2Sustain

Last week, The Timberland Company announced plans to expand its “Green Index” across the company’s entire footwear line over the next two years.

First introduced in 2007, the Green Index provides Timberland designers a measure of the environmental impact of the company’s various products and also offers customers visibility into the environmental footprint of the Timberland products they buy. A product’s final score –listed on a product tag –is a compilation of its:

• climate impact (the GHG emissions generated during its production),

• hazardous chemicals used, and

• resource consumption (the percentage of recycled, organic and renewable materials used).

More details about the Green Index are available here.

Timberland is also working with other apparel brands and retailers to develop a different industry-wide system for benchmarking and measuring environmental impacts.  This “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.

According to Timberland, individual efforts, such as the Green Index, are a good start, but to “truly empower consumers,” there needs be an industry-wide commitment. I agree, and it’s great to see this continued forward momentum towards more uniform standards for companies in the apparel sector. Of course, there are significant “carrots” associated with deep-diving into sustainability (profitability, innovation, competitive advantage, etc.). But, these days there are powerful “sticks,” too, because pressure is mounting from natural sources (climate change, resource depletion), government regulations, and evolving consumer expectations.