AD6606 FMP - Sustainability Research File by Darci Allcock

What is Sustainability ? How Sustainabilities Work, Benefits, and Example

What Is Sustainability ?

In the broadest sense, sustainability refers to the ability to maintain or support a process continuously over time. In business and policy contexts, sustainability seeks to prevent the depletion of natural or physical resources, so that they will remain available for the long term.

Key Takeaways

Sustainability is ability to maintain or support a process over

Investopedia / Daniel Fishel

time.

Sustainability is often broken into three core concepts: economic, environmental, and social.

Many businesses and governments have committed to sustainable goals, such as reducing their environmental footprints and conserving resources.

Some investors are actively embracing sustainability investments, known as "green investments."

Skeptics have accused some companies of "greenwashing," the practice of misleading the public to make a business seem more environmentally friendly than it is.

How Sustainability Works

Accordingly, sustainable policies emphasize the future effect of any given policy or business practice on humans, ecosystems, and the wider economy. The concept often corresponds to the belief that without major changes to the way the planet is run, it will suffer irreparable damage.

As concerns about anthropogenic climate change, biodiversity loss, and pollution have become more widespread, the world has shifted to embrace sustainable practices and policies, primarily through the implementation of sustainable business practices and increased investments in green technology.

3 Pillars of Sustainability

The idea of sustainability is often broken down into three pillars: economic, environmental, and social—also known informally as profits, planet, and people.

In that breakdown, the concept of "economic sustainability" focuses

on conserving the natural resources that provide physical inputs for economic production, including both renewable and exhaustible inputs.

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The concept of "environmental sustainability" adds greater emphasis on the life support systems, such as the atmosphere or soil, that must be maintained for economic production or human life to even occur. In contrast, social sustainability focuses on the human effects of economic systems, and the category includes attempts to eradicate poverty and hunger, as well as to combat inequality.

In 1983, the United Nations created the World Commission on Environment and Development to study the connection between ecological health, economic development, and social equity. The commission, then run by former Norwegian prime minister Gro Harlem Brundtland, published a report in 1987 that has become the standard in defining sustainable development.

That report describes sustainable development, or the blueprint for attaining sustainability, as "meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs."12

Corporate Sustainability

In business contexts, sustainability refers to more than just environmentalism. Harvard Business School lists two ways to measure sustainable business practices: the effect a business has on the environment, and the effect a business has on society, with the goal of sustainable practice being to have a positive impact on at least one of those areas.3

Corporate sustainability emerged as a component of corporate ethics in response to public concerns of long-term damage caused by a focus on short-term profits.

This view of responsibility encourages businesses to balance longterm benefits with immediate returns, and the goal of pursuing inclusive and environmentally sound objectives. This covers a broad array of possible practices. Cutting emissions, lowering energy usage, sourcing products from fair-trade organizations, and ensuring their physical waste is disposed of properly and with a smaller carbon footprint would qualify as moves toward sustainability.

Companies have also set sustainability goals such as a commitment to zero-waste packaging by a certain year, or to reduce overall emissions by a certain percentage.

Many corporations have made such sustainability promises in recent years. For example, Walmart Stores, Inc. (WMT) has pledged to reach zero emissions by 2040.4 Morgan Stanley has pledged netzero "financed emissions" by 2050.5 Google has pledged to operate carbon-free by 2030.6

The push for sustainability is evident in areas such as energy generation as well, where the focus has been on finding new deposits to outpace the drawdown on existing reserves. Some electricity companies, for example, now publicly state goals for energy generation from sustainable sources such as wind, hydropower, and solar.

Because these policies tend to generate public goodwill, some companies have been accused of "greenwashing," the practice of providing a false impression that makes a business seem more environmentally friendly than it is.

Cost Cutting

Moreover, many companies have been criticized for cost-cutting measures that make it harder to evaluate their sustainability. For example, many companies might move some parts of their business to less-regulated markets, such as by offshoring production to obtain cheaper labor. This can make it harder to assess the costs of production on workers and the environment.7

Sustainability practices "significantly affect" the offshoring activities of multinational corporations, according to an examination of data from 1,080 multinational corporations.8

Challenges Surrounding Business Sustainability

The switch to sustainability can be difficult. The Santa Fe Institute outlines three major impediments for firms seeking to improve their environmental impacts: First, it is hard to actually understand the impact of any individual firm. Second, it is difficult to rank the environmental impact of some activities, and finally, it is difficult to predict how economic agents respond to changing incentives.9

Sustainable investing surveys over the past couple of years have suggested that half (or in some cases, more than half) of investors say that sustainability is "fundamental" to investing strategy.10

Not everyone concerned with investments shares the enthusiasm. In July 2021, for instance, Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Commissioner Hester Peirce argued that not only would environmental, social, and governance (ESG) disclosure mandates violate the agency's authority, but it may also "undermine financial and economic stability."

According to Peirce, the "inherently political" sustainability metrics were "unabashedly" created to direct capital toward certain businesses. In response to public comments and regulatory pressure to look into such mandates, Peirce said that it would be a violation of the SEC's "historically agnostic approach" to regulations.11

Eiji Hirano, a former chairman of the board of visitors for Japan’s Government Pension Investment Fund, has said that there's a bubble in ESG investing and that the fund needs to rethink its ESG investments, according to interviews with Bloomberg News.12

Benefits of Business Sustainability

In addition to the social benefits of improving the environment and elevating human needs, there are also financial benefits for companies that successfully implement sustainability strategies. Using resources sustainability can improve the long-term viability of a business concern, just as cutting waste and pollution can also help a company save money.

For example, using more efficient lighting and plumbing fixtures can help a company save on utility bills, as well as improve its public image. There may also be government tax incentives for companies that adopt certain sustainability practices.

Sustainability can also make a company more attractive to investors. A 2019 HEC Paris Research paper showed that shareholders value the ethical dimensions of a firm so much that they are willing to pay $.70 more to purchase a share in a firm that gives a dollar or more per share to charities. The study also revealed a loss in valuation for firms perceived as exercising a negative social impact.13

Based on interviews with senior executives across 43 global investing firms, Harvard Business Review has argued that the

perception among some business leaders that environmental, social, and governance issues are not mainstream in the investment community is outdated.14

The "sea change" in investor attitudes described by Harvard Business Review draws on the increased commitments of investors.

The Principles for Responsible Investment, a United Nationssupported effort to bring these issues into investing, had 63 investment companies with $6.5 trillion in assets under management that committed when it launched in 2006. In 2018, it had 1,715 companies with $81.7 trillion in assets.15

While it's tempting to support companies that seem environmentally friendly, some companies are less sustainable than they seem. This use of misleading advertisements or branding to create a false impression of sustainability is sometimes called "greenwashing."

Creating a Sustainable Business Strategy

Many corporations are seeking to integrate sustainability practices into their core business models. Companies can adopt sustainability strategies in the same way that they develop their other strategic plans.

The first step to integrating sustainability practices is to identify a specific weakness shortcoming. For example, a company might determine that it generates too much waste, or that its hiring practices are causing harm to the surrounding communities.

Next, the company should determine its goals, and identify the metrics it will use to measure its achievements. A company might set an ambitious target for reducing its carbon footprint, or set a specific percentage goal for diversity hiring. This will allow the company to determine objectively if its goals have been met.

The final step is to implement the strategy and assess its results. This requires continuous re-evaluation, as a company's goals may change as the company grows.3

There are some common pitfalls for companies aiming for sustainability. One of them is the knowledge-action gap: even though many executives set sustainability as one of their core business values, few of them take concrete actions to accomplish sustainability objectives.

Another is known as the compliance-competitiveness gap. While improving sustainability metrics can make a company more competitive in the market, these goals should not be confused with the mandatory compliance requirements that a company must adhere to. While sustainability is desirable, compliance is mandatory.16

Real-World Example

An interesting example of a successful sustainability strategy is Unilever, the parent company of Dove soaps, Axe body spray, Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream, Hellmann's mayonnaise, and many other familiar brands. In 2010, the company implemented the Unilever Sustainable Living Plan, a ten-year blueprint for reducing the environmental impact of its brands while providing a more fair workplace.

By the end of Unilever Sustainable Living Plan, the company was able to announce major achievements in improving its environmental footprint as well as the company's bottom line. By working to conserve water and energy, the company was able to save more than 1 billion euros between 2008 and 2018. Moreover, by creating more opportunities for women, Unilever also become the preferred consumer goods employer for graduate students in 50 countries.17

What Are the 3 Principles of Sustainability ?

The principles of sustainability refer to the three core concepts of environmental, social, and economic sustainability–sometimes broken down as "people, planet, and profits." This means that in order to be considered sustainable, a business must be able to conserve natural resources, support a healthy community and workforce, and earn enough revenue to remain financially viable for the long-term.

What Activities Promote Sustainability ?

Many sustainable businesses seek to reduce their environmental footprint by using renewable energy or by reducing waste. Companies may also be more sustainable by promoting diversity and fairness in their workforce, or enacting policies that benefit the local community.

What Is Economic Sustainability ?

Economic sustainability refers to a company's ability to continue its operations over a long-term horizon. In order to be economically sustainable, a company must be able to ensure that it will have adequate resources, workers, and consumers for its products into the distant future.

What Are the Most Sustainable Companies ?

There are many different ways to measure and compare sustainable companies. Canadian research firm Corporate Knights publishes a list of the 100 most sustainable companies. The list is topped by the Danish companies Vestas Wind Systems and Chr Hansen Holding, Autodesk Inc., in the United States, Schneider Electric in France, and

What Products Are Not Sustainable?

