Disposability

or

Sustainability

Power is shifting ….

greenGreed Green

greenInstitutions Individuals

greenLegislators Local Activists

greenPop-up Permanent

greenThrow out Wear out

Fad Fashion

The way we consume is changing

‘The ruling ideas of each age have ever been the ideas of its ruling class’

Karl Marx

Roland Mouret US$2,150 Topshop £60

‘Bling is over. Red carpetry covered with rhinestones is out. I call it the ‘new modesty’. This whole crisis is like a big spring housecleaning – both moral and physical’

Karl Lagerfeld

1950

s Liberated Consumption

1980

s Ostentatious Consumption

1990

s Careless Consumption

2000

s Impulsive Consumption

Conspicuous consumption

Current wealth = materialism

Business Increasing Efficiency

Affordable sustainable

mass market product

‘Ruling class’ green status

Government Carbon

LegislationsRecession

activist pressure

availability

cut costs

Hypothesis

• ‘Catalyst: ‘The Great Recession’

• Efficiency now the top of the business agenda

• Lack of capital in markets is creating sustainable choice for consumers

Sustainability is not a market position, rather it is part of a business plan

1950

s Liberated Consumption

1980

s Ostentatious Consumption

1990

s Careless Consumption

2000

s Impulsive Consumption

2010

s Considered Consumption

End of conspicuous consumption

INSERT VIDEO

1. The facts

2. Consumer changes

3. Businesses who are changing

4. What you can do?

5. Close

6. Questions

1. The facts

3 key areas of concern

1. Production2. Landfill3. Recyclability

2kgs of CO2

emitted to air

45kgs of waste water

1kgs of solid

waste

1kg of apparel output

=

1. Production

In the UK, 2 million tonnes of clothes are bought each year

An increase of 33% since 2004, which is equal to…

An extra 48,792 cars on the road each year

or

1.3 million tonnes of Co2

14 Olympic sized pools every year

or

18 million tonnes of waste water

An extra 4,666,667 full garbage bags every year

or

700,000,000 kilos of solid waste

7.5 end up in landfill

10 garments

bought =

2. Landfill

This is the fastest growing area in landfill, in the past 5 years this has increased by 25%, which is equal to…

An extra 167 t-shirts bought by every Australian every year

or

1.5 million tonnes of clothing

3. Recyclability

Low quality clothes

Sent to charity store

Unable to sellUnable to be charitable

The low quality of disposable fashion effects charity

‘Isn't the whole idea of (fast) fashion the antithesis of a sustainable approach…Each new trend that sweeps through the high street renders the old trend obsolete? Its difficult to imaging a more wasteful system.’

Mark Lynas, Climate Change Specialist

2. The consumer thinking

Curve of adoption Tipping point

LaggardsInnovators2.5%

Early adopters

13.5%

Early majority

34% 34%

Late majority

16%

Considered consumption

Considered consumption has been led by the ‘ruling class’ for the past 5 years.

The recession is pushing the social movement to its tipping point

Forcing the top half of the market to adapt or consider adaptation

Ruling Class (Innovators)

IdealistsWell educated Opinionated and politically activeStrong sense of social responsibilityBoomers & Generation XStatus-oriented

Statement-driven:‘Green is good…I’m green, says ‘I’m good’’

Followers (Early Adopters)

FollowersTech Savvy Ruled by need to know ‘First’Savvy/ impulsiveGeneration YPeer group orientated

Participation-driven:‘I want to be green, to be seen as part of the team’

Value Middle (Early Majority)

DeliberatorsCommunity-orientedTrend-lessFickle and mercurial (trade down and out)Older more conservativeWork to a budget

Value-Driven:‘There’s real value in being green’

‘This is the only trend I’ve seen in my fashion career where I can say with absolute confidence, it is not going away’

Julie Gilhart, fashion director Barneys

3. Businesses who are changing

‘It’s a steep and perilous ladder to climb to convince the consumer that you are acting fairly…. based on what you do as a company (not marketing)’ Anon

6 case studies

Bigbox

Walmart

Middle

Marks & Spencer

Fast fashion

Uniqlo

Discounter

Payless

Brand

Nike

High end

Fillipa k

‘Dark Lord’ going green

Walmart is the worlds largest retailer

Retail’s largest carbon footprint

Was renown for importing in order to keep prices down

‘ To me, there can’t be anything good about putting all these chemicals in the air… the smog you see in cities…so that somebody can buy an item for less money in a developed country. Those things are just inherently wrong, whether you’re an environmentalist or not.’

