Technology for Sustainability - Nike Considered

The initiative began as a set of design ideals (or “ethos” in Nike-speak) adopted by the company. Yet, despite clear vision from company leadership, Nike’s designers struggled with the task of incorporating sustainability principles into their work. The overarching issue the designers faced resonates with many who have considered the issue of sustainability: How, and where, do we start? Nike management answered with the Considered Index, a technology-based tool that gives designers real-time feedback on how well their products measure up against the expectations and goals embedded in the Considered Design ethos. To develop this tool, Nike calculated the lifecycle environmental footprint of all products and processes—from idea generation through final production—and used the results to identify the four areas where design could most influence the company’s overall environmental impact: materials; waste; solvents; and innovation. The Considered Index provides designers with real-time feedback on the predicted environmental footprint of a given product using detailed data for all materials used in Nike’s commercial products. Every available material and design element carries a score within the Considered Index, and built-in benchmarking shows how a product-in-development would rate against the company average. Some highlights of the impact this effort has had so far:

• Reduced waste: A new shoe box, planned for use with all shoe products by 2011, uses 100% recycled fiber and features a design that reduces fiber content by roughly 30% over previous models.
• Reduced pollution: By 2009, 76% of Nike shoes contained environmentally preferred rubbers (up from 3% in 2004), which are patented formulas that reduce toxins by more 95% yet mimic the performance and look-feel of traditional rubber. There is no cost difference.
• Reduced GHG emissions:
  • Eliminated the use of potent greenhouse gas SF6 from all footwear products.
  • Reduced carbon emissions from owned facilities and business travel by 18% between 1998-2005 despite facility growth of 6% over that period.
• Better farming practices & industry transformation: Organic cotton represents 14% (>21 million pounds) of the cotton fiber used in Nike Apparel products, making Nike the 3rd largest retail user of organic cotton in the world. Nike currently incorporates most of the organic cotton fiber as blend material in apparel, using a minimum 5% blend for 86% of cotton products. The 5% blend has become an industry standard for yarn suppliers who supply a range of other brands and Nike plans to double the minimum to 10% by 2015, a decision likely to ripple across the apparel supply chain.

The Nike Environmental Design Tool, a public version of the Considered Index, was recently released along with supporting data and methodology for public use. Nike documents its sustainability goals and progress in detail in its Corporate Responsibility Report. So what can we pull from this, apart from a clear illustration of Nike’s elegant approach to lightening the environmental load of its consumer products? One of the lessons is that successful sustainability efforts require at least two key elements: first setting a clear vision for sustainability within the organizational context (definition), and then providing employees with the tools to incorporate that vision into their regular job function (implementation).