Non-sustainable products uses resources that cannot be replaced or replenished at the same speed that they are consumed. Products that rely on fossil fuels cannot be sustainable, because the resources used to make them can never be replaced. Other resources such as as rainforest timber, fishery stocks, sea corals, and other wildlife can be sustainable, if they are only harvested be limits that allow existing stocks to be replenished.

The Bottom Line

As consumers become more environmentally conscious, more companies and businesses are finding ways to reduce their impacts upon the planet and their community. Sustainability practices allow companies to highlight their social benefits while continuing to attract customers.

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My Notes:

Page 1

In business and policy contexts, sustainability seeks to prevent the depletion of natural or physical resources

Page 2

without major changes to the way the planet is run, it will suffer irreparable damage.

Page 3

conserving the natural resources that provide physical inputs for economic production, including both renewable and exhaustible inputs.

"environmental sustainability" adds greater emphasis on the life support systems,

social sustainability focuses on the human effects of economic systems,

the effect a business has on the environment, and the effect a business has on society, with the goal of sustainable practice being to have a positive impact on at least one of those areas

Page 4

public concerns of long-term damage caused by a focus on short-term profits.

Cutting emissions, lowering energy usage, sourcing products from fairtrade organizations, and ensuring their physical waste is disposed of properly and with a smaller carbon footprint

sustainability promises

"greenwashing," the practice of providing a false impression that makes a business seem more environmentally friendly than it is.

to less-regulated markets, such as by offshoring production to obtain cheaper labor. This can make it harder to assess the costs of production on workers and the environmen

half (or in some cases, more than half) of investors say that sustainability is "fundamental" to investing strategy

Page 6

Using resources sustainability can improve the long-term viability of a business concern, just as cutting waste and pollution can also help a company save money.

Sustainability can also make a company more attractive Page 7

The first step to integrating sustainability practices is to identify a specific weakness shortcoming

Next, the company should determine its goals, and identify the metrics it will use to measure its achievements

Page 8

The final step is to implement the strategy and assess its results. This requires continuous re-evaluation, as a company's goals may change as the company grows

knowledge-action gap: even though many executives set sustainability as one of their core business values, few of them take concrete actions to accomplish sustainability objectives.

compliance-competitiveness gap. While improving sustainability metrics can make a company more competitive in the market, these goals should not be confused with the mandatory compliance requirements that a company must adhere to. While sustainability is desirable, compliance is mandatory

Page 5

Page 9

in order to be considered sustainable, a business must be able to conserve natural resources, support a healthy community and workforce, and earn enough revenue to remain financially viable for the long-term. Page 10

Non-sustainable products uses resources that cannot be replaced or replenished at the same speed that they are consumed.

Products that rely on fossil fuels cannot be sustainable, because the resources used to make them can never be replaced.

rainforest timber, fishery stocks, sea corals, and other wildlife can be sustainable, if they are only harvested be limits that allow existing stocks to be replenished.

Sustainability practices allow companies to highlight their social benefits while continuing to attract customers.

Published: 13 Apr 2023

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Hemp fabric has undergone an image transformation in recent years, as shoppers and brands alike are learning of its versatility, strength, and potential sustainability.

Hemp on the high ground

Hemp is the sober cousin of marijuana, and industrial hemp contains only a tiny amount of the psychoactive component of cannabis, so the only high you’ll get from hemp fabric is the moral high-ground you’ll stand on knowing you’re wearing a more sustainable fabric.

In fact, industrial hemp is the fashion equivalent of the boring sibling who wants to stay home every weekend and knit socks for fun. But despite its boring properties, hemp’s association with cannabis has copped it a bad rep over the years.

It also doesn’t help that hemp clothing has been historically associated with baggy grunge-style clothing in khaki hues. Not that there’s anything wrong with hippy clothing if that’s the goal, but the trend certainly hasn’t done much to improve hemp’s image among the general populace.

But hemp has started to redeem its image in recent years, and its potential is undeniable. The environmental beneﬁts of hemp cultivation, combined Share for change

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with its durable characteristics as a fabric, mean it can feature in clothing that both feels and looks great, by even the highest of standards.

So what is hemp?

Hemp has a very long history of being used as a ﬁbre. In fact, it has been cultivated for thousands of years and on almost every continent. It has been used in clothing, ropes, and sails. Rumour has it that the word “canvas” is derived from “cannabis”.

Hemp is a type of bast fibre which means it’s one of a number of plantbased fibres derived from the stems of plants such as flax (where linen comes from), jute, and stinging nettle. The fabric has various natural advantages such as keeping you warm in winter, cool in summer, and even protecting you from UV rays

The fibre produced from pure hemp is similar to linen in texture. It can also be blended with other plant-based fibres to create fabrics with the durability of hemp and the softness of cotton or bamboo. Extremely versatile, materials produced from hemp fibres can be used for a variety of fabrics, “from jersey to denim to hessian to canvas”, according to Textile Exchange

But why all the fuss about the little green leaf? Is it really any different to its alternatives?

What makes hemp fabric a more sustainable option?

It’s no coincidence that hemp bears the nickname weed. A densely and quickly growing plant, hemp literally chokes out any competing plants. This means harsh chemical herbicides aren’t necessary. Hemp also naturally

reduces pests, so no pesticides are usually needed. Amazingly, it also returns 60-70% of the nutrients it takes from the soil. As Textile Exchange points out, since hemp plants have deep root systems, soil quality is replenished, which in turn captures carbon from the atmosphere.

Not only is hemp gentle on the earth, it also requires very little water, especially when compared to cotton, which, according to Slate uses “about 50% more water per season than hemp.” But that’s not all. According to the same article, “when you add processing into the equation, cotton uses more than four times as much water as hemp.”

Hemp also requires a relatively small amount of land to cultivate. According to the Guide to Sustainable Textiles, this means it can produce up to double the ﬁbre yield per hectare than cotton. It also makes a great addition to crop rotations throughout the year for farmers.

However, it’s important to be aware that hemp does not always mean organic, and many farmers still use environmentally damaging fertiliser. When going for hemp, make sure it’s organic and thoroughly study the brand you’re considering buying from.

So from an environmental perspective, the beneﬁts of hemp are pretty clear. But how does it compare once we start processing the raw product into a fabric?

How is hemp turned into a fabric?

Hemp fabric is made from the long strands of fibre that make up the stalk of the plant. These fibres are separated from the bark through a process called “retting.” These fibres are then spun together to produce a continuous thread that can be woven into a fabric. The processing methods for hemp were originally developed in the early 1900s, and are only now being updated and expanded to meet rising demand.

The various stages of the process can be done organically through a mechanical process that requires no chemicals. However, many companies now produce hemp fabric chemically, in a process that is much more intensive on the environment, but faster and cheaper to create. Often you can tell that a hemp fabric has gone through this intensive process if it is labelled as “hemp viscose”, which normally involves the same harmful processing with toxic chemicals as regular viscose. Some companies may use the less impactful lyocell process, so it is worth double checking before purchasing something made of hemp.

Cost of production is another factor to consider, says Textile Exchange

Since hemp is bulky, transporting it to processing centres can be “expensive and energy-intensive”. Shorter, localised supply chains are one possible solution here.

The impact of the fabric doesn’t just stop once it has been woven, either. Once the fabric has been created, it may be dyed, which again can result in various environmental outcomes, depending on the technique used.

So the production phase is a bit less clear-cut. Although hemp is a more eco-friendly crop to grow, we still need to be sure that the process being used to turn the plant into a fabric is lower-impact. Producers have a responsibility to ensure their manufacturing process considers the environment, workers, and consumers, along with proﬁtability.

So, what’s the verdict?

The good news is that hemp generally constitutes a more sustainable, lower-impact crop that can be converted into fabric responsibly. It’s important to make sure, however, that companies are not just greenwashing their hemp. Wondering where to start looking?

Check out these brands using hemp, rated “Good” or “Great” in the Good

My Notes:

13 Apr 2023

Page 2

Hemp is the sober cousin of marijuana

environmental benefits of hemp cultivation

Page 3

durable characteristics as a fabric, plantbased fibres derived from the stems

natural advantages such as keeping you warm in winter, cool in summer, and even protecting you from UV rays.

Extremely versatile can be used for a variety of fabrics

harsh chemical herbicides aren’t necessary

Page 4

reduces pests, so no pesticides are usually needed

Does this naturally.

returns 60-70% of the nutrients it takes from the soil

hemp plants have deep root systems, soil quality is replenished, which in turn captures carbon from the atmosphere

Not only is hemp gentle on the earth, it also requires very little water, “about 50% more water per season than hemp

In comparison to the water usage of cotton.

“when you add processing into the equation, cotton uses more than four times as much water as hemp.”

Hemp also requires a relatively small amount of land to cultivate it can produce up to double the fibre yield per hectare than cotton

many farmers still use environmentally damaging fertiliser.

Hemp fabric is made from the long strands of fibre that make up the stalk of the plant. These fibres are separated from the bark through a process called “retting.” These fibres are then spun together to produce a continuous thread that can be woven into a fabric.

Page 5

The various stages of the process can be done organically through a mechanical process that requires no chemicals.

companies now produce hemp fabric chemically

The source of the hemp needs to be carefully considered to ensure that it is organic and free from these chemicals.

you can tell that a hemp fabric has gone through this intensive process if it is labelled as “hemp viscose”

Since hemp is bulky, transporting it to processing centres can be “expensive and energy-intensive”.

Once the fabric has been created, it may be dyed, which again can result in various environmental outcomes, depending on the technique used.

Although hemp is a more eco-friendly crop to grow, we still need to be sure that the process being used to turn the plant into a fabric is lowerimpact.

What is sustainability in business?

What is sustainability in business?

Why is sustainability in business important?

Beneﬁts of sustainability in business

How to create a sustainable strategy

Corporate sustainability areas

Challenges with sustainability in business

The future of sustainability in business

What is sustainability in business?

