Sustainable Apparel Coalition Launched

A group of apparel and footwear brands, retailers, manufacturers and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency have launched the Sustainable Apparel Coalition. The new group will seek collaborative ways to reduce the environmental and social impacts of apparel and footwear products sold around the world.

Founding members of the coalition include: Adidas, Arvind Mills, C&A, Duke University, Environmental Defense Fund, Esprit, Esquel, Gap Inc., H&M, HanesBrands, Intradeco, JC Penney, Kohl's Department Stores, Lenzing, Levi Strauss & Co., LF USA, a division of Li & Fung Limited, Marks & Spencer, Mountain Equipment Co-op, New Balance, Nike, Nordstrom, Otto Group, Outdoor Industry Association, Patagonia, Pentland Brands, REI, TAL Apparel, Target, Timberland, U.S. EPA, Verite, VF Corp and Walmart.

“The largest and most influential corporations in apparel and footwear, together with leading environmental and social organizations, have voluntarily engaged in this collective effort because they recognize the opportunity to get in front of the growing need to measure and manage the environmental and social impacts of their products,” said Rick Ridgeway, coalition chair and vp of environmental programs, Patagonia. “More importantly, they recognize the threat to the planet and its inhabitants by continuing the model of ‘business as usual.’”

The coalition’s main goal is to lead the industry toward a shared vision of sustainability built on an industry-wide index for businesses to use to measure and evaluate apparel and footwear product sustainability performance. To develop those tools, the coalition will draw on the work of different efforts to measure and track apparel sustainability including the Outdoor Industry Association “Eco Index” and Nike's “Environmental Apparel Design” tools. The group has been working together informally since early 2010, and will begin beta-testing the initial version of an apparel and footwear sustainability index in 2011.