Green Feet for All

Recently Payless ShoeSource announced that they will be launching a "green" shoe & handbag brand. In partnership with Summer Rayne Oakes, they will introduce 8-12 on-trend fashion shoe styles for women with an average price of $30 and under. The women's collection will launch Spring 2009 in 500-1000 of their 4500 retail stores and online. Plans for Men's and Kid's are in the works as well.

In an interview with David Twiddy of the Associated Press on Tuesday, October 14, 2008, Matt Rubel, CEO of Collective Brands Inc.(parent company of Payless ShoeSource) said, "At the end of the day, what you're trying to do is really democratize 'green' here. We want to bring it to the people in a way where it brings compelling value and compelling good things for the planet."

Through the use of sustainable and eco-friendly materials such as organic cottons and linen, natural hemp and recycled outsoles, as well as eco-smart packaging and local sourcing, Payless will bring affordable & fashionable 'green' footwear options to Main Street. In a statement published in Footwear News Vol. 64 No.39, Rubel expressed that this venture is the beginning of a larger company initiative to go green. This line will help define and optimize the strategy. The company will expand the methods and materials to add green to other brands as well.

Like Walmart, Payless has large economies of scale so they can keep their green pricing low allowing many customers who can't afford other green shoes by Patagonia, Timberland and Teva to enter the green market. More people participating in the green movement is better for business and better for the planet.

till next week --Restore, Refresh, Recycle and Renew

Green Kids

Even with the success of the organic cotton program at Sam's Club, sustainable fashion has seen slow adoption among main street consumers. How can we change this?

As an educator, I see education as one answer. Many colleges and universities are starting to include sustainable practices and principles in their curriculum. Summer Rayne Oaks, thinks we should start even earlier. In Selling Eco-Fashion on Main Street, published in Future Fashion White Papers, 2007, she briefly mentions her 13 lesson sustainable fashion curriculum that can be incorporated into traditional K-12 school subjects.

Being from Philadelphia, I was pleased to read about a pilot program that was introduced into the curriculum in select schools in Philadelphia in late 2005. Rayne hoped to encourage the next generation of designers and consumers to think about sustainability early on. EcoFashion 101 included the incorporation of sustainability issues in the areas of: geography, biology, chemistry, family and consumer sciences, history, social studies, world cultures, economics, english, mathematics, and more. I applaud Rayne for her work in this area. I would like to see some follow up on program. Visits to Rayne's web sites and google searches find very little information on this important contribution. Sadly, a click on EcoFashion 101 leads to a suspended page message.

We lag behind our European counterparts in these efforts. At a conference I attended in Northern Ireland in June 2006, I met representatives of the Consumer Council who have developed curricula (lesson plans available for download) to develop educated consumers from childhood on including shopping, fair trade and sustainability. In addition, they sponsor youth competitions and provide resources for youth on their website.

Teaching children about fashion production from fiber to finished product is certainly one way to raise awareness about many of the issues involved - environmental destruction, human health and fair trade practices. If these issues are consistently presented to children, they may be better equipped to make more environmentally sound choices and perhaps influence the purchasing decisions of their parents.

till next week --Restore, Refresh, Recycle and Renew

Greening Wal-Mart

I have spent an inordinate amount of time slamming Wal-Mart for various atrocities. Let's face it, they are an easy target. But fair is fair and when they do something that is positive for the environment, I think it is important to point it out.

Coral Rose, former ladies' apparel buyer for Sam's Club, outlines Wal-Mart's journey into organic cotton in her white paper, Good for Business, Good for the Environment, published in FutureFashion White Papers, Earth Pledge, 2007, ISBN 978-0-9675099-2-1.

Ms. Rose was well aware of the dangers of pesticides based on her personal history. Living in the L.A. Basin in the late 70's and 80's, she and her family were subjected to pesticide crop dusting. The family dog consequently developed cancer and died. As time went on her mother, father and several neighbors were diagnosed with cancer. Both her parents died from the disease.

Rose's experience lead her to investigate pesticides and move to a more organic lifestyle. Cotton is one of the biggest pesticide offenders. Many of the chemicals in cotton pesticides were developed in WWII as nerve gases. It takes 1/3 lb. of chemicals and pesticides to grow enough cotton for ONE conventional t-shirt. Why would anyone want to put that residue on their body, let alone in their mouths? (We do ingest cotton oil in our junk food and since cotton seed is fed to poultry and livestock, we indirectly ingest it through our meat. Don't foget the run-off into our water supply.)

Rose saw a real opportunity to move a very large company toward organic cotton as ladies' apparel buyer at Sam's Club. A success at Sam's Club could lead to a major business re-focus at Wal-Mart and result in bringing organic products to the Mass Market.

