packaging, allowing only three pieces of labeling with the jeans—a back-pocket tag, a size sticker, and a price tag.
In my opinion, sustainability and trade compliance are linked policies. Companies must have a plan in place for both- or else pay fines, waste money, lose time, and give up competitiveness in the marketplace.
Read the complete article at WSJ: "How Green Is My Sneaker?"
Does your company have a sustainability policy? Would it be willing to advertise its Eco-Index on its products? Let me know in the comments & answer the poll below! (You don't have to say your company, of course!)
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