Sustainability in business refers to a company's strategy and actions to reduce adverse environmental and social impacts resulting from business operations in a particular market. An organization’s sustainability practices are typically analyzed against environmental, social and governance (ESG) metrics.

As we face irreversible changes in the Earth’s system, the threat of climate change has become too risky to ignore. The exceedance of environmental thresholds is raising concerns about domino effects in global natural systems and societies. Businesses are seeing both pressure and opportunity to establish sustainability goals if they haven’t already.

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Sustainability client stories

Why is sustainability in business important?

We’re doing business in an unpredictable world. Climate change, dwindling natural resources, and ever-increasing demands on our energy and food supply are disrupting business operations and supply chains in unexpected ways. It’s more important than ever for private and public organizations to fundamentally rethink the way they function. Transforming into a successful sustainable business requires new levels of resilience and agility, rooted in responsible practices that preserve our planet.

Sustainability is a business imperative and should be core to the strategy and operations of every business. The reasons for this are both ethical and ﬁnancial:

–Consumers are willing to pay a premium for goods from brands that are environmentally responsible. 80% of consumers indicate sustainability is important to them.2

Employees are increasingly looking for mission-driven, purposeled employers who care about the planet when deciding where to work. 71% of employees and employment seekers say that environmentally sustainable companies are more attractive employers.1

–Governments, investors, employees and customers are demanding new levels of enterprise accountability, including –

Beneﬁts of sustainability in business

Companies that conscientiously integrate sustainable practices into their operations are seeing valuable business beneﬁts. These include:

 Competitive advantage

55% of consumers say environmental responsibility is very or extremely important when choosing a brand.5 Being known as a sustainable business can improve your brand awareness and help you attract consumers that are favorably predisposed to companies actively engaged in sustainable practices.



Investor appeal

In 2021, four out of ﬁve personal investors planned to act on sustainability or social responsibility factors in the following 12 months.6

–



Compliance with regulatory requirements

Governments will continue to expand regulations and corporate SDGs. Stay ahead of the curve by implementing sustainable solutions early on to meet these new regulatory requirements and continually capture, measure, benchmark and report on ESG performance.

 Increased longevity of transformation investments

The COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated digital transformation in most companies. If that transformation is sustainable, you’re building a more resilient business that is ready for disruption and new opportunities.

 Talent acquisition

Employees seeking purpose-driven employment want to work for sustainable and socially responsible companies. By building a reputation as a sustainable business, you can attract and retain the right employees for your company.

 Revenue growth

By implementing sustainable practices that reduce resource consumption and optimize operational efﬁciencies, today's change agents become tomorrow’s winners as they improve their bottom line. While efforts that have greater overall impact may be more costly to implement at the outset, the longterm gains will justify the investment.

How to create a sustainable strategy

Early leaders in enterprise sustainability are applying digital

Early leaders in enterprise sustainability are applying digital technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI), Internet of Things (IoT) data, blockchain and hybrid cloud to help operationalize sustainability at scale. In the process, many are uncovering opportunities to increase efficiencies while creating more motivated, inspired employees and more satisfied, loyal customers. The key to a successful sustainability strategy is to balance environmental drivers with key differentiators and market demands.

Step one to creating a sustainable strategy is to ensure stakeholders have a clear and agreed-upon vision for the future state of the business. This might require outside help to get everyone on the same page. IBM Garage™ for sustainability experts can help your organization identify top challenges and opportunities, prioritize critical actions and measure outcomes against sustainability and business goals to realize results in weeks instead of months.

Next, follow a timebound framework approach to implementing the sustainable vision across every aspect of your organization. Document everything in an environmental management system with deﬁned roles, responsibilities and accountability.

Finally, start with concrete initiatives that can generate tangible, measurable results and show value. This will demonstrate the value of sustainability in business to obtain more buy-in, create momentum, and scale.

Corporate sustainability areas

There are ﬁve key focus areas to plan a resilient and proﬁtable path forward:

Climate risk management and ESG reporting

The past decade has had the largest natural disaster impact on record. Organizations must factor the impact of climate change, which is causing extreme weather and climate events, into their business operations in a scalable and repeatable manner. Prepare for disruption with solutions that bring together multiple data sources, including proprietary, third-party, geospatial, weather and IoT data, with advanced analytics. Predict and plan for critical weather events to enable sustainable development and ensure business continuity. Reduce the operational costs and complexity of ESG compliance and reporting.

Learn more about managing climate risk

Resilient infrastructure and intelligent operations

Global challenges of climate change and environmental degradation, security, privacy and resource management require businesses to ensure their infrastructure is designed and managed with resiliency in mind. By using intelligent asset management, monitoring and predictive maintenance, organizations can extend the life of assets, reduce downtime and maintenance costs, optimize maintenance, repair and operations inventories, reduce CO2 emissions and eliminate waste. This will help them deliver against ESG goals with proﬁtability.

Learn more about sustainable operations

Sustainable supply chains and circularity

Consumers are becoming more concerned about the traceability of the goods they purchase, and supply chain leaders are looking to invest in circular economies that encourage reuse. Blockchain solutions can provide greater supply chain visibility with up-tothe-minute inventory views and performance insights that help build trust and transparency, assuring authenticity from origin to consumption while reducing waste and lowering cost to serve. Tackle complex Scope 3 emissions challenges by establishing product provenance, and minimize logistics-related emissions by optimizing fulﬁllment and delivery with advanced AI.

Learn more about sustainable supply chains

Electriﬁcation, energy and emissions reduction

Enabling clean electrification at scale will require leaders to come together in new ways to rethink how electrical systems operate and their role in a net-zero GHG emissions economy. Drive the transformation to decarbonization by enhancing grid efficiency, safety, reliability and resilience with intelligent asset management for energy and utilities. By implementing smart metering to better understand actual resource usage, you can keep critical assets and resources operating at maximum efficiency, improve equipment operations, lower costs and enhance services through automation.

Learn more about decarbonization

Sustainability strategy

Companies must embed sustainability into the fabric of their business to get the insights they need to operationalize at scale. This enables new business models and platforms to achieve sustainability goals, increase operational efﬁciencies, comply with regulatory requirements, expose innovation opportunities, and improve the customer experience while creating competitive advantage.

Learn more about sustainability strategy

Challenges with sustainability in business

There are several challenges to overcome in the pursuit of becoming a truly sustainable business:

Customer readiness

While the mindset around sustainability is shifting, no business can afford to be left behind, and few can ﬁnancially afford to be too far ahead of the appetite for sustainable offerings. Co-creating a sustainable future requires a deep understanding of your customers and having partners with the right relationships and ecosystems to bring them along on the journey.

Cost

Implementing sustainable business practices typically requires higher upfront investments. In the short term, it will often be cheaper to stick with the status quo. Some organizations will need help building an investment case to show how immediate investment will result in more durable proﬁtability over the long run.

Systemic inertia

While sustainability is an important goal, it often isn’t seen as more important than other key priorities that may provide beneﬁts sooner. Many businesses plan in ten-year increments, so while a 2050 commitment is good, it often isn’t enough to drive sufﬁcient action in this decade, from a planning standpoint. It comes back to reframing risks as opportunities and building the case that acting on sustainability now is necessary to achieve future sustainability in business.

Lack of tools, insights and expertise

Being unprepared to develop a corporate sustainability vision, strategy and framework is a monumental risk. Companies may lack the ability to implement sustainable solutions or even know where to start. Sustainability in business is evolving and so are the answers. Every business needs an ecosystem of innovation partners to help them reinvent the world and create a sustainable future.

The future of sustainability in business

Insights from environmental data are changing business and societal behaviors, resulting in the emergence of the sustainable enterprise. Thus, sustainability in business is a megatrend that will continue to profoundly affect companies’ competitiveness and even survival in the market. Leaders are looking to harness the power of data, AI and blockchain to manage climate and environmental risk, optimize asset performance and resource utilization, drive decarbonization and build more sustainable supply chains.

IBM® continues its own sustainability journey, including conservation and renewable energy procurement, CO2 emissions reduction, product and waste reuse and recycling, reduced water withdrawals and sustaining critical biodiversity. By driving continual improvements and setting new goals for environmental sustainability across its operations, IBM’s 30 years of environmental leadership can help you build sustainability solutions that are good for your business, your brand, and our planet.

Read about the rise of the sustainable enterprise

Sustainability client stories

Maintai ning resilien t infrastr ucture Sund & Bælt is Suppor ting sustain able coffee produc Farmer Connect Enablin g sustain able farmin g Yara Internati Prepari ng the grid for renewa ble energy To help prepare Creatin g a sustain able busine ss The Climate

My Notes:

Page 1

reduce adverse environmental and social impacts

climate change has become too risky to ignore.

Page 2

– Improving energy management efficiency by using alternative power sources and carbon accounting.

– Deploying infrastructure that reduces greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, preserves water resources and eliminates waste.

– Operating dynamic and efficient supply chains to empower a circular economy, encourage reuse, design out waste, promote sustainable consumption and protect natural resources.

– Enabling sustainable development by assessing risks and improving resiliency while adhering to external regulations and development goals.

Sustainability is a business imperative and should be core to the strategy and operations of every business.

Consumers are willing to pay a premium for goods from brands that are environmentally responsible. 80% of consumers indicate sustainability is important to them

Page 3 action to address climate change.

T shirt also hints at this with it being a versatile piece during different weather conditions - not wasting lots of resources on the production processes of unwanted items.

sustainable business is inherently more attractive to the rising numbers of responsible investors.

companies need to drive decarbonization, meet environmental regulatory requirements and compliance deadlines, and improve resource consumption

business models to win customers, increase brand loyalty

Competitive advantage 55% of consumers say environmental when choosing a brand.

