How IKEA, Nike, Levi’s & Others Tackle Sustainability

Picture of an IKEA store
 

By Tricia McKinnon

The climate crisis is a growing concern of many retailers and for good reason. Manufacturing just one pair of denim jeans uses one kilogram of cotton. Producing that cotton takes 7,500 to 10,000 litres of water, enough drinking water for one person for seven to ten years. The manufacturing practices of many brands also contaminate our water when dyes used to add colour to merchandise end up in water reservoirs. This is an issue since freshwater is in scarce supply with only 3% of the water on the earth being freshwater. And 3.2 billion people live in areas with high water shortages or water scarcity. 

As a whole the fashion industry is responsible for 10% of global carbon emissions and 20% of wastewater. It’s not just the fashion industry that needs to do a better job but all of us. Consumers are not in the dark, they are becoming more and more aware of how their favourite retailers are contributing to climate change. As a result retailers either on their own accord or because of growing scrutiny are launching initiatives aimed at reducing their environmental footprint. From selling secondhand items to allowing customers to rent merchandise there are a number of ways retailers are tackling climate change. 

1. IKEA

IKEA has bold ambitions when it comes to sustainability. It plans to decrease its climate impact per item by 70% by 2030. Within that timeframe IKEA also aims to only make products made of recycled or renewable materials designed to be reused, recycled or resold. “At IKEA we don’t want to merely be a part of the sustainability movement – we want to lead it. If we want to reach our sustainability goals, we have to challenge ourselves and test our ideas. The climate crisis cannot be solved in theory, it has to be solved in practice,” says Jonas Carlehed, Sustainability Manager at IKEA Sweden.

IKEA’s commitment to protecting the environment is not lip service. It put its ambitions on display when it opened its first store last fall that sells only refurbished and sustainably manufactured merchandise. The store is located in a mall in Sweden called ReTuna where tenants only sell reused, organic or sustainability produced items. IKEA is sourcing items for its ReTuna store from municipal recycling centres. After six months IKEA will examine the project and determine if it should launch a similar initiative in other markets.

 “We are making a huge readjustment, maybe the biggest IKEA has ever made, and one of the keys to reaching (the targets) is to manage to help our customers prolong the life of their products,” said Carlehed. IKEA also announced last fall it is buying back used furniture in 27 countries in order to resell, recycle or donate them. 

2. Levi’s

Last fall Levi’s made a large investment in the resale market by launching Levi’s SecondHand. Levi’s SecondHand is a site where Levi’s is selling previously owned Levi’s denim jackets and jeans. 

“We think that the demand is there and we think this is how a lot of young people prefer to shop… [this is a way] to get an understanding of that level of demand, and also to work out the kinks in how it’s executed before scaling,” said Jen Sey, Levi’s Chief Marketing Officer. “Buying a used pair of Levi’s saves approximately 80% of the CO2 emissions, and 1.5 pounds of waste, compared to buying a new pair. As we scale this, that will really start adding up.”

“We’re encouraging people not to throw away used – or “previously loved,” as I like to say – denim, and help them see that second-hand garments deliver the same value and are still built to last while preserving the natural resources that would be needed to make a new pair of jeans,” said Levi’s in a statement.

“All the water that’s used, all the chemicals, all the energy. It’s not at all sustainable. So we’re focused on encouraging consumers to buy what they love, live with it and love it longer. Repurposing and repairing jeans uses only a minimal amount of energy, a minimal amount of water and no dyes. Buying a used pair of Levi’s saves approximately 80% of the CO2 emissions and 1.5 pounds (700 grams) of waste compared to buying a new pair of Levi’s. That’s every pair. As we scale this SecondHand program globally, that will really start adding up,” said Levi’s in a statement.

3. Nike

Nike recently announced it is selling refurbished sneakers at 15 stores with plans to sell these sneakers at several more stores by the end of this year. If you buy a pair of Nikes and return them within 60 days they are eligible for Nike Refurbished its resale program. Once the sneaker is refurbished it is priced lower than the original sale price. The closer the sneakers are to being new the higher the price they are resold at. If the shoe is damaged beyond repair they are moved into the Nike Grind program an initiative where unusable merchandise is turned into other uses including rubber flooring, courts and new sneakers. 

“Nike’s move is just the latest signal that resale represents a sea change in how consumers want to shop today,” said Andy Ruben CEO of re-commerce startup Trove. “Consumers love both the shopping experience and the value they get with resale. Strong brands know they need to own their secondary market, and I expect many more of them will follow Nike’s lead in the coming months and years.” This is Nike’s first ever resale program and while sustainability is on Nike’s mind so is the growing popularity of resale platforms like StockX and GOAT. This maneuver allows Nike to test the waters and see if it wants to have a larger role in the fast growing secondary sneaker market.

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4. Eileen Fisher

Eileen Fisher put a spotlight on sustainability before it was even a trend. Eileen Fisher’s philosophy is: “buy quality pieces, wear them as long as possible—and when you’re done with them, pass them on to someone else.” The womenswear retailer has an entire separate line of business and website called Eileen Fisher Renew (www.eileenfisherrenew.com) where customers can shop secondhand Eileen Fisher clothing. Since 2009 Eileen Fisher Renew has taken back over 1.5 million pieces of merchandise that was then either resold, donated or turned into new designs. 

“Worn-or-torn” Eileen Fisher clothing can be returned to any Eileen Fisher or Eileen Fisher Renew store in the United States. “Given the growth of resale, you have to wonder why every brand doesn’t do [this], instead of letting another retailer profit from their brand name,” says New York Times’ fashion director Vanessa Friedman. With big names like Nike and Levi’s getting into resale more companies sitting on the sidelines are going to wonder if they too should enter the ring. 