Most consumers are interested in style, quality and price. The challenge then is to bring the organic product in line with the non-organic product on these three dimensions. The Sam's Club customer is also an impulse shopper. From personal experience, Rose also knew buying organic is a lifestyle choice. Armed with this information, Rose examined the sales of ladies' apparel and found the most successful category was Active Wear. Active Wear + Lifestyle choice lead her to Yoga Wear as a sub-category most likely to be receptive to organic cotton.

Rose set about creating a program of yoga pants and tops in pastel colors, priced similarly to a non-organic cotton product. Sam's Club sold over 190,000 units in 10 weeks. During the launch, Rose visited many stores and observed the selling floor. She noted that typical shoppers were attracted to the product by style and color, then they checked the price. The hand of the garment was so soft that the customer would check the label and find it was organic. That was the icing on the cake. Organic was the value added that fueled the customer's enthusiasm.

This experiment proved that a mass-merchant can meet or exceed sales goals while being environmentally responsible. Rose built internal support for organic cotton and kept the program going. Sales remained strong and proved that if it sold well in conventional cotton, it would sell just as well, if not better in organic cotton. From the grassroots, Rose built an organic movement at Wal-mart.

Wal-mart is in a unique position to support organic production. First, the volume of units it deals with can keep the cost of organic product down so it is in line with non-organic product.
One issue with organic cotton comes from the farming side. Farmers must plant a rotation crop in an organic cotton field periodically in order to restore the soil to a condition that will support organic cotton growth. Because Wal-Mart carries multiple product categories it can often provide a market for the end product of the rotation crop as well.

Wal-mart's adoption of organic product is a win-win for us all. The organic farmer is supported through the entire crop rotation cycle. The consumer is rewarded with affordable organic products in a variety of categories. Organic can truly be a lifestyle choice for all. Wal-mart wins as well - being environmentally responsible translates to economic growth.

Rose has gone on to found her own business, Eco-Innovations. Her mission is to "support companies in integrating sustainable values into their services, strategies and products."

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

Recycling Waste -Repurposing What Others Throw Out

We've discussed Patagonia's recycling fleece program and there has been plenty of buzz about recycling plastic bottles to produce fleece. Jimtex Yarn has come up with a way to recycle t-shirt cutting waste into ECO2cottonTM suitable for apparel and home product applications.

T-shirts are typically produced using virgin cotton yarn. They are generally knit in tubes. The machine then cuts the neck and armholes, leaving cutting waste. The t-shirt goes on to be constructed and sold. The cuttings hit the floor. Unbelievably, the cuttings can be 40% of the original tube. Many production houses send these cuttings to a landfill or incinerate them.

The first issue to address is the waste of virgin cotton. According to the WWF, cotton crops world wide are responsible for 25% of the insecticides released into the environment each year. Add the costs in energy, water and land and your t-shirt comes at a high environmental cost.

Recycling these clippings offers an eco friendly approach. The clippings are diverted from landfills, re-use processes do not cost as much in energy, water and land, and since the clippings come in various colors, the resulting yarn or fabrics do not require further dye.

Jimtex, in partnership with parent company Martex Fiber Southern Corporation, developed an innovative proprietary technology. Martex works in partnership with mills on and off-shore, developing systems for collecting, sorting and baling clippings. The mills then sell the clippings to Martex. Less waste and a return on waste for the mills sounds like a win-win situation for business and the environment.

Martex passes the regenerated cotton on to Jimtex. Jimtex blends color, fiber content and yarn quality to spin fiber into new yarns. A small percentage of acrylic or synthetic material is included in the spinning process to act as glue for the new yarn. As of 2007 Jimtex Yarns President, Harry Matusow reported finding a US based post-consumer recycled polyester company. This partnership allows Jimtex to produce 100% recycled yarn.

Jimtex has also developed a very successful yarn blending technique that leads to limitless colors. Mixing fiber like paint, Jimtex may combine dark blue, purple and black to create a beautiful heathered yarn. Careful records are kept and Jimtex offers "recipes" for over 70 colors. The new yarns are sold back to the mills to be made into new products.

Customers are thrilled, receiving environmentally responsible yarns in beautiful, unique colors offered at a lower cost than virgin yarn. The environmental advantages and unique color process of ECO2cottonTM entices the high end t-shirt market. Jimtex proves that careful analysis of the production process can lead to innovations in earth friendly practices.

Till next week - Restore, Refresh, Recycle, Renew

Information for this article was taken from, "Using What Others Toss Out," by Harry Matusow, President, Jimtex Yarns and Stefanie Zeldin, Corporate Marketing and Brand Manager, ECO2cottonTM in Future Fashion White Papers,2007.