Page 4

investments digital transformation in most companies. If that transformation is sustainable, you’re building a more resilient business that is ready for disruption and new opportunities.

By implementing sustainable practices that operational efficiencies

Page 5

artificial intelligence (AI), Internet of Things (IoT) data, blockchain and hybrid cloud to help operationalize sustainability at scale.

more satisfied, loyal customers

The key to a successful sustainability strategy is to balance environmental drivers with key differentiators and market demands.

prioritize critical actions and measure outcomes against sustainability and business goals

follow a timebound framework approach to implementing the sustainable vision across every aspect of your organization.

concrete initiatives that can generate tangible, measurable results and show value

Organizations must factor the impact of climate change, which is causing extreme weather and climate events, into their business operations

multiple data sources, including proprietary, third-party, geospatial, weather and IoT data, with advanced analytics

Page 6

Consumers are becoming more concerned about the traceability of the goods they purchase, and supply chain leaders are looking to invest in circular economies that encourage reuse

build trust and transparency

reducing waste

Page 7

deep understanding of your customers

higher upfront investments

2050 commitment is good, it often isn’t enough to drive sufficient action in this decade Page 8

sustainability in business is a megatrend that will continue to profoundly affect companies’ competitiveness and even survival in the market.

9 SUSTAINABLE FABRIC CHOICES FOR TSHIRT PRINTING

I Dress Myself has been printing onto sustainable garments for well over a decade and we know a fair bit about the qualities of different fabrics , particularly when it comes to eco-friendly print.

We remember the first few organic cotton T-shirts that Continental Clothing Company sold (before their EarthPositive or Salvage brands were introduced) and were printing on organic cotton long before Stanley/Stella even existed.

In the last few years, lots of new fabric types have made their way into the sustainable blank garment arena and they each have strengths and weaknesses . Of course, all of them are marketed as eco-friendly and there’s some truth in that but it’s certainly not the whole story.

Here we give the lowdown on 9 sustainable fabric choices, which we’ve split into three sections:

PART 1 – NATURAL FIBRES

These natural fibres are easy to grow, fibre extraction is mechanical and straightforward, and they are fully biodegradable. Let’s take a closer look!

1. ORGANIC COTTON

Cotton supports around 100 million rural families across the globe. It provides employment and income, and is the mainstay of the economies of some of the

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employment and income, and is the mainstay of the economies of some of the poorest countries in the world.

It’s thirsty work being a cotton plant

However, cotton is a very thirsty crop and it can require a jaw dropping 2700 litres of water to create just one T-shirt . Cotton is naturally drought-resistant and irrigation is not always required, e.g. 60% of the cotton grown in the USA is grown with just rainwater. However, cotton is often grown in naturally dry areas in developing countries, where water may be scarce and this can impact on local populations and wildlife. Organic cotton farmers often utilize rainwater far more, for irrigation, and tend to use far less water than standard cotton growers.

Dangerous use of pesticides on standard (non-organic) cotton

Cotton crops, especially GMO crops, tend to have high amounts of harmful pesticides used on them and the pollution, debts, damage to health and deaths that arise from this are massive. Just the acute pesticide poisoning is estimated to cause 200,000 deaths per annum , plus there are many more due to chronic poisoning and suicide. You can read more about the effect of pesticides in our post ‘ Why use organic cotton? ’ Standard (non organic) cotton is not eco-friendly and should be avoided.

Sustainability of organic cotton

Organic cotton, grown with no pesticides, is massively better for the environment but only about 1% of all cotton produced is currently certified organic. Organic cotton farmers often use beneficial insects to control unwanted pests (instead of relying on pesticides) and this can encourage biodiversity . Cotton is a natural crop that doesn’t require a chemical-intensive process to extract the fibres.

What are the properties of organic cotton?

Cotton fabric is light, soft and breathable so it’s ideal for garments that will be worn next to the skin. Cotton fibres absorb moisture so it naturally wicks moisture away from the skin, making it comfortable to wear in hot weather and the fibres do not weaken when wet. Cotton fabric is strong and durable so garments tend to last well. It’s fully biodegradable (as long as it’s not been blended with polyester or another plastic derivative) and costs less than other eco-friendly fabric options. What a hero!

What organic cotton blank garments can I choose for my custom printing?

By far the most popular of sustainable fabric choices, there is now a huge range of organic cotton garments that can be sourced for custom printing. Continental Clothing Company and Stanley/Stella are the biggest players in Europe and both have extensive collections, featuring lots of different styles (all of which are certified by the Fair Wear Foundation ).

Continental Clothing Company (CCC) manufacture some organic and some non-organic garments. Their EarthPositive collection currently comprises 50 garments, which include T-shirts, sweaters, hoodies, baby garments, a kids Tshirt, tote bags and (most recently) aprons. EarthPositive garments are organic cotton or Tencel blend and have a 90% reduced carbon footprint.

CCC have a smaller Fair Share range, which is much like the EarthPositive range but includes a 10p surcharge that goes to the factory workers to increase their wages. Amazingly, adding as little as 10p to the price of a T-shirt, or 54p to the price of a hoody, results in a 50% increase in the wages of the poorest workers at their factory in India.

Stanley/Stella have 142 garment styles , all of which are sustainable options and the majority of which are organic cotton. They have a great adult range with a variety of styles, a kids range and lots of different bag types.

Stanley/Stella work with only 7 factories in Bangladesh and have 19 local staff

Stanley/Stella work with only 7 factories in Bangladesh and have 19 local staff that work with the factories every day, to ensure that ethical conditions are met. Bruno Van Sieleghem, from Stanley/Stella says that “Sustainability is a very long journey. It is an ideal that we try to reach but that we will probably never meet. Our exclusive choice for organic cotton is the only one we can do when you know how harmful conventional cotton cropping can be, because of the heavy chemical usage.”

Mantis Clothing has a great organic cotton baby range called BabyBugz , some nice organic adult garments and amazing organic cotton denim bags. They’re looking to move their whole range over to organic cotton in the next few years.

US brand Alternative Apparel have started selling organic cotton blanks in the UK and we’ve been keeping an eye on Danish company Neutral , who manufacture Fairtrade organic cotton garment blanks.

Other manufacturers have dipped their toes in the water too, producing a few organic cotton garments: AWDis has a small range called Ecologie and Asquith & Fox, Russell Brand, Kariban and B&C Collection have some organic cotton options too.

As consumers become more eco conscious, even the standard suppliers are waking up to the necessary call for more eco-friendly garments!

2. ORGANIC HEMP

How sustainable is hemp?

Hemp is a super sustainable crop . It grows all over the world, it’s naturally pest resistant , requires little water for growth and naturally fertilizes the ground it grows in. It provides strong fibres and has been used for fabric production for hundreds of years. However, so far, none of the big brands have started to use it for blank T-shirt production. Clients have brought us hemp T-shirts to print on, over the years (usually sourced from China), and we’ve noticed one property that may explain why.

What are the properties of hemp?

The fabric is very heavy , relative to its thickness, so garments are either very heavy (affecting distribution costs) or very thin (no problem in very hot weather but this may not appeal to everyone). The T-shirts we’ve printed tend to be loosely woven (perhaps to keep the fabric weight down) and feel quite rough , although hemp fabric does soften over time with washing. It’s extremely hard wearing and a very sustainable fabric solution so we hope to see blank hemp Tshirts readily available in the UK soon.

3. ORGANIC LINEN

How sustainable is linen?

Linen is another fabric choice that’s been used for centuries. Linen comes from the flax plant which can be grown all over the world, requires little water , can grow in poor quality soil and is naturally pest resistant (so pesticides are not used). Every part of the plant is used in fabric production and the fibres can be extracted without a chemically-heavy process.

What are the properties of linen?

Linen fibres are strong and highly absorbent (naturally wicking moisture away from the skin). Linen fabric doesn’t pill or create lint. It’s highly durable (and in lots of ways actually improve with washing) but it’s also quite rigid . This means that linen T-shirts are either stiff or they have to be loosely woven to allow the fabric to drape naturally. Linen creases easily and tends to be ironed before wear.

Linen T-shirt blanks are hard to find, come in limited colours and cost significantly more than organic cotton.

PART 2 –

SEMI-SYNTHETIC FIBRES

Rayon and viscose are terms to describe fibres made from cellulose – they are often used interchangeably but viscose is more commonly used in Europe and rayon is more commonly used in North America. Cellulose is a suspension of fibres from wood or other plant material so is made from natural sources and is fully biodegradable .

Unfortunately, the extraction process is usually very chemical intensive and so fabrics made from rayon are considered semi-synthetic and can be very harmful to the environment.

That is of course unless the wood or plant material is sustainably sourced and the manufacturer uses a closed loop system to re-use chemicals and water, rayon fibres can be very eco-friendly . Rayon fibres subsequently need to be woven into fabrics – a process that can use high levels of water and chemicals – so the fabric manufacturing factory must also be reputable and have a strong environmental policy.

We’ll pull apart four rayon fabrics that are commonly used to make T-shirts: bamboo, tencel, modal and viscose.

So, what are the differences and how eco-friendly are they?

4. BAMBOO

How sustainable is bamboo?

Bamboo is a grass crop that grows fast (up to 1m or more per day) and can reach maturity in just four years. The roots left behind after harvesting naturally regenerate so bamboo does not need replanting. It’s also naturally pest resistant so pesticides are not used. The bamboo plant itself is very sustainable.

However, the fibres are difficult to extract and the extraction process can be carried out mechanically or chemically. The mechanical way requires vast amounts of water, crushes the woody parts of the bamboo plant and then use natural enzymes to break the bamboo walls into a cellulose suspension so that the natural fibers can be mechanically combed out and spun into yarn. This is essentially the same eco-friendly manufacturing process used to produce linen fabric from flax or hemp and bamboo fabric made from this process is sometimes called bamboo linen.