5. Allbirds

An environmentally friendly sneaker sounds like something on trend in 2021 but Tim Brown, Allbirds’ co-founder came up with the idea for a wool sneaker a decade ago when most people were less aware of how our consumption habits impact the environment. 

Brown was inspired to create a shoe using wool because of the more than 30 million sheep that inhabit his home country of New Zealand. He also knew that wool is a great material because it is sustainable, made of natural instead of synthetic material. Allbirds’ woolen sneakers also have a smaller carbon footprint than many sneakers on the market. 

In 2020 Allbirds launched its first running shoe called the Tree Dasher. The mesh upper is created from eucalyptus wood pulp and the shoe’s sole is made from sugarcane. “We looked at many different materials, but when we came across eucalyptus we immediately knew we’d found what we were looking for,” said Joey Zwillinger, Allbirds’ CEO. “Eucalyptus trees require very little water and grow like a weed all over Australia and New Zealand.” “They’re basically carbon-eating machines.”

As Allbirds writes on its website its “tree fiber—TENCEL™ Lyocell—is sourced from South African farms that minimize fertilizer and rely on rainfall, not irrigation. Compared to traditional materials like cotton, it uses 95% less water and cuts our carbon footprint in half.”

6. Reformation

Unlike some brands that utilize sustainability as a marketing ploy, Reformation has made it a core component of the company since its incorporation. Reformation Founder, Yael Aflalo, states that, “I think that climate change is the biggest issue facing our generation.”  "I'm not an energy expert or an engineer but I do know how to make ... a sustainable fashion brand."

Reformation considers itself as sustainable and fast fashion, using a quick production process that prevents waste in real time. This includes making limited collection runs before seeing demand and how pieces perform. Reformation plans to reuse or recycle 500,000 garments this year, and you can even tour its LA factory to see how it uses discarded and leftover fabrics in its products. Even when you are browsing clothes to try on in store, smart displays will show you the clothing’s “RefScale”. This is a measure of the selected clothing’s water usage, waste generation, and amount of carbon emissions that were generated in the manufacturing process of the piece. Reformation compares a clothing’s RefScale to the average RefScale for clothing in the United States. 

7. MATT & NAT

MATT & NAT which stands for MAT(T)erial and NATure sells fashionable accessories with a minimalist design. While at a distance MATT & NAT’s signature bags look like they are made from animal products they are actually made using vegan leather. All of the linings of the bags it produces are made from 100% recycled bottles with approximately 21 bottles used in every bag it produces. According to MATT & NAT: “it’s important for us not to use leather. Simply put, we don’t like hurting animals and we care about the welfare of the planet”. MATT & NAT is also continually sourcing materials such as rubber to make its products more sustainable in addition to cruelty-free.  

8. Everlane

Everlane is a clothing brand that mostly sells high quality basics (cashmere sweaters, cotton t-shirts and jeans) but at lower prices than retailers such as J.Crew or Banana Republic who sell similar items. Everlane’s goal is to be “more sustainable everyday.” To this end Everlane believes that since we all leave an imprint on our environment we should take responsibility for cleaning up that footprint.

As Everlane writes on its website: “there are 8 billion tons of plastic on the planet. And once it’s made—it never goes away. So today, we’re making a commitment: No new plastic in our entire supply chain by 2021.”  That goal covers Everlane’s merchandise, stores, packaging, offices and poly bags.

Here is some of Everlane’s progress towards being more environmentally friendly:

  • “Apparel fabrics: 97% of our apparel materials containing polyester and nylon are now made from certified recycled fibers. That material is made from recycling plastic water bottles, fishing nets, fabric excess from cutting patterns, and other items otherwise destined for the waste stream.

  • Footwear components: 45% of our plastic footwear components are now made from recycled materials.

  • Packaging: 100% of our virgin plastic shipping bags are now made from either 100% recycled plastic or FSC-certified paper.”

9. Stella McCartney

Stella McCartney has always been ahead of her time focusing on sustainability long before it became a trend. One of the areas she has focused on is reducing the environmental impact of her business by targeting the use of virgin cashmere in the manufacturing process. That material used to create the highest environmental impact within the brand. That material is no longer used, instead Stella McCartney’s knitwear is now made from re-engineered cashmere. The brand says that: “since 2016, we have only used recycled cashmere – redefining ‘waste.’ Our knitwear collections are made from certified recycled Re.Verso™ cashmere – offering the same soft, insulating qualities as virgin cashmere but with an environmental impact that’s seven times lower.” 

Speaking about her progress as a sustainable brand McCartney says: “I’ve tried to be sustainable pretty much my whole life and now all of a sudden it’s become such an overused word that no one even knows what it means any more. For me, the most important thing is to draw on the natural resources we have in a way that doesn’t deplete them. From a business viewpoint, I try to think about everything in terms of circularity. We work years in advance. I am always saying to my team: “Waste not, want not – do unto the planet as you would have it do unto you.”

“Change is coming – this is not a trend. What I would really love is to become a zero-impact operation, which we are working on. As a whole we still have a long way to go, but I want to lead by example.”

10. Kering

For quite a while many brands within the luxury sector shunned the resale market preferring customers who buy new, full priced items. But the fast growing resale sector is making luxury brands rethink their strategy.

Take Kering. Earlier this year Kering, which owns Gucci, revealed it had taken a 5% stake in Vestiaire Collective a luxury resale site. “Pre-owned luxury is now a real and deeply rooted trend, especially among younger customers,” said François-Henri Pinault, Kering’s CEO. “Rather than ignoring it, our wish is to seize this opportunity to enhance the value we offer our customers and influence the future of our industry towards more innovative and more sustainable practices. This fits naturally with our entrepreneurial spirit, our pioneering sustainability strategy, and our modern vision of luxury.” 

Tricia McKinnonStrategy & Growth1 Comment