EARTH DAY NEWSLETTER

2023 Edition

The theme of Earth Day 2023 is “Invest in Your Planet,” and one way we can do that is by supporting sustainable fashion. The fashion industry is one of the most significant contributors to global pollution, accounting for nearly 10% of annual global carbon emissions – more than all international flights and maritime shipping combined. Beyond carbon emissions, the fashion industry yields tremendous waste, depletes healthy soil, contaminates water sources, destroys our forests, and contributes to the microplastic problem.

On this Earth Day, we challenge all actors – businesses, governments, and individuals –to consciously invest in our planet by adopting more sustainable practices in sourcing, producing, distributing, and consuming fashion to support a more sustainable fashion industry.

Sustainable Fashion refers to a clothing supply chain that is socially and ecologically responsible, ultimately shifting the industry and consumers away from the fast-fashion model.

87% of the 150 billion garments produced by the fashion industry each year ends up in a landfill.

The average person today buys 60% more items of clothing than they did 15 years ago, but keeps them for only half as long. Only 1% of all discarded clothing is actually recycled.

It takes 1,800 gallons of water to make one pair of jeans.

62% of all clothing is made partially or entirely of synthetic fibers such as polyester, a crude oil derivative.

Washing our synthetic clothes accounts for 35% of all microplastics in the ocean, making them the largest source of microplastic pollution in the world’s oceans.

“At NGE, we are focused on moving the needle from awareness to action.”

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Read labels and educate yourself on sustainable fashion. Synthetic materials are typically made from fossil fuels and take years to break down. Try to purchase clothing made from organic materials and recycled fabrics, and look for sustainable initiative certifications such as GOTS Certified and OEKO-TEX

Purchase secondhand or vintage clothing. Consider browsing the options at Poshmark or TheRealReal when adding to your wardrobe.

Rent your clothes from a subscription fashion service, such as Rent the Runway or Fashionpass.

Donate used clothing to local organizations.

Recycle well-loved clothing. Certain retailers reward consumers for recycling used clothes, such as Madewell, lululemon and Patagonia, which have programs that allow consumers to trade in gently-used products.

Converting waste into compost eliminates pollution of the air, water, and soil, and reduces potent methane gas emissions. Composting also enriches the soil with nutrients, reduces the potential for soil erosion, and reduces the need for chemical fertilizers.

Together with Collective Resource Compost, we launched a firmwide composting program.

We debuted new waste signage firmwide increasing visibility and awareness of our efforts.

In June, we hosted “Growing Pollinator Friendly Gardens” with Phoebe Piper of The Hive Tribe

We brought back our greener gardens photography contest and the winning shots, captured by Felicia Ontiveros and Sonya Rosenberg, feature the hard work of our pollinators.

In November, we hosted “Industry Leaders Meeting Sustainability Challenges” featuring clients, Lisa Kaplan of M. Holland, Althea Ricketts of Shure, and David Schmidt of TPH discussing how companies of all industries can formulate paths to achieving sustainability.

Sonia Menon and Bobby Gerber authored the article, “Environmental Goals for Companies,” in unsustainable magazine.

In October, we participated in our Annual Park Clean Up at the Schiller Park Woods with CleanUp GiveBack

Deepening our relationship with CleanUp GiveBack, we started a yearlong building-wide plastic bag collection program where we collected 275 pounds of plastic that was upcycled into a park bench.

“Companies should realize that even one small change can have a big impact.”

We worked with Independent Recycling Services (IRS), to perform a comprehensive audit on our waste stream.

We diverted 92.9% recyclable waste from landfill.

We have made significant changes in our percentage of waste stream with recyclability.

9.63% 2019

4.6% 2020

0.27% 2023

We worked with Green Project Technologies, the first API integrated ESG platform, to calculate our carbon footprint, categorized by Scope, year over year.

1392.4 Mtons CO2eq 2626.5 Mtons CO2eq 1316.4 Mtons CO2eq 1310.1 Mtons CO2eq

Using the EPA’s GHG equivalency calculator, this reduction is equivalent to:

3,358,505 miles driven by an average gasoline car

1,562 acres of US forests in one year

255 US homes’ electricity usage