Environmental Sustainability

Zara produces 850 million clothing items a year. That's a hell of a lot of clothing and a hell of a lot to be concerned about if, as Greenpeace claims, those items are chock-full of toxic chemicals. Two weeks ago, Greenpeace released a report detailing the hazardous chemicals it found in mass market clothing. The organization tested apparel items from 20 leading brands, including Emporio Armani, Mango, Zara, Gap, Victoria's Secret, Levi's, Calvin Klein and Benetton.

Only two retailers — Office Depot and Staples — made it into the top 10 U.S. companies on the 2012 Newsweek Green Rankings, while Marks & Spencer is the sole retailer to make it onto the top 10 global list. For the fourth year in a row, Newsweek's Green Rankings assessed the environmental performance of the largest publicly traded companies in the United States and around the world, comparing their environmental footprint, corporate management and transparency. To conduct the study, Newsweek partnered with two leading environmental research organizations — Trucost and Sustainalytics.

Ikea announced that it will shift to renewable energy by 2020 as part of a preservation plan that has won support from environmentalists, according to a Reuters report. The Swedish-based retailer wants to build on many customers’ desires for a greener lifestyle, also committing that it would limit sales by 2016 to energy-efficient products including induction cookers and LED light bulbs, according to Reuters.

With an innovative new sustainable clothing line, PUMA continues its leadership on integrating sustainability throughout its supply chain, operations and product lines. This week, the sporting apparel company announced the upcoming release of a promised fashion line featuring both athletic wear and shoes that will be completely biodegradable and recyclable. The company has built upon on last year's rollout of the Re-Suede, a shout-out to its iconic 1970s sneaker that in its new iteration is made out of recycled materials.

Safeway has extended its corporate social responsibility (CSR) commitment with a program that directly involves and rewards employees and shoppers for making eco-friendly purchases and doing healthier things for themselves and their communities. The "Heart of Safeway Pledge" is a personal call to action to take simple, everyday steps — e.g., using energy-conserving light bulbs, taking a 15-minute walk three times a week, eating healthier foods — that benefit pledge-takers and their communities, Safeway said in a statement.

Whole Foods Market is now offering more eco-friendly gift cards, eliminating plastic cards in lieu of two formats - one made of paper and the other of responsibly-harvested wood. These greener options will replace the natural and organic grocer's 100 percent recycled plastic cards, which will still be accepted but phased out over time. The new paper cards are 50 percent post-consumer waste. Both the paper and wood gift cards are certified by the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) and have a lower carbon footprint, are reusable, recyclable, compostable and require less energy to be produced.

Apple's Cupertino headquarters may be just a few miles away from San Francisco, but the city won't be spending any more cash on the retailer's products. According to TheWall Street Journal, city agencies in San Francisco will no longer be able to purchase Apple products after the company asked the Electronic Product Environmental Assessment Tool (EPEAT) — the group that sets environmental standards for electronics — to remove all 39 of its products from the agency's green registry.

Kohl's will expand its solar program by nearly 25 percent this year, installing solar panels at approximately 30 additional stores. The department store retailer expects to have more than 150 solar locations across 13 states by the end of 2012. On average, the panels supply 20 percent to 50 percent of each store's energy requirements. "After adding 20 solar locations in 2011, we're pleased to continue growing our solar program in 2012," said Kohl's Chief Administrative Officer John Worthington in a statement. 

Kohl's said it will expand its solar program by nearly 25 percent in 2012, installing solar panels at approximately 30 additional locations. While some of the new solar sites will be in states such as California, Connecticut and Maryland where Kohl's already has a solar presence, additional sites will be located in new solar states for Kohl's, including Massachusetts, New York and Ohio. On average, the solar panels will supply 20 percent to 50 percent of each store's energy. Construction of the solar panel arrays on the first phase of stores began this spring.

Patagonia, a leading designer of outdoor, surf and sport-related apparel, announced the launch of its Vote the Environment campaign. The campaign asks customers to register to vote, learn about candidates’ environmental records and vote for the world they want to live in. Patagonia is one of the only for-profit businesses to engage in a public campaign that aims to sway its customers’ voting towards the most environmentally minded candidates.