Timberland's Green Index

Today I 'd like to focus on Timberland's 'Green Index' label. Timberland has long been a leader in CSR especially on environmental issues, so much so that they have a position for Manager of Environmental Stewardship. As of March 31, 2008 that position was held by Betsy Blaisdell. In an interview with DNR (Daily News Record) published on that date, Blaisdell discusses Timberland's efforts, the efforts of other Fashion companies and Fashion consumers.

According to Blaisdell, change will happen through small initiatives so consumers should support and encourage them. She states that consumers have become more educated about the environment and more critical of green claims so it is important for companies to be transparent and honest to build consumer trust.

Last year, Timberland introduced 'Green Index' labeling in Fall 2007 for about 60 SKUs of footwear. The label provides consumers with a measure of environmental impact for a particular product. 3 major factors are rated on a scale from 0-10 with 0 being lower impact and 10 being higher impact. The 3 categories covered are: Climate Impact (through production), Chemicals Used ( Presence of hazardous substances like PVC and Solvent adhesives), & Resource Consumption ( Reduced by the use of recycled, organic and renewable materials. More information is provided in the shoe box, but the Index allows consumers to see how Timberland is doing at a glance. Consumers can determine where the environmental impact is greatest and armed with this information, they can vote with their purchase power and provide feedback to Timberland about which environmental issues are their greatest concerns.

Blaisdell relates that the label reflects the good work they are doing as well as the hard work they still have to do. Efforts include a distribution center in the Dominican Republic which is powered by wind and solar energy. Unfortunately these renewable energy sources only contribute 1% of the energy needed to support the building. In a California center, they have had more success with 60% of the needed energy supplied by solar panels.

Timberland's goal is to become carbon neutral by 2010 in its owned and leased facilities. This is likely a reasonable goal. Timberland produces about 30,000 tons of carbon per year, but the supply chain produces 300,000 tons of carbon per year. The challenge lies in the supply chain as the issues become more complex at each level, for example, raw material extraction processes may need major investment to reduce their environmental impact.

Timberland's task is to design items which do not require carbon-intensive materials or processes. This must start at the very beginning of the design process to insure success. When this is the mission of design, designers can build in the appropriate criteria in the process and not try to fix a product at the end.

Blaisdell also suggests the development of a common industry standard to measure impacts and improvements.

I would suggest a standard system of consumer labeling as well.

Till next week -- Recycle, Restore, Rescue, Renew