Apparel Brands and Retailers Developing an Eco Index
Leading apparel brands and retailers are collaborating to develop a system that would allow them to benchmark and measure their environmental footprint.
Announced at the Outdoor Retailer trade show in Salt Lake City last week, this new “Eco Index” is essentially a software tool that enables apparel makers to analyze their environmental and labor practices at every step of the product life cycle –from raw material production and manufacturing to shipping and disposal.
Naturally, many of these calculations require input from suppliers, and even though the Eco Index is still in Beta, it’s already having an impact on participating apparel brands and their supplier networks.
For instance, according to an article in the Wall Street Journal:
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 . . . , 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.
Brooks redesigned its shoe boxes after finding that its score wasn’t as high as it had hoped. When the shoe boxes earned a score of roughly 40%, footwear operations manager Chase Mueller went to work to improve it.
Among other changes, Brooks got rid of moisture-absorbing silica bags, which turned out to be ineffective, and stopped stuffing the insides of shoes with tissue paper. As an added benefit, the “green” changes reduced the cost of the shoe box by 38%.
The Beta version of the Eco Index is available here. According to the website:
The Eco Index is a ground-breaking environmental assessment tool designed to advance sustainability practices within the outdoor industry. It provides companies throughout the supply chain a way to benchmark and measure their environmental footprint, allowing them to identify areas for improvement and make informed sourcing and product life cycle decisions.
