Was disgusted by this story in the New York Times where clothing retailer giant H & M routinely rips holes in brand new clothing and throws them in the trash to be put in a landfill. I certainly understand they don’t want people coming into the store and returning them for store credit (with no receipt), but they could cut the tag out or put a “X” on the inside tag in red marker and donate to local shelters so kids and adults can get free clothes.
They must spend a lot of money on “sustainability” and may do a lot of great things but be careful that something like this can really set back your customers image of you. ACTIONS must mesh with the WORDS.
Read the excerpt below and the full article is at the link.
PJ Stafford
Green Irene Eco Consultant
New York
It is winter. A third of the city is poor. And unworn clothing is being destroyed nightly. Each piece of clothing had holes punched through it by a machine.
They were found by Cynthia Magnus, who attends classes at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York on Fifth Avenue and noticed the piles of discarded clothing as she walked to the subway station in Herald Square. She was aghast at the waste, and dragged some of the bags home to Brooklyn, hoping that someone would be willing to take on the job of patching the clothes and making them wearable.
During her walks down 35th Street, Ms. Magnus said, it is more common to find destroyed clothing in the H & M trash. On Dec. 7, during an early cold snap, she said, she saw about 20 bags filled with H & M clothing that had been cut up.
“Gloves with the fingers cut off,” Ms. Magnus said, reciting the inventory of ruined items. “Warm socks. Cute patent leather Mary Jane school shoes, maybe for fourth graders, with the instep cut up with a scissor. Men’s jackets, slashed across the body and the arms. The puffy fiber fill was coming out in big white cotton balls.” The jackets were tagged $59, $79 and $129.
H & M, which is based in Sweden, has an executive in charge of corporate responsibility who leads the company’s sustainability efforts. On its Web site, H&M reports that to save paper, it has shrunk its shipping labels.
“How about all the solid waste generated by throwing away usable garments and plastic hangers?” Ms. Magnus asked in a letter to the executive, Ingrid Schullstrom. She volunteered to help H & M connect with a charity or agency in New York that could put the unsold items to better use than simply tossing them in the trash. So far, she said, she has gotten no response.
UPDATE: After a flurry of publicity following the New York Times article, H & M has promised to stop the practice of destroying discarded clothing, but the damage to their image is done.
Corporate social responsibility (CSR) is a form of business self-regulation to incorporate social and environmental concerns. It represents a business model that adheres to laws, ethical standards, and international norms.
As part of the business model, businesses have to take into account the impact of their activities on the environment, employees, communities, stakeholders, and other members of the public. In short, CSR represents the deliberate inclusion of the public’s interest in a business’ decisionmaking to ensure a triple bottom line that considers the planet, people, and profits.
In general, CSR involves some kind of standardized reporting that allows the business to collect information on how it is making progress on various fronts. Businesses that engage in CSR typically focus on some or all of the following:
- Environment: This requires a look at the environmental impacts of products and services, as well as what the business does outside the company to improve the environment.
- Employees: It’s important to ensure that all employees are cared for adequately. Businesses usually focus on workplace conditions, benefits, living wages, and training.
- Communities: Engaging the surrounding communities is an important part of not just creating good human capital that can serve the business, but also securing a reputation that can further establish the business.
- Regulations: Respecting regulations to the fullest and often exceeding them is part of being socially responsible.
- Crisis Preparedness: Being ready to address business crises and ensure safety for employees and surrounding communities is critical. Having plans ready and tried are important in ensuring minimal losses during times of crises.
To learn more about CSR and how to implement it, sign up to Ask Green Irene to get implementation details.
Commentary: To learn more about how you can GREEN your business operations, you can find a Local Green Irene Eco-Consultant to get a Green Office Makeover done. This will also provide you access to Ask Green Irene, a green knowledge database that contains information about almost anything you could think about related to Going GREEN. The first step in greening your business is a Green Office Makeover, so find a Local Eco-Consultant today!
Article excerpted from GreenBiz.com.
While not a new trend, employee engagement in corporate greening is gaining ground and emerging as a strong force to move corporate social responsibility forward. While some may think of it as a new hassle, the fresh perspective and new ideas resulting from employee engagement inject vitality into business operations. It forces employees to work out some boundary conditions in teams around areas like setting corporate policy and public relations, promoting collaboration that benefit the business and its employees.
Typically, the members of these teams have little or no involvement in the official corporate environmental or sustainability efforts. They are environmentally minded individuals who are driven to green their lives at home and work. More than a common interest club, these teams want to change the way their business functions. Usually, it starts with the most visible items, such as cafeteria waste, lighting, commuting, and landscape irrigation. After some success with these items, these groups can transition into influencing corporate business practices from design to manufacturing to purchasing and more.
Looking ahead, employee engagement in corporate sustainability will continue to grow as the “millennials” (young folks) enter the workforce. The next generation may the greenest yet, having been raised with Captain Planet, Mom’s Prius and curbside recycling. The folks in HR have not missed the trend and are becoming big fans of the sustainability group. A recent survey found that American workers are paying growing attention to companies’ environmental policies and an increasing number (36 percent) report that they would be more inclined to work for “green” companies.
The bottom line: a key benefit of corporate sustainability programs may be the engagement and retaining of its employees. Increasingly, sustainability is becoming a tool to recruit, retain, inspire, and motivate your workforce.