Sounds good, huh? Unfortunately, only a small percentage of bamboo manufactured for clothing is made using this mechanical process because it is more labor intensive and costly, and the end product is not as soft and less likely to meet customer expectations.

The vast majority of bamboo fabric is produced using a chemically-intensive process , similar to that used to produce viscose (from trees). This uses highly toxic chemicals and although bamboo is a natural fibre, the end product (often described as bamboo rayon or bamboo viscose), is considered semisynthetic because of the number of chemicals used in the process.

It is possible for the chemicals used during extraction to be recycled and reused and environmentally conscious manufacturers should have a good chemical recycling system in place to reduce waste and should also ensure that all waste is safely disposed of. Working conditions in factories making bamboo rayon must be carefully regulated because the chemicals used for extraction are known to cause health problems.

What are the properties of bamboo fabric?

Bamboo fabric is not as hard wearing as other fabrics so is usually mixed with cotton to increase its longevity. It has a smooth surface and can easily take detailed prints but we’ve found that white bamboo T-shirts yellow slightly in the dryer at the temperatures required to dry and cure inks. Bamboo fabric is very

dryer at the temperatures required to dry and cure inks. Bamboo fabric is very soft and T-shirts tend to be thinner than cotton ones. They drape well though and create a flattering shape. It has been claimed that bamboo has natural antibacterial properties, which means it shouldn’t that prevent it smelling of sweat, which has ensured its popularity for sportswear, although this claim has been disputed. It’s soft handle means that it feels great against the skin.

What bamboo garments can I use for my T-shirt printing?

Continental Clothing Company (CCC) have a small range of two T-shirts and a women’s vest top. Their factory is based in Turkey and is carefully regulated by CCC and by the Fair Wear Foundation , with whom they are certified. The garments aren’t part of their fully organic EarthPositive range, presumably because of the chemicals during extraction preclude this, but they are certified Oeko-Tex 100 which means that a list of (more than) the worst 100 chemicals are not used during production.

5. TENCEL (LYOCELL)

How sustainable is Tencel?

Tencel is the branded name for lyocell, which is a cellulose fibre made from dissolved wood pulp. The solution is then pressed (extruded) through fine holes to produce the fibres. All lyocell is produced by using one solvent to dissolve the wood pulp, ready for fibre extraction. Tencel is made by innovative Austrian company Lenzing who developed a closed-loop system that enables more than 99% of the solvent to be recovered and then fed back into the production process, reducing the production of harmful waste. This means that Tencel is much more environmentally friendly than standard lyocell. Tencel requires less energy and water to produce , compared to cotton and is certified fully biodegradable or compostable .

What are the properties of Tencel?

Tencel fibres are not as strong or durable as cotton and it costs more too, so is usually blended 50:50 with organic cotton for T-shirt production. It is highly absorbent (up to 50% more than cotton) so great for wicking moisture away from the skin. Tencel is very soft and drapes well , so it creates flattering garments that feel good next to the skin.

What Tencel garments are available for T-shirt printing?

Continental Clothing Company produce four Tencel blend garments as part of their EarthPositive range. This means that the garments were made in manufacturing facilities powered by green renewable energy allowing the carbon footprint of the EarthPositive® products to be reduced by 90%. Stanley/Stella produce a lightweight Tencel blend sweater. Both garment manufacturers use Lenzing Tencel with a vastly reduced environmental impact (compared to other manufactured lyocell).

6. MODAL

How sustainable is modal?

Modal is another type of rayon made specifically from beech wood fibres , which are pulped into liquid cellulose and forced through micro-fine holes, to form modal fibres. Modal was originally developed in Japan in the 1950s and requires a complex, multi-step production process that involves a number of chemicals harmful to the environment .

Austrian company Lenzing started making modal in the 1960s and has refined the technique considerably. They use a closed-loop system so that all the chemicals and water are recycled back into the production process. They source fibres from sustainable beech forests in Europe that are well managed.

Lenzing Modal is carbon-neutral, requires less land per tonne than cotton fibres and has a water consumption level that’s at least ten times less than that of cotton. Other modal sources may not be eco-friendly; less reputable manufacturers have been accused by the Rainforest Action Network of forest destruction in Indonesia and China.

What are the properties of modal?

Modal rayon is very soft and sheer because of its small fibre size, it’s shrink resistant and highly resistant to pilling, which is when individual textile fibers tangle and form knots that disfigure fabric. Modal is especially soft (perhaps even more so than the other rayon garments) and feels amazing but costs more

What modal garments are available for T-shirt printing?

Stanley/Stella use Lenzing Modal for their range of modal garments, although they’re currently reducing that range from four T-shirts to only two: Stanley Enjoys Modal and Stella Lover Modal, which are both blended with organic cotton for better durability.

7. ECOVERO (VISCOSE)

How sustainable is EcoVero viscose?

Viscose is made from wood pulp and therefore fully biodegradable but it’s considered semi-synthetic because of the chemicals used in fibre extraction .

Viscose fibres, like modal, require a chemical heavy, multi-step process for extraction from the wood pulp and this can be very harmful to the environment.

Austrian company Lenzing, who specialise in rayon fibre production, have a closed-loop production process that recycles and reuses these chemicals.

EcoVero is the brand name for viscose made in this manner by Lenzing. The manufacturing of EcoVero fibres uses 50% less energy than regular viscose and is derived from certified renewable wood sources

What EcoVero garments are available for T-shirt printing?

Continental Clothing Company manufacture three garments made from Ecovero viscose – a unisex T-shirt, a women’s T-shirt and a women’s vest. Like other rayon garments, these have a soft, sheer surface and are blended with 30% organic cotton to improve durability.

Added bonus – viscose embroidery thread

Off-topic slightly, but very relevant to eco-friendly garment decoration: German company Madeira produce a viscose embroidery thread that is completely biodegradable Since most embroiderers use polyester (plastic!) thread, this is much more eco-friendly. The viscose thread has a high tensile strength when wet or dry and can be washed up to 95ºC. It’s made from treated fibres from sustainable European forests and they use REACH approved chemicals in a closed loop system with renewable energy and recycled water. Madeira CLASSIC viscose is fully biodegradable and has been Oeko-Tex certified. Unfortunately, there is still no industrial supplier for plastic-free embroidery backing or for the pre-wound bobbins so plastic-free embroidery is not yet available in the UK.

PART 3 – RECYCLED FIBRES

Whether or not a garment can be considered eco-friendly is not just down to the way it is made. The whole life cycle of the garment must be considered, including how long it will last and its disposal. Natural materials are biodegradable but surely it’s even better to recycle them if the fibres can be repurposed with a smaller carbon footprint and less pollution than when using virgin fibres. Polyester garments cannot usually be recycled as the polyester is usually blended with natural fibres, such as cotton. Recycled polyester is used in garments though and this tends to be polyester from a waste source such as plastic bottles.Whether or not a garment can be considered eco-friendly is not just down to the way it is made. The whole life cycle of the garment must be considered, including how long it will last and its disposal. Natural materials are biodegradable but surely it’s even better to recycle them if the fibres can be repurposed with a smaller carbon footprint and less pollution than when using virgin fibres. Polyester garments cannot usually be recycled as the polyester is usually blended with natural fibres, such as cotton. Recycled polyester is used in garments though and this tends to be polyester from a waste source such as plastic bottles.

8. RECYCLED POLYESTER

Up to 64% of the world’s clothing contains plastics such as polyester and this is expected to increase massively in the next ten years.

What’s so good about polyester anyway?

Well, polyester is very strong making clothes more hardwearing. It doesn’t wrinkle, which makes clothes much easier to care for – ironing not required! It’s not absorbent, so clothes don’t tend to be stored in an airing cupboard or tumble dried after drying because they’re dry enough for storage.

Polyester can be used to make stretchy fabrics, like it’s cousin Lycra (aka spandex or elastane). The athleisure trend means there are an increasing number of consumers that are looking for stretchier, more resistant garments

and plastic derivatives such as polyester and elastane provide just that. It’s a cheap and readily available material.

Sounds perfect, right? Wrong, there are huge environmental drawbacks

Polyester is made from polyethylene terephthalate (PET), the most common type of plastic in the world and originates from crude oil. Crude oil is a nonrenewable source and so polyester is not a sustainable material . Additionally, lots of chemicals are required to create polyester and very high temperatures are required to dye the fabric so that polyester production produces three times more carbon dioxide than cotton. Toxins are released during manufacture of polyester garments but also during their lifetime, so it’s not a good idea to wear polyester clothes against your skin. Sob, goodbye fleecy dressing gown.

Every time a polyester garment is worn or washed, microfibres are released into the environment. During each wash, up to 700,000 microfibres may be released from a single T-shirt, into the waste water. The amount can be reduced by changing the way that you wash your clothes but, even with best practise, microfibres will continue to be lost throughout the lifetime of the product.

Plastic, including microfibres can persist in the environment for centuries. 8 million tons of waste plastic ends up in our oceans every year. Most of this is single-use plastic (so think for plastic-free packaging for your T-shirts). But microfibres, such as those which wash off our clothes contribute up to 35% of that waste. These numbers are rising and an Ellen MacArthur Foundation report suggests that by 2050 there will be more plastic in the oceans than there are fish (by weight).

This is a danger to wildlife by larger waste items and by microfibres. Large items such as plastic packaging or fishing nets can cause choking,

strangulation or blockages of the digestive system when the plastic waste gets swallowed or tangles around wildlife.

