Wal-Mart Unveils a New Sustainability Initiative

Wal-Mart is making headlines again, thankfully this time it’s a lot less controversial. On October 22nd in Beijing, Wal-Mart held a groundbreaking conference with around 1,000 different suppliers and manufactures outlining the future goals of the company. With many companies today realizing the need for more sustainable business models, Wal-Mart is following suit with an initiative to bring more sustainable and energy efficient practices to its already immensely successful business and supply chain.

“Sustainability is about building a better business. We think it is essential to our future success as a retailer — and to meeting the expectations of customers,” said Lee Scott, president and CEO of Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. “Maintaining the trust of our customers — today and in the future — is tied hand-in-hand with improving the quality of our supplier factories and their products.”

Wal-Mart’s main initiative focuses on meeting or exceeding social and environmental standards, promoting innovation and efficiency and building stronger partnerships with suppliers, governments and NGOs. Beginning in China in 2009, Wal-Mart will create a new supplier agreement that will require factories to certify compliance with local laws and regulations as well as rigorous social and environmental standards. Wal-Mart will also partner with its top manufacturers to improve energy efficiency by 20% by 2012. Along with increasing environmental standards, Wal-Mart will also implement stricter product safety and quality measures that will greatly reduce returns of defective merchandise

Thanks to its great success, Wal-Mart is in a unique position to bring about effective change by working collaboratively with foreign suppliers and manufacturers. Although by no means the first company to strive to be more environmentally conscious, the fact that a large and powerful company like Wal-Mart is making a commitment to sustainability will no doubt have a positive impact and lead the way for other corporations to follow.

Wal-Mart Press Release

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Connect – Nau in Chicago

Chicago area shoppers will soon get a chance to see the new progressive and sustainable line from Nau clothing at Connect, a sustainable retail and event space opening its doors on November 7 in the Wicker Park/Bucktown neighborhood.

Connect will be one of only two retailers in the world to house Nau’s entire 2008 fall/holiday collection. Nau, which unexpectedly closed it doors in May, has re-launched its clothing line and will be bringing its sustainable apparel back to Chicago. Along with Nau, Connect will showcase other collections that also focus on sustainability and social and environmental responsibility.

As well as being a retail store Connect will also be hosting monthly fundraising events in their showroom and at other locations as well. They will feature numerous non-profit organizations at their events and will give a portion of sales from their own private label back to the local community. Connect’s innovative approach to retail and commitment to the community pair perfectly with Nau’s goal of responsibly revolutionizing the apparel industry. For those in Chicago, look for Nau clothing at Connect when it opens it doors on November 7!

Connect Chicago
Nau

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Sustainable Shoes for You and Me

Shoeaholics of the world may feel a little bit better in the coming months as Payless ShoeSource has just announced plans to launch a new line of eco-friendly, sustainable shoes. The shoes will utilize materials such as organic cottons, linen and natural hemp, recycled outsoles, as well as the use of eco-smart packaging.

Payless plans to bring the new line of sustainable shoes to market in about a year, and will be comparable in price to other shoes sold in their stores. To help drive innovation, Payless has partnered with Eco-consultant Summer Rayne Oakes to oversee their green initiative.

Known across the country as an affordable retailer of shoes, Payless is in a unique position to dispel the assumption that all green products must be expensive. According to Matt Rubel, CEO of Collective Brands, Inc., the parent company of Payless ShoeSource. “Green items are often expensive and inaccessible to so many. With our mission to democratize the latest ideas in footwear and accessories, we are in the best position and proud to bring forward a green footwear line that is affordable and accessible to all.

Payless ShoeSource is the nation’s leading specialty footwear retailer and as of 2006, operates a total of 4,602 stores. By delivering great quality and value, Payless has grown into a potent force in the retail industry, and its new line of green shoes will be able to reach a wide range of customers.

further reading

Payless Website
Payless Press Release

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Reclaiming Tires: Design Within Reach Style

As a part of Design Within Reach’s new business strategies, they’ve been pushing hard to get eco-friendly products to the market. This new product from their rubber tire line was inspired by by the fact that “Americans alone toss out about 300 million tires every year.” These products are modeled using ancient leather-crafting techniques and actually made in Egypt. They are hand-cut and hand-sewn wile being useable indoors and out for planters, carrying containers or simply durable storage. Each container is durable and unique, offering a functional alternative to the landfill. To quote the folks at Design Within Reach, “the big thinkers of the world are working on creative ways to reuse this vast quantity of rubber – ideas include mixing ground-up tires with urethane to create sidewalks or burning them like coal to produce energy.” Their goal is to take this concept to the consumer market, creating smaller but important opportunities for material reuse in the product design industry.

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What is the Green Retail Experience?

This weekend and into early this week I browsed the International Home & Housewares Association show here in Chicago. The show consisted of a smattering of home appliances and products- new, old, and green. To my delight, the headlining topics of nearly all panel discussions and talks were focussed on the future of sustainability in product design. Two talks really stuck with me: “Green Today, Here Tomorrow: the emotional currency of sustainability”, and “Making it Happen: exhibitors panel discussion on sustainable materials”. The result was a cathartic dialogue I’d like to open up to you: what is the green retail experience?

My thoughts arose from questions presented from the buyers in the home appliance industry regarding the friction between novelty and sustainability. We have created through supply and demand, the experience of walking into a store and expecting to see new seasonal products. We anticipate seasonal colors, products, and innovation. This experience has resulted in a lot of new products developed in haste and without much regard for environmental responsibility. The question is, how can retailers maintain the “new” experience while being a sustainability leader.

Designer, professor, and sustainable materials panelist Hans Maier Aichen of Design Ideas suggests to define the evolution of a product through details. “We need to do less and do better”. As designers, we have a heavy responsibility. Today our industry is overflowing with an excess of products (this i witnessed at the show while passing manufacturers exhibiting, for example, every single microwave they produce- i saw walls of rice makers, toasters, coffee makers, microwaves all noticeably different but functionally similar), this excess has created cut-throat competition, and has resulted in unsustainable low prices.  As we move into the generation of green retail with responsible products, how do we lead by designing and formulating the green retail experience?

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Ecolect & NAU meet up: Chicago

Dear Chicagoans,
Forward-thinking apparel company NAU will be hosting Ecolect’s “3rd Coast” launch party in your forward-thinking city on Friday, January 18. Please join us for product giveaways, sustainable material samples, local green designerati sightings, drinks, and hors d’oeurves (plus the introduction of new Ecolect site features). Let us know you’re coming; RSVP to party@ecolect.net.

Click for map

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Sustainable Security Packaging

Secure Sales Solutions is a company based in West Saint Paul, Minesota which provides retail security packaging.

The company has recently created a series of what it calls “environmentally sustainable” solutions for retail security packaging.

” Our totally degradable Secure Sales Solutions ensure safe degradation/biodegradation once placed in an engineered landfill.

* The additives in our products do not contain any heavy metals, are non ecotoxic and accelerate the rate at which common plastics degrade.

* When our packaging solutions are recycled with other plastics, the process or the quality of the recycling are not influenced.

* Even though many plastic products are reused or recyled, the majority still end up in landfills after use. While conventional plastics take up much needed landfill space for many years to come, our products will biodegrade saving landfill space and reducing the impact on the environment.

* Our products become environmentally benign within a few months to a few years as compared to PVC “blister packs” or “clam shells” that take decades or longer.

* An additional benefit is the low cost. For approximately one cent, we can ensure your packaging is biodegradable and recyclable.”

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