SUSTAINABILITY AND SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY Definition Social Responsibility First appeared in the business literature in the 1950s Business for social responsibility achieving commercial success in the ways that honor values and respect people communities and the natural environment Until the 1990s there was little discussion about environmental impacts of apparel production and use or many other consumer products In the apparel textile business the interplay of the three dimensions orientation philosophy and outcomes Dickson Eckman 2006 1 Orientation or focus of the business on people and the environment Socially responsible businesses are primarily concerned with the welfare of people and the physical environment 2 Philosophy and actions of a business that balances ethics and morality with profitability which is achieved through accountability based business decisions and strategies 3 Outcomes of the actions The desired outcome was for people and the environment to be positively affected or at least not harmed by business decisions and activities Definition Sustainability Stern Ander Sustainability as a system utilizing renewable resources that meets the requirements of the present without compromising the requirements of future green ratings or disrupting present or future environmental balance Heathorn Ulasewicz To be sustainable means that you take out of a system the same amount of energy as you put in with no pollution or waste Sustainability Green Design A means of doing that while maintaining quality of life by using clever design to substitute less harmful products and processes for conventional ones US regulations of environmental impacts from growing processing and dyeing textile materials were established over the last half of the 20th century Developing countries Environmental regulations either are so low and they do not protect against environmental degradation or are not enforced Either way the environmental standards of textile and apparel offshore production from developed countries are left to individual business and their Western business partners to establish and uphold Materials Product Design 1 bio based from recyclable materials or can be recycled 2 not processed or finished with toxic chemicals 3 safe for humans during production or use 4 have intrinsic characteristics that extend product life minimize care requirements or ease of disposal e g characteristics 5 have end of use plans such as recycling or reuse Natural Materials organic cotton wool hemp silk linen bamboo fast growing grass pest persistent easy to grow in many climates primarily grown in Asia particularly China soft hand many of the desirable cotton characteristics of strength and absorbency easily dyed producing beautiful colors used for terry cloth towels and bed linens biodegradable synthetics like corn starch and soya bean fiber cellulosic s manufactured from sustainably harvested eucalyptus Eco Circle Post consumer recycled polyester from Capilene and Polar fleece A number of apparel brands such as Patagonia Nike and Timberland purchase ECO CIRCLE polyester for use in some of their products Recycled soda pop bottles being turned into Polartec fleece by Maiden Mills and others Secondhand garments being recycled into new designs and sold by retailers Urban Outfitters Urban Renewal collection and What Comes Around Goes Around Link for How Plastic Bottles are Recycled Into Polyester Link for Post Recycle Dry by Nudie Jeans The Movie Link for Textile Exchange Recycled Content Webinar March 28 2012 Link for The Journey of Recycled Clothes Join Recycle Stream Garment Features Garment features e g fabric lining zippers and snaps similar in fiber content to ease care and disposal processes updatable through classic style or modifications reusable in another format e g a sweater that can be raveled and re knit for other clothing and home furnishings super satisfying in aesthetic physical social and psychological functions so that consumers will wear garments many times and for extensive life span Production and Sourcing reduce environmental impacts through selection of fiber spinning cutting sewing and finishing processes such as water based adhesives for shoes and nontoxic laundering and fading processes for jeans Socially Responsible Business Many brand name companies have suffered significant reputational damage from lack of attention to important issues related to corporate responsibility and have made changes Waddock Bodwell 2004 Du Pont The Adidas Group Liz Claiborne Nike Gap Philips Van Heusen Timberland Levi Strauss Co Patagonia etc Best Practices Katherine Hamnett Marks and Spencer M S Banana Republic 2006 E line for men E Stands for ethically and environmentally made Recognized for their progressive approach to sustainable business practices Skirt made of a hemp silk blend that produced a soft satin like fabrication Chicks Hong Kong casual wear brand Green products Nike surfaces Chaco Uses recycled materials from its athletic shoes to create a variety of sports playing Embraces sustainability throughout its company including a performance sandal product that can be resoled to increase its life span H M On March 25 H M launches its first sustainable collection featuring 100 sustainable materials The Garden Collection represents a major step towards H M s pledge to increase its use of organic products to 50 each year until 2013 Includes floral prints and 70s flower power designs will be made using organic and sustainable materials such as organic cotton organic linen recycled polyester made from PET bottles and Tencel Promoting organic cotton is part of H M s environmental strategy we encourage cotton farmers to switch to organic cultivation Young Jirousek and Ashdown s article Cornell U 2004 Discusses sustainable design methods incorporating the use of post consumer recycled clothing and materials in the design of new products Provides a good example of recycled fashion Reused denim developed by NCSU and Burlington Industries as a method to reclaim cotton Best Practices waste and convert it into yarn for reweaving Patagonia Environmentally responsible activities to its competitive advantage Let My People Go Surfing by Yvon Choinard outlining Patagonia s philosophy Buying and developing materials that promote environmental stewardship recycling and reuse e g organic cotton fleece made of recycled soda bottles and ECO CIRCLE fiber that can be reused at the fiber level Using its