Microfibres (small fibres up to 5 millimetres in length, such as those from clothing) are commonly ingested. Larger microfibres are thought to pass through the body without causing harm but nanoplastics have attracted recent attention. Nanoplastics measure from 1 to 100 micrometres in length and, at that size, can potentially enter the bloodstream and cells. They cause harm in three ways:

1. Plastic contains toxins such as phthalates, dyes, flame-retardants and other chemicals (famously bisphenol A or BPA) and these may be released during its lifetime.

2. Plastic is known to bind other environmental toxins . Once ingested, this barrage of chemicals may cause a whole host of health problems such as hormone disruption, infertility and even cancer.

3. Biofilms are microfibres that host a large number of microorganisms and these may cause infection .

Plastic contains toxins such as phthalates, dyes, flame-retardants and other chemicals (famously bisphenol A or BPA) and these may be released during its lifetime

This toxicity can concentrate up the food chain, affecting wildlife and humans alike. Plastic pollution already so widespread that it is estimated that people across the world may be ingesting roughly 5 grams of plastic each week , or about the weight of a credit card, and that the majority of this comes from drinking water.

OK, so new polyester is a terrible idea!

How sustainable is recycled polyester?

Using recycled polyester for garment manufacture helps to use waste plastic (which may have ended up in landfill) and it prevents the manufacture of new plastic from crude oil. It also takes less energy to repurpose plastic, than it does to create it from oil.

However, chemicals are still required for this purpose and chemicals are given off. Plus recycled polyester still has many of the same issues that new polyester does. It generally goes to landfill because polyester clothing is rarely recycled, as it’s usually blended with another fibre. And it still creates microfibres and pollution during its lifetime. Recycled polyester is lower quality than new polyester so cannot be recycled endlessly.

So, recycled polyester is better than new polyester but still causes harm to the environment

Yes, it’s definitely not our favourite material. On top of all the environmental considerations, it’s not nice to work with. The printing process requires that all garments have to be heated to dry and cure the ink (so the garment is washproof). Heating garments that contain polyester gives off fumes. We have a big extraction hood over our dryer but you can still smell it. We don’t tend to recommend the Salvage range or any garments that contain more than 15% polyester.

So why do you supply garments with recycled polyester in?

The majority of sweaters and hoodies, even by innovative companies known to provide sustainable options, still contain polyester. This is to improve the strength and durability of the fabric. Stanley/Stella do some hoodies that are 100% organic cotton and they are amazing but they are significantly more expensive. Ecologie do a hoodie that is 100% organic cotton and much cheaper but this is very thin and would not be suitable for winter. There currently just aren’t many options out there!

What recycled polyester garments are there?

Continental Clothing Company do the most extensive recycled range, which is called Salvage and comprises eleven items. Most of them have a melange effect, with flecks of varying colour, because the dye does not take to the polyester as well. However, some items are double-dyed to achieve a flat, solid colour. The double dyed garments cannot be printed using a light coloured water based ink, because heating the plastic fibres allows migration of the ink into the print. It’s possible to use additives to circumvent this, but these are not eco-friendly options so we avoid printing light colours onto the double dyed items.

9. RECYCLED COTTON

How sustainable is recycled cotton?

Cotton garments can be recycled and the reclamation of the cotton fibres is usually carried out mechanically . The garments are separated by colour and shredded, down to a small size, before the fibres are spun again into yarn to be reused. It uses less energy and chemicals to make recycled cotton yarn than it does to create it from cotton plants, e.g. it’s not usually dyed again because the dyed fibres are already sorted together into colours. However, shredding the cotton shortens and weakens the fibres , creating yarn that has different properties to virgin cotton yarn. It is considered lower grade as it’s not as strong and is usually used for mop heads, rags, stuffing and insulation. There’s also quite a high risk of other fibres contaminating the process, e.g. spandex, polyester, etc. The recycled fibres are less suitable for further recycling as they have already been shortened and weakened by the shredding and recycling process so, at present, cotton recycling cannot be used infinitely . It’s possible to blend some recycled cotton with virgin cotton to retain strength and durability but it can’t be used in a fully closed-loop or circular system.

What recycled cotton garments are available for T-shirt printing?

Continental Clothing Company use recycled cotton in their Salvage range , of eleven items, but they use cotton offcuts from an organic cotton textile manufacturer and partially circumvent the problems by mixing this with recycled polyester (from plastic bottles) to increase the strength. The Salvage collection includes T-shirts, sweaters, hoodies, bags and aprons.

My Notes:

Page 2

cotton is a very thirsty crop and it can require a jaw dropping 2700 litres of water to create just one T-shirt.

cotton is often grown in naturally dry areas in developing countries, where water may be scarce and this can impact on local populations and wildlife.

Organic cotton farmers often utilize rainwater far more, for irrigation, and tend to use far less water than standard cotton growers.

harmful pesticides

This is a factor of non organic cotton production.

acute pesticide poisoning is estimated to cause 200,000 deaths per annum,

Organic cotton, grown with no pesticides, is massively better for the environment but only about 1% of all cotton produced is currently certified organic.

Organic cotton farmers often use beneficial insects to control unwanted pests

encourage biodiversity Page 3

absorb moisture so it naturally wicks moisture away from the skin, making it comfortable to wear in hot weather and the fibres do not weaken when wet

Appropriate for the rising climate.

strong and durable

biodegradable (as long as it’s not been blended with polyester or another plastic derivative)

EarthPositive garments are organic cotton or Tencel blend and have a 90% reduced carbon footprint

Page 5

Hemp is a super sustainable crop. It grows all over the world, it’s naturally pest resistant, requires little water for growth and naturally fertilizes the ground it grows in.

very heavy, or very thin

feel quite rough, although hemp fabric does soften over time with washing

extremely hard wearing and a very sustainable fabric solution

Page 6

Linen comes from the flax plant which can be grown all over the world, requires little water, can grow in poor quality soil and is naturally pest resistant

Linen fibres are strong and highly absorbent

T-shirts are either stiff or they have to be loosely woven to allow the fabric to drape naturally.

cost significantly more than organic cotton

Page 7

Rayon and viscose are terms to describe fibres made from cellulose

Cellulose is a suspension of fibres from wood or other plant material so is made from natural sources and is fully biodegradable.

he extraction process is usually very chemical intensive and so fabrics made from rayon are considered semi-synthetic and can be very harmful to the environment.

unless the wood or plant material is sustainably sourced and the manufacturer uses a closed loop system to re-use chemicals and water, rayon fibres can be very eco-friendly

The bamboo plant itself is very sustainable.

Page 8

fibres are difficult to extract and the extraction process can be carried out mechanically or chemically.

The mechanical way requires vast amounts of water,

vast majority of bamboo fabric is produced using a chemically-intensive process, similar to that used to produce viscose (from trees). This uses highly toxic chemicals and although bamboo is a natural fibre, the end product (often described as bamboo rayon or bamboo viscose), is considered semi- synthetic because of the number of chemicals used in the process.

Working conditions in factories making bamboo rayon must be carefully regulated because the chemicals used for extraction are known to cause health problems.

Page 10

more than 99% of the solvent to be recovered and then fed back into the production process, reducing the production of harmful waste.

Tencel requires less energy and water to produce, compared to cotton and is certified fully biodegradable or compostable.

Tencel fibres are not as strong or durable as cotton and it costs more too, so is usually blended 50:50 with organic cotton for T-shirt production.

It is highly absorbent (up to 50% more than cotton) so great for wicking moisture away from the skin.

Good for sweating.

Page 12

Viscose is made from wood pulp and therefore fully biodegradable but it’s considered semi-synthetic because of the chemicals used in fibre extraction. Viscose fibres, like modal, require a chemical heavy, multistep process for extraction from the wood pulp and this can be very harmful to the environment.

Page 14

The whole life cycle of the garment must be considered, including how long it will last and its disposal

Recycled polyester is used in garments though and this tends to be polyester from a waste source such as plastic bottles

Up to 64% of the world’s clothing contains plastics such as polyester and this is expected to increase massively in the next ten years.

Page 15

Polyester is made from polyethylene terephthalate (PET), the most common type of plastic in the world and originates from crude oil. Crude oil is a nonrenewable source and so polyester is not a sustainable material.

lots of chemicals are required to create polyester and very high temperatures are required to dye the fabric so that polyester production produces three times more carbon dioxide than cotton.

8 million tons of waste plastic ends up in our oceans every year

microfibres, such as those which wash off our clothes contribute up to 35% of that waste.

by 2050 there will be more plastic in the oceans than there are fish (by weight).

Page 16

new polyester is a terrible idea!

Page 17

So, recycled polyester is better than new polyester but still causes harm to the environment

Page 19

less energy and chemicals to make recycled cotton yarn than it does to

create it from cotton plants, e.g. it’s not usually dyed again because the dyed fibres are already sorted together into colours

lower grade as it’s not as strong and is usually used for mop heads, rags, stuffing and insulation.

cotton recycling cannot be used infinitely

an’t be used in a fully closed-loop or circular system.

Since its inception in the 1990s, e-commerce has been on a steady rise. The coronavirus pandemic only fueled purchasing behaviors as consumers abandoned brick-andmortar stores for the convenience—and safety—of their living rooms. But now, e-commerce is expected to expand by $1 trillion by 2025. And now, customers expect retailers to deliver products in as little time and as cheaply as possible —table stakes in our convenience-driven society. But the rising demand for quick shipping has triggered another serious concern.

Reduce your company’s environmental impact

Learn how to optimize your product’s shipping packaging.

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The volume of packages shipped has disastrous e"ects on

Author

Sustain.Life Team

Sustain.Life’s teams of sustainability practitioners and experts often collaborate on articles, videos, and other content.

Reviewer

Alyssa Rade

Alyssa Rade is the chief sustainability o#cer at Sustain.Life. She has over ten years of corporate sustainability experience and guides

Sustain.Life’s platform features.

