Kontoor Brands, Inc.’s Post

Congratulations to Allbirds for putting in the effort to lower the environmental impact of their products and publishing some information about their Mo.oNSHOT shoe. As they said themselves, they will get some criticism about their methodology and claims, and I will make a start. Before doing that, I want to emphasize that by putting in the work and effort and sharing information, they do more than most brands and must be applauded. Here we go: 1. Marketing claims: “open-source” This one might be on Ecotextile. The information shared on this show is little beyond a basic introduction to materials used and how they account for emissions in production and transportation. Not useful for anyone in the industry, and thus more marketing than “open-source.” Now to the big issue: Calling it “net-zero.” This is utter nonsense (more on that below), and it does more harm than good, as it focuses on one aspect of environmental impact (GHG emissions) and ignores all other factors (e.g. biodiversity, effluents). It promises impact-free consumption. 2. “Net-zero”: Really? There are CO2 emissions associated with materials, production, transportation, and end-of-life. So they use offsets. Strikingly, their “carbon-negative” wool that they use MORE of (more than functionally needed) instead of less since then they can offset emissions that happen elsewhere. So let’s just all wrap our products in massive amounts of that wool, and we all will have carbon-neutral products. They also use bio-based (70%) EVA (again with claims of it being carbon-negative, and which they use to offset emissions). This EVA is based on sugarcane. LCA assessments have shown that bio-based materials do not necessarily have a low environmental impact, so even if we’d accept the carbon calculations, other ecological issues are ignored. 3. Since all products have an environmental impact, some fundamental principles exist to reduce the effects. Just highlighting one of them here for brevity: One fundamental principle is to design for a long lifespan. A shoe with a textile material extending almost to the bottom will get dirty quickly and be hard to clean, shortening its lifespan.  So much more could be said, but that exceeds this space. I just hope brands would stop making these bold claims that need 100 asterisks to come even close to being true.

When it gets to climate change, we are all on the same boat. If it sinks, we all sink. Therefore, it would be honorable if all those who are protecting their ideas with Patents - to give up on their rights. When IPs are shared, we maybe be faster to cleaning up our toxic waste and emissions from our air, land and dying ecosystems. We have neglected our living planet way too long. Deadly wildfires, floods, droughts are now pushing us into the corner harder. And we can't reverse the climate if we do not share knowledge, expertise, offer helping hand, purchasing from cleantech companies, and investing in the solutions. Thank you Tim Brown, Joseph Zwillinger, Allbirds for your leadership achieving sustainability in your industry. Also, many thanks Ecotextile News sharing encouraging updates and news from the textile and apparel industry every day. Thank you, Florian Schneider and everyone who take the time to spread the good news happening in cleantech sector #fashion #apparel #textile #sustainability #cleantech #climatechange

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Nike's Sabrina 1 sneaker is more than just footwear; it's a masterpiece of functional, emotional, and cultural design. Learn how this product exemplifies Brand Success in this post by #Ipsos. #IpsosBrandSuccess #IpsosBrandCulture

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