H. Lee Scott, former CEO Walmart

Sustainability = good business

everyday low cost means everyday low price

Putting on pressure

Hedge themselves against suppliers – forcing sustainability

The greener their suppliers are the more cost efficient Walmart is

Eg. P&G slimmed down laundry detergents, better value and less space on shelf

The green giant

Walmart have taken their environmental message to market

Positioned as part of their value proposition

Strategy to leverage saving + community mindedness of early middle

2,000 vendors committed to reducing packaging

Sold 100 million CF Light bulbs in 15 months

World largest purchaser of organic cotton

15% increase in retail energy efficiency

Global Co2 Emissions is down to 20,388,574

‘I can honestly say I never expected to be at Walmart's headquarters watching people do the Walmart cheer’

John Hocevar, Greenpeace campaigner

• image

The middle market plan

£200 million sustainability initiative ‘plan a’

Mission: ‘to become carbon neutral, have no waste going to landfill, ensure raw materials are sustainable, raise the bar in ethical trading, and help customers lead healthier lives by 2012’

100 point plan, setting ‘realistic but influential’ goals

Business Suppliers Consumersefficiency product action

Oxfam clothing exchange

Goal: increase the amount of recycled material it uses

Supported by consumer campaign with Oxfam clothing exchange

Customers were given a coupon for £5 to use in store when they recycled their clothes

So far they have reduced the amount of clothes sent to landfill by 1,000 tonnes

Wash at 30M&S is encourage customer to

wash clothes at 30 degrees

Saves 40% energy per wash

‘Think climate – wash at 30’ on the garment care labels

"We continue to make solid progress and although Plan A is less than two years old it is already becoming ingrained into the way we do business. Conditions may be challenging on the high street but Plan A has made us think of new ways of working’

Stuart Rose, CEO

• Image here

Garbage to gold

Partnership with Steve Nash (basketballer and environmentalist)

Nike have created the first performance recycled basketball shoe

‘Trash talk’, made from their own manufacturing waste and modeled after Nash’s shoe (RRP$100)

‘any opportunity to promote the environment and preserve our planet is a step in the right direction’

Steve Nash

Recyclable fast fashion

Japanese-based ‘fast fashion’ retailer Uniqlo has been recycling its wares since 2001

Collections are held in March and September in Japanese stores

Wearable items distributed to developing countries

Fashion to fuel

Items no longer wearable are recycled:

1. Fiber used to make thermal insulation work gloves and cotton rags

2. Converted into power generating fuel.

Since March 2007, 800,000 items had been recycled

‘Uniqlo believes it is not only responsible for manufacturing and selling truly great clothing…but also for making sure the value of clothing is fully utilized through reuse or recycle’

Payless shoe source

Discounter reduces footprint

Signed Summer Rayne Oakes (model/environmentalist) as a consultant to a new range of green foot wear

Retailing for less than US$30 from April 2009

Made from sustainable and eco-friendly materials

ad

‘The sustainability movement is pervasive today and is touching so many elements of consumers’ daily lives. It’s our mission to democratise the latest ideas in footwear and accessories…and the biggest idea is to make them green’

Matt Rubel, CEO

Filipa K

High-end made to last

Swedish fashion-basics brand, Filipa K created an outlet for their ‘used clothes’

Extra revenue stream for the brand, selling its wares to customer not traditionally in their price bracket

Currently located in Stockholm, run by a 3rd

party ‘vintage store owner’

“We are incredibly proud to be able to work with sustainability in this way. The fact that the superb quality and design of our products enable us to operate a second hand concept is very much in line with the things for which Filippa K stands,”

Filippa Knutsson, Creative Director.

4. What can you do?

Re-Launch

Re-Engineer

Re-Align

Re-Learn

Recognise

1. Recognise

Recognise the trend to sustainability in your business practices

2. Re-learn

Relearn the behaviors of the ‘considered consumer’ segments

3. Re-align

Re-align your offering to your chosen consumer segment:

- Ruling Class (Innovators)

- Followers (early adopters)- Value (early middle)

4. Re-engineer

Re-engineer your business by making long term efficiency the key driver

5. Re-launch

Re-launch your brand with clarity around your point of sustainable difference

Re-Launch

Re-Engineer

Re-Align

Re-Learn

Recognise

To summarize…

1. Sustainability is not a trend

2. When implemented correctly directly correlates to business efficiency

3. Sustainability is not a continuing expense

Footnote

If you don’t change ….legislation will force you

Dept-Enviro Food Rural Affairs ‘sustainable clothing action plan’

Launched at London Fashion Week, developing 20 product road maps – clothing is one

Development stage to help high street retailers enforce more sustainable practice (esp. supply chain)

it’s not easy being green

….simple questions, please

Stephen.kulmar@retailoasis.com