Best practices for sustainable shipping

If you’re in e-commerce, shipping is a necessary evil, but you can optimize your shipping and o"er other sustainable solutions for customers. Here are four areas to consider:

1. Optimize last-mile delivery

Last-mile delivery—the last leg of a package’s journey from a transportation hub to the customer’s doorstep—is a crucial part of the supply chain. You can optimize this step by choosing the right shipping partner. Select a shipping company that’s committed to the environment. For example, DHL is a frontrunner in green logistics, a set of supply chain best practices aimed at reducing the carbon footprint related to shipping and distribution.

Here’s what else to look for:

Optimized routes – Proper route planning according to delivery points reduces the total time on the road. Plus, it reduces pressure on logistics and makes shipping more eco-friendly by cutting total fuel consumption and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.

Zero-emissions "eets – We all know that burning fossil fuels creates GHG emissions. Logistics companies that o"er electric or hybrid %eets (e.g., FedEx) for last-mile delivery considerably reduce the pollution and global warming-causing emissions caused by the increased shipping of e-commerce goods.

and emissions.

• Optimizing your shipping and packaging are tested methods to reduce your businesses’

total carbon footprint, and they ensure a sustainable future for your business.

Want to improve your sustainability program?

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scores just dropped, now what?

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Getting creative: Pop-up warehouses

An impactful way to optimize shipping and reduce your carbon footprint is to establish warehouses closer to customers or at points of high demand. Big players like Walmart and other big retailers have already realized the bene&ts of the warehousing model. Bringing business closer to buyers reduces delivery time and last-mile emissions.

But for those not operating on Walmart’s level, reframe your thinking about what a pop-warehouse is. Take your local Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) program. Logistically, delivering to every customer would be di#cult for a local farm. But opting for centralized pick-up points cuts down delivery emissions, and makes it better and more accessible for the supplier and customer alike.

Local warehousing brings down the total cost of delivery and gives your business more %exibility in case of disruption in the supply chain. Choosing central or frequently visited locations, like a school, local library, or existing retail stores, customers can incorporate this kind of pick-up into their routines.

2. Optimize packaging

Packaging is an essential part of any tangible product. It’s a branding opportunity and serves a crucial role in protecting products from external harm. However, packaging materials are ephemeral and usually not very environmentally friendly.

When it comes to e-commerce packaging, the amount of waste generated is extremely concerning, especially when you think that a single product may need both product packaging and shipping materials.

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In reality, about 91% of plastic packaging waste ends up in land&lls. In addition to the emissions concerns, plastic pollution also poses a critical challenge for aquatic ecosystems

Some tips to optimize your packaging:

Evaluate current packaging practices. Could you naturally reduce the total material used by adjusting how you ship things? For example, if you’re using a box to ship a tube, it leaves a lot of empty space, and you could probably eliminate that extra packaging. It’s what Amazon calls “Frustration-Free Packaging.”

Examining your packaging and shipping strategies will help you understand how to curb the amount of packaging material you use.

Use eco-friendly packaging. Choose sustainable packaging options—compostable mailer bags, packaging made of pre-used paper, biodegradable packing peanuts made from plant starches—that are more sustainable and help reduce your businesses’ carbon footprint.

Focus on the right packaging size. Consider your product inventory and get shipping boxes that &t accordingly. Ask your distributor if they have rightsizing equipment for shipping cartons. These machines make customized box sizes from cardboard sheets and are programmed to minimize waste—that means more sustainable packaging. Reducing the amount of packaging you use is also a marketing opportunity—you’ve likely seen a few companies tout, “Now with 10% less packaging.”

Ensure proper arrangement. The arrangement of products in the box matters—it directly impacts the size of the packaging. For example, rolling instead of folding can save space for items like apparel.

3. Consolidate orders

Consolidating multiple orders in the same package reduces waste and results in more eco-friendly shipping. Reducing the number of boxes on a truck also means less overall transit and fewer last-mile emissions. Try giving your customers the option to wait a little longer to receive all the purchased products together. Again, Amazon o"ers simple incentives to customers for this, but ultimately, it helps save them money, too. In short, fewer boxes mean reduced shipping costs and hassle for everyone.

4. Minimize returns

Increased online sales inevitably create more returns and exchanges. Optimizing your return shipping strategy is important to make e-commerce more environmentally sustainable. Plus, fewer returns mean more happy customers.

Get there by upholding strict quality control. Quality issues and shipping the wrong products will almost always result in returns—and double shipping emissions. You can minimize these issues by ensuring every product on your ecommerce site is represented correctly through descriptions, proper size measurements, and clear images.

The good news

Customers also want sustainable and green shipping options. They take notice when shipping practices are more environmentally sustainable. Around 66% of shoppers consider eco-friendly practices desirable when buying online.

So, in the end, optimizing your shipping and packaging are tested methods to reduce your businesses’ total carbon footprint, and they ensure a sustainable future for your business.

My Notes:

: March 14, 2023

Page 1

Page 2

coronavirus pandemic only fueled purchasing behaviors as consumers abandoned brick-andmortar stores for the convenience

e-commerce is expected to expand by $1 trillion by 2025 volume of packages shipped has disastrous e"ects

Page 3

packaging waste and delivery emissions.

Select a shipping company that’s committed to the environment. For example, DHL is a frontrunner in green logistics, a set of supply chain best practices aimed at reducing the carbon footprint related to shipping and distribution.

Optimized routes

Zero-emissions "eets

Page 4

An impactful way to optimize shipping and reduce your carbon footprint is to establish warehouses closer to customers or at points of high demand.

centralized pick-up points cuts down delivery emissions,

Choosing central or frequently visited locations, like a school, local library, or existing retail stores, customers can incorporate this kind of pick-up into their routines.

packaging materials are ephemeral and usually not very environmentally friendly.

When it comes to e-commerce packaging, the amount of waste generated is extremely concerning, especially when you think that a single product may need both product packaging and shipping materials.

91% of plastic packaging waste ends up in land&lls

plastic pollution also poses a critical challenge for aquatic ecosystems. eliminate that extra packaging

“Frustration-Free Packaging.”

compostable mailer bags, packaging made of pre-used paper, biodegradable packing peanuts made from plant starches

customized box sizes

rolling instead of folding can save space for items like apparel. Page 6

Consolidating multiple orders in the same package reduces waste and results in more eco-friendly shipping.

Try giving your customers the option to wait a little longer to receive all the purchased products together.

strict quality control. Quality issues and shipping the wrong products will almost always result in returns—and double shipping emissions

Around 66% of shoppers consider eco-friendly practices desirable when buying online.

Page

How AI can help reduce landﬁll waste

How can AI help address the world’s most serious challenges?

It won’t be simple. When you’re dealing with complex, real-world problems, you can’t just flip a switch and have AI give you the answer. In addition to painstaking work, it will take a willingness to experiment and real openness to change.

Hera SpA, a leading multi-utility in Italy, is putting these virtues to work as it explores how AI can help minimize landﬁll waste by directing more reusable material to outcomes that are better for the environment.

Hera engaged IBM Garage™—a framework for digital transformation—to help design, build and scale an AI solution. And Hera worked with IBM® Consulting and applied IBM Cloud Paks® to modernize its application infrastructure for greater openness to innovation.

brings AI-based automation to the circular economy

App modernization: the circular economy of IT

New momentum in the circular economy

About Hera SpA

Next steps

As a provider of electricity, water cycle management and heating services, and as Italy’s largest waste management and recycling company, Hera is on the front lines of today’s battle to reduce waste and minimize environmental damage. The company has a reputation as an innovator, and it is bringing a forward-looking spirit to environmental stewardship.

Andrea Bonetti, Hera’s Manager of IT Architecture, explains, “Hera has adopted, with absolute conviction, the circular economy.” Where traditional recycling practices may be one arc in the cycle of re-use, Hera offers integrated solutions that help complete the circle. With plastics, for example, it not only recovers waste but also incorporates it into production of high-quality new products that are themselves recyclable. “Today, in our territories, most of the waste is recovered,” says Bonetti. “Only a small portion ends up burnt, but this is burnt in waste-to-energy plants, producing new energy.”

The recovery process, of course, depends on quickly ﬁnding and separating reusable material from vast quantities of refuse. It was this process where Bonetti and his colleague, Alessandro Collina, Hera’s Head of IT Innovation, decided to explore how AI-powered automation could improve efﬁciency and help channel more material to new use.

The challenge is twofold. Evaluating the potential of AI for waste sorting is one part. The other part is having the flexibility to incorporate this kind of innovation and scale it from laboratory to enterprise dimensions.

Finding the treasure in the trash

Currently, Hera personnel analyze waste manually. As trucks unload at the entrance to the plants and the trash is pushed toward conveyors, spotters watch for recoverable materials—including plastics, glass, aluminum and organic material—and help direct downstream sorting. It’s an onerous job on its own; but consider it at scale: 1,400 spotters across 89 plants. 6.3 million tons of waste treated every year. In other words, there is potential for much greater efﬁciency.

The vision is to capture video of incoming trash and have AI recognize characteristics of items and materials that would qualify them for recovery and reuse. “This could have a decisive impact on the costs of recovery and disposal activities, which is the focus of the circular economy,” explains Bonetti.

To realize this vision, Bonetti explains, “We needed a partner who could really go beyond a proof of concept and facilitate the project with both working methodologies and effective tools. We thought we could ﬁnd all this in the IBM Garage.”

For the user-centered and collaborative IBM Garage team, the first step toward a solution was a design thinking workshop that involved gaining firsthand experience of the working environment. “The guys at the Garage had to ‘get their hands dirty’—a particularly fitting metaphor in this case,” says Bonetti. “We have learned from experience to immerse machine learning specialists

in reality, which is always much more complex than the laboratory. So the Garage team came to see a plant. Waste is, by deﬁnition, deformed and crowded, and the lighting conditions are variable. It is not like recognizing kittens in Facebook photos!”

