The apparel industry is poised to launch the first environmental assessment tool that offers a common language to approach environmental sustainability for products and their supply chains. Source4Style is one of 100 members of the Outdoor Industry’s Association’s (OIA) and European Outdoor Group’s Eco Working Group preparing the tool for the release. Other key members include: Adidas, Patagonia, Columbia Sportswear, Levi Strauss & Co, Nau, REI, The North Face, Timberland, YKK, among others.

Over the last three and a half years, the Eco Working group committees have spent thousands of hours to help launch the Eco Index, a modular environmental assessment tool intended to be used by companies to incorporate environmental considerations and efficiencies into product design and to manage their supply chains in a way that supports their environmental goals.

“I’ve been doing collaborative work for twenty years and I have never seen a group come together in the way that this one has,” remarked Jill Dumain, Director of Environmental Strategy at Patagonia and Chair of the Eco Working Group Advisory Council. “It’s been a lot of sweat equity and the respect and trust among the people participating has gone a long way to keep the group engaged.”

The early collaborative process involved extensive research and analysis into existing national and international standards and certifications; review of company standards, including Timberland, Nike, Levi Strauss & Co., Patagonia, Brooks and others; weekly updates online and over the phone; monthly conference calls to finalize and review working documents; and workshops and meetings held at annual OIA conferences. “We’ve invested a lot of time up front so we can be more productive in the future,” says Dumain. “As a result of that, companies, brands and supply chain partners are all going to be working towards the same goal now.”

How The Eco Index works

The Eco Index uses environmental guidelines, performance indicators and footprint metrics to assess the impacts within six product life cycle stages. These include: Materials, Packaging, Product Manufacturing and Assembly, Transport and Distribution, Use of Service, and End of Life.

From there, a comparative scoring system at the indicator level provides standardized levels of achievement and a means to collect quantitative data within seven critical lenses, or areas of impact. These lenses include: Land Use Intensity, Water, Waste, Biodiversity, Chemistry/Toxics (People), Chemistry/Toxics (Environment), and Energy Use/Greenhouse Gas Emissions.

“The Eco Index provides companies with a way to benchmark their environmental footprint,” says Beth Jensen, Corporate Responsibility Manager of  OIA. “The outdoor industry has a responsibility to be a leader in this area since we are inextricably linked to our environment.”

Global Reach

The creation of a standardized Eco Index is a big step in addressing sustainability in the apparel industry and will undoubtedly propel both manufacturers and retailers to adopt the principles set forth in the assessment tool. “The benchmarks provide a common language for the industry to work from,” says Jensen. “Brands now have a set of questions they can ask their suppliers in order to improve their supply chain. In turn, suppliers can identify areas of improvement and prioritize areas to work on. If they want to keep brands as customers,” remarks Jensen, “They will need to get on board.”

Dumain agrees: “I think so many companies want to do the right thing environmentally but not every company has the ability to understand what the right thing is. We’ve been able to bring together the best minds and the best ideas and come up with an index that is really progressive and that everyone has agreed upon. Partners along the supply chain can work towards the same goal and change within the industry will happen at a quicker rate.”

Source4Style note: Source4Style is proud to be part of the the Eco Working Group and will be incorporating the Eco Index into various aspects of our business, including in our Supplier Sustainability Questionnaire, which will be open for public comment in the Winter of 2010. We encourage designers and brands who are a part of the Source4Style community to participate in The Eco Index pilot program, slated to begin next month. Information, webinars, and workshop sessions will be announced shortly.

Further note: The Eco Index is currently in Phase 1 Beta stage. Content has been developed to support approximately 80 percent of the full index framework. The formal Eco Index Phase 1 launch is scheduled for early 2011. Development of Phase 2 content will begin in early 2011. At present, The Eco Index does not provide an overarching score or ranking for finished products.