Retail’s Journey Towards a Sustainable Future
Becoming sustainable as a retailer and purchasing sustainably as a customer has become the “new-norm” – in fact, I feel like a broken record even saying that. It’s old news, really. But how, as an existing brand, do you make what feels like a huge change? And how, as a customer so used to fast fashion, can you make better purchasing decisions for yourself and the planet?
Retail has been on a journey towards becoming more sustainable for a while now, but if we’ve learnt anything in the past almost 3 years of “COVID life” it’s that:
1. The internet and social media have created new opportunities to broaden a retailers ability capture and reach out to new (and current) customers – in fact, 89% of Generation Z’s, 88% of Millennials, 81% of Generation X’s, and 86% of Baby Boomers use social media daily; and
2. Consumers have re-assessed what they value when shopping, and are willing to pay more for sustainable brands and products than retailers expect. Brand loyalty is becoming a thing of the past if you’re not meeting these new values.
So, with these important points in mind, here are some retailers who didn’t start in the sustainable space, who have decided to make a change for the better…
1. SELFRIDGES
This big impact sustainability strategy for the historic brand should be a wakeup call (or an idea to copy!) for other retailers. Their vision for Project Earth is to reinvent retail and change the way consumers shop + how they do business by 2025. Through Project Earth Edit Selfridges allows its customers an easy way to shop brands who are good for nature, good for communities, good for animals, vegan, refillable, re-usable and through their “RESELLFRIDGES” initiative customers can shop one-of-a-kind pre-loved and archive pieces.
So, is changing retail by 2025 ambitious? Most certainly! But if Selfridges can shift towards a greener future, then anyone can.
2. LEVI'S
Denim is notorious for requiring huge amounts of water to create one pair of jeans, but Levi’s new collection, Water<Less, uses up to 96% less water. For this and all its products, Levi’s is committed to sustainability through the entire design and manufacturing process, including working towards 100% sustainably sourced cotton and recycling old jeans into home insulation.
3. EVERLANE
Everlane mixes sustainability with transparency by sharing with customers the exact breakdown of the cost of each item and showing the factories where garments are made. The company builds strong relationships with factory owners to ensure that the employees and production meet Everlane’s high ethical standards. Everlane also recently released a line of clothing made from recycled plastic bottles and other reused materials, plus they have committed to cut global carbon emissions in half by 2030 and reach net-zero emissions by 2050.
4. MJ BALE
Menswear retailer M.J. Bale is the first Australian fashion brand to be carbon neutral certified (as of December 2021) for its products and organisation – they have even created the world’s first carbon-neutral, or zero emissions, suit…made from seaweed! The company’s Founder and CEO, Matt Jenson, recently said “Methane emissions from sheep are the biggest contributor to our carbon footprint. In terms of our production chain, it’s about 35 per cent. So, when we started to look at creating more sustainable suits, we had to begin with the biggest problem.”
5. IKEA
By 2030 the fast furniture leader is committed to using only renewable and recyclable materials and aim to reduce their footprint by 70% per product. Another impressive initiative is their pre-loved furniture offering, where customers sell their old furniture back to IKEA, who then give the items a “face-lift” and resell them online and in-store.
Increasingly and not surprisingly, customers want to have a positive impact on the environment and recognise their habits can control this. Research shows that around 88% of consumers want brands to help them be more environmentally friendly. Yet, fashion alone is notorious for its wasteful practices that are hurting the environment. Shockingly, fashion production releases 10% of the world’s carbon emissions, which is more than international flights + maritime shipping combined, plus its responsible for 20% of all water pollution worldwide. If the fashion industry continues its current trajectory, it will produce a whopping 26% of the world’s carbon footprint by 2050. It’s clear that something needs to be done to remedy the situation and disrupt the industry.
An initiative we love and support, and would love to see more retailers get on board with is Green Friday. With Australia’s commitment to the Paris Agreement, we need to reduce emissions by 43% by 2030, and to net zero emissions by 2050 – and we need major Australian retailers on board. Though most retailers strongly support sustainable initiatives, it is a complex and sometimes overwhelming challenge as they are faced with ever evolving – and sometimes conflicting – research, products, materials, processes, and regulations. That' s why Green Friday was created – it’s a supportive platform to prove that when it comes to sustainability, we don't need brands to be all in or not at all. And we don't need thousands of brands being 100% sustainable... All we need is millions to be imperfectly sustainable.
This platform allows retailers to display their sustainable products all in one place – and it’s worthwhile noting, nearly all participating Green Friday brands won't be 100% sustainable, however, they will all have sustainable deals and offers, aka the platform isn’t about judging the sustainability journey of retailers, instead it celebrates any and all efforts, and gives the customer the choice to shop who they want and how they want, based on what is important to them.
Some of the big-name brands already involved in Green Friday are: Flora & Fauna, Nourished Life, Frank Green, ReleaseIt and GlamCorner. Want to get involved? Contact Green Friday here