1. There has been a good deal of publicity about the efforts of certain companies in the
apparel industry to address the complex sustainability challenges facing this group. But
just what is a “sustainable” apparel company, from an environmental responsibility
standpoint? At a high level, it’s a company that mitigates the four primary environmental
impacts associated with all types of business activity: greenhouse gas emissions; water
quality and availability; chemicals/toxins and waste. From a more detailed perspective,
here are some of the hallmarks of a sustainable apparel business:
Environmental Examples of Strategies to Address
Primary Sources in Apparel
Impact Issue
• Manufacturing of
materials, including
• Completing GHG emissions
fabric milling
inventory for entire value chain
• Assembly of products,
• Identifying GHG emissions
including cut and sew
“hot spots” from this inventory
Greenhouse Gas operations
• Working with suppliers and
Emissions • Warehousing and
others to decrease impact
transportation of
products
• Creating “virtual” product
launch events
• Travel associated with
product marketing
• Measuring entire life-cycle
water footprint of product(s)
• Processing of materials • Identifying water “hot spots”
Water Quality and from this information
Availability • Washing products
during lifetime • Re-engineering processes to
decrease direct and embedded
water
• Conducting a “single impact”
lifecycle assessment of
product(s), focusing on
• Dying and tanning of chemicals
materials • Identifying opportunities to
Chemicals and
remove chemicals from
Toxins
• Dry-cleaning products materials
during lifetime
• Designing products to
minimize need for dry-
cleaning
Waste • Product packaging • Eliminating item-level
packaging from manufacturer
• End-of-life disposal to retail, where possible (i.e.,
dematerialize)
2. • Exploring eco-friendly
packaging substitutes
• Designing products to last
longer and/or be recyclable
While a suite of best-in-class approaches to these issues is developing rapidly, the current
truth is that the exact solution to any one company’s problems is also highly dependent
on specific organizational and supply chain characteristics. Some questions that must be
considered in order to craft an appropriate strategy include:
• Is this a mass merchant apparel company or better classified as a “fashion house?”
The closer the company comes to the latter characterization, the tougher it might
be to make product-related changes.
•
• What is the new-product introduction cycle? Some companies that have rapid
product re-introductions must rely almost exclusively on air transport in order to
get the goods to market quickly; this is an issue from an environmental standpoint
because of the significant greenhouse gas emissions associated with air transport.
• How amenable to eco-friendly products is the company’s core market? Perhaps a
few “green” products can be introduced into each collection. Is the company
culture one that embraces leadership in product design from a sustainability
standpoint? Here, we look for leadership on this topic to come from top
management.
• What is the value chain associated with the company’s apparel products? And
what about licensed product? Here, it’s important to create a process map to
understand how everything works and determine the exact scope of the
sustainability initiative.
In our experience, there is a lot of low-hanging fruit to pick in this industry that can
create a more sustainable result. On the other hand, with a significantly-Asian supply
base, designers tightly linked with existing materials sources and significant brand
concerns for many players in this industry, changes don’t necessarily come easily. It’s an
exciting opportunity, for sure.