In fact, the Hera and IBM Garage teams quickly recognized that the plants were not the right place to capture video. There was too much material going by in too little time. Instead, they identiﬁed a better vantage point upstream.

By mounting cameras on trash trucks, they could video the smaller amounts of material falling out of bins. “It’s still an extremely rapid passage of images,” says Bonetti. “But the study of these images has allowed us to identify signiﬁcant patterns for the qualitative evaluation of the waste during the collection process, not inside the plant, which could improve the time and cost of the transformation process.”

In addition, the Hera team hopes to correlate wastequality data with collection locations, helping the company develop targeted information campaigns to help people better differentiate between waste items.

Following the agile IBM Garage Methodology, in eight weeks Hera and the IBM Garage team co-created and released a minimum viable product (MVP) that incorporates IBM Watson® Studio and IBM Watson Machine Learning technology to generate a speciﬁc tool for the use case, including a machine learning model to recognize the key waste patterns. According to Collina, “The IBM tools allowed us to take thoughts that previously were only written on paper and make them reality in a much faster and more agile process.”

Collina continues: “Now, the most urgent challenge is to understand how this can be industrialized. How can we do a prototype, for example, on a single truck for perhaps a year, with all the variations in lighting and weather, and continue getting the right insight throughout the year.”

App modernization: the circular economy of IT

Meanwhile, to ensure its application infrastructure could accommodate the waste-sorting AI, Hera applied the circular economy concept to its internal IT. Some years ago, Hera had worked with IBM to develop a custom application called “Beam,” which supports Hera’s gas business by collecting near-real-time data from gas smart-meters. Bonetti, Collina and team saw the potential to recycle Beam’s functionality for other business areas such as environmental services and waste collection, pulling other types of information from a wider array of devices—including video footage from truck-mounted cameras.

First, however, they needed to modernize the app. “Beam still performed its original task very well,” says Bonetti. “But an underlying monolithic architecture constrained the application’s growth and evolution.”

Using IBM Cloud Paks, Hera freed itself from the constraints of the monolith and created Beam IoT, a flexible, open solution that can be repurposed to support use cases across the multi-utility business.

“Our systems evolution strategy rests on three guidelines,” says Bonetti. “Cloud native development, integration architecture, and increasingly reﬁned use of data to create value. Those three guidelines map perfectly to the IBM solutions that Hera used to turn Beam into Beam IoT:

continue getting the right insight throughout the year.”

IBM WebSphere® Liberty and IBM Transformation Advisor solutions—now available in IBM WebSphere Hybrid Edition—helped Hera convert the monolithic application to a flexible microservice architecture that eases ongoing adaptations and supports cloud-native development. –

–

IBM Cloud Pak for Integration introduced new integration tools for automated, API-based integrations that extend Beam’s capabilities beyond the smart-meter use case.

IBM Cloud Pak for Data supplies the same IBM Watson capabilities built into the MVP, helping Hera apply AI to automate the organization and analysis of waste data and the generation of insights that inform sorting and recovery.

The Red Hat® OpenShift® container platform, which is part of all IBM Cloud Paks, helps Hera run Beam IoT in a fully containerized architecture in a private cloud hosted by a partner.

New momentum in the circular economy

The work Hera is doing with IBM Garage and the IBM Cloud Paks and WebSphere solutions is not a ﬁnite project; it is part of a cycle.

As Bonetti, Collina, and their colleagues work with the IBM Garage team to learn how to train AI to ﬁnd recoverable waste, and how to scale such an innovation to the everyday environment, they will not only cultivate new and valuable expertise; they will also identify other

–

ways to put AI to work in the utilities industry.

The modernization and flexibility Hera has brought to Beam IoT instills greater reliability and resilience in a critical system while opening it up to ongoing adaptation and expansion.

And most important, because these efforts could drastically improve the cost efﬁciency of reclaiming waste for other uses, they have the potential to influence an industry, generating greater momentum in the circular economy and allowing the world to reclaim some of its green.

Get started with IBM Consulting

About Hera SpA

Hera (link resides outside of ibm.com) is a leading multiutility in Italy, providing energy distribution, energy sales, water cycle management, heating, and waste and recycling services. It operates across the EmiliaRomagna, Veneto and Friuli regions, employing more than 8,000 people and earning more than €6 billion in yearly revenue.

solution components

IBM Cloud Pak® for Data

IBM® Consulting

IBM WebSphere® Hybrid Edition

IBM Cloud Pak for Integration

IBM Watson® Machine Learning

IBM Garage™

IBM Watson Studio

Take the next step

My Notes:

Page 1

AI can help minimize landfill waste by directing more reusable material to outcomes that are better for the environment.

Page 3

“Hera has adopted, with absolute conviction, the circular economy.

Hera offers integrated solutions that help complete the circle

With plastics, for example, it not only recovers waste but also incorporates it into production of high-quality new products that are themselves recyclable.

“Only a small portion ends up burnt, but this is burnt in waste-to-energy plants, producing new energy.”

Page 4

Hera personnel analyze waste manually

spotters watch for recoverable materials—including plastics, glass, aluminum and organic material

1,400 spotters across 89 plants. 6.3 million tons of waste treated every year.

The vision is to capture video of incoming trash and have AI recognize characteristics of items and materials that would qualify them for recovery and reuse.

Page 5

Waste is, by definition, deformed and crowded, and the lighting conditions are variable. It is not like recognizing kittens in Facebook photos!”

By mounting cameras on trash trucks, they could video the smaller

amounts of material falling out of bins. “It’s still an extremely rapid passage of images,”

“But the study of these images has allowed us to identify significant patterns for the qualitative evaluation of the waste during the collection process, not inside the plant, which could improve the time and cost of the transformation process.”

Hera team hopes to correlate wastequality data with collection locations,

Page 7

The work Hera is doing with IBM Garage and the IBM Cloud Paks and WebSphere solutions is not a finite project; it is part of a cycle.

Page 8

these efforts could drastically improve the cost efficiency of reclaiming waste for other uses, they have the potential to influence an industry, generating greater momentum in the circular economy and allowing the world to reclaim some of its green.

References:

Mollenkamp, D. (2023, December 13). What is Sustainability? Investopedia. https://www.investopedia.com/terms/s/sustainability.asp

IBM. (2021). What Is Sustainability in business? | IBM. Www.ibm.com. https://www.ibm.com/topics/business-sustainability

Hera Spa | IBM. (n.d.). Www.ibm.com. https://www.ibm.com/case-studies/heraspa

Sustainable Shipping Methods | 4 Simple Steps | Sustain.Life. (n.d.). Www.sustain.life. Retrieved April 25, 2024, from https://www.sustain.life/blog/sustainable-shippingpractices#:~:text=Choose%20sustainable%20packaging%20options

9 sustainable fabric choices for t-shirt printing Organic cotton custom T-shirtseco embroidery & print - I Dress Myself. (n.d.). Www.idressmyself.co.uk. Retrieved April 25, 2024, from https://www.idressmyself.co.uk/page/blog2/9-sustainablefabric-choices-for-t-shirt-printing

Hymann, Y. (2016, November 8). Material Guide: How Sustainable is Hemp? Good on You; Good On You. https://goodonyou.eco/material-guide-hemp/

AD6606 FMP - Sustainability Research File

What is Sustainability ? How Sustainabilities Work, Benefits, and Example

What Is Sustainability ?

Key Takeaways

How Sustainability Works

3 Pillars of Sustainability

Take the Next Step to Invest

Corporate Sustainability

Cost Cutting

Challenges Surrounding Business Sustainability

Benefits of Business Sustainability

Creating a Sustainable Business Strategy

Real-World Example

What Are the 3 Principles of Sustainability ?

What Activities Promote Sustainability ?

What Is Economic Sustainability ?

What Are the Most Sustainable Companies ?

What Products Are Not Sustainable?

The Bottom Line

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My Notes:

Hemp on the high ground

So what is hemp?

What makes hemp fabric a more sustainable option?

How is hemp turned into a fabric?

So, what’s the verdict?

My Notes:

What is sustainability in business?

What is sustainability in business?

Why is sustainability in business important?

Beneﬁts of sustainability in business





How to create a sustainable strategy

Corporate sustainability areas

Climate risk management and ESG reporting

Resilient infrastructure and intelligent operations

Sustainable supply chains and circularity

Electriﬁcation, energy and emissions reduction

Sustainability strategy

Sustainability strategy

Challenges with sustainability in business

Customer readiness

Cost

Systemic inertia

The future of sustainability in business

Sustainability client stories

My Notes:

deep understanding of your customers

higher upfront investments

9 SUSTAINABLE FABRIC CHOICES FOR TSHIRT PRINTING

PART 1 – NATURAL FIBRES

1. ORGANIC COTTON

Sustainability of organic cotton

2. ORGANIC HEMP

3. ORGANIC LINEN

PART 2 –

SEMI-SYNTHETIC FIBRES

4. BAMBOO

What are the properties of bamboo fabric?

5. TENCEL (LYOCELL)

6. MODAL

7. ECOVERO (VISCOSE)

How sustainable is EcoVero viscose?

PART 3 – RECYCLED FIBRES

8. RECYCLED POLYESTER

What’s so good about polyester anyway?

How sustainable is recycled polyester?

What recycled polyester garments are there?

9. RECYCLED COTTON

How sustainable is recycled cotton?

What recycled cotton garments are available for T-shirt printing?

My Notes:

Best practices for sustainable shipping

1. Optimize last-mile delivery

Want to improve your sustainability program?

Getting creative: Pop-up warehouses

2. Optimize packaging

3. Consolidate orders