A plethora of retailers used Earth Day 2024 to showcase some new initiatives, and old, aimed at reducing the impact they have on the natural world. Green Retail World has scoured the updates and picked out a few titbits that we think you’ll find interesting.
Did you know? The iForce-run part of the Screwfix distribution centre in Stafford, is a place where returned Screwfix and B&Q tools are refurbished ready to be resold.
Did you know? Fashion retailer AllSaints is set to launch a free leather repair service in London next month.
Stephen King, who is leading the retailer’s ESG team while the driving force behind the strategy, Sally Williamson, is on maternity leave, said: “The most important thing any of us can do is get better use out of clothes and shoes we already own.
“Businesses can and should do more to help customers care for and repair their products. So excitingly, in a few weeks’ time we’ll be launching a free leather repair service.”
He added: “Initially just focused in London but we hope to roll this out much further in the future.”
Did you know? Ex-Scotland and British & Irish Lions rugby player, Rob Wainwright, is working on nature restoration project at his farm on the Isle of Coll, funded by shirt retailer Charles Tyrwhitt through Nature Broking’s Nature Sponsorship programme.
The retailer will fund a two-year farming-for-nature project on Wainwright’s Cliad Farm focusing on improving outcomes for flora and fauna in general, but especially red-listed lapwing and corncrake.
“The work will focus on the creation and management of large areas of early and late cover, adjacent to areas of late grazed pasture – all of which should help provide different habitat which the birds need through the nesting season”, said Wainwright.
“In addition he will cut no silage but instead establish cover species such as nettle, canary reed grass, iris, meadowsweet and cow parsley to increase the diversity of the habitat.”
With Charles Tyrwhitt’s logo being a lapwing, this project sits neatly within the company’s value and identity – as well as being a positive environmental play.
Sam Shaw, Charles Tyrwhitt’s corporate social responsibility manager, commented: “We’re looking forward to visiting Cliad Farm in late May when we will see the fruits of Rob’s labours.
“At Charles Tyrwhitt, we are committed to ‘doing things properly’ which is exactly what Rob and his wife, Romayne, are doing on their farm. We are excited to be able to engage with the project through site visits, as organised by Nature Broking.”
Did you know? Multichannel fashion retailer White Stuff customers have sent 2,000 bags of preloved clothes back to the retailer for reselling via Thrift+. The partnership only began six months ago.
Also, repair company The Seam recently offered free alterations at White Stuff’s VIP customer events across the UK to celebrate the launch of the retailer’s new collection. The Seam offered tweaks to items purchased on the night or brought in from home.
Did you know? Footwear brand Allbirds launched an Earth Day ‘Greenwashed Collection’, available only on its dedicated resale marketplace, ReRun.
Allbirds reorganised its already available pre-loved styles in green, and gave the collection a new name to bring attention to the issue of greenwashing. The retailer called it “the only kind of greenwashing we’re into” as part of efforts to raise awareness of the problems surrounding misleading ecological claims.
Did you know? The Patagonia CEO Ryan Gellert took to LinkedIn to raise the profile of the retailer’s Home Planet Fund.
Home Planet Fund is a non-profit that will spend every dollar it receives from donors supporting, in the words of Gellert, “indigenous communities that know how to prevent climate chaos”.
Patagonia invested an initial $20 million in seed funding to cover the organisation’s overheads, meaning all public donations “go directly to those who know their land, and its resilience, best”.
Home Planet Fund invests in regions, particularly remote ones, proven by science to keep Earth cool.
Did you know? Customers at department store chain Selfridges’ flagship Oxford Street store can give a new lease of life to their accessories at The Handbag Clinic Ltd, which values, repairs, and resells luxury bags.
Did you know? Fast-growing fashion retailer Nobody’s Child – whose chairman and founder, Andrew Xeni, was interviewed as part of Green Retail World’s Seeds of Change series earlier this month – launched its first “big sample sale” this week.
On Tuesday 23 and Wednesday 24 April at The Music Room in London, visitors can snap up signature dresses from seasons gone by (and other items) for prices starting at £15.
Did you know? To mark Earth Day 2024, department store chain John Lewis signed not-for-profit organisation Canopy’s Pack4Good scheme, meaning it has committed to sourcing better packaging materials which will protect critical forests around the world. Signatories commit to using materials in their supply chain that have not been sourced from ancient and endangered forests.
Marija Rompani, director of sustainability & ethics at the John Lewis Partnership, called it “a truly positive step forward on our journey to ensuring all our paper-based packaging is from a more sustainable source”.
Did you know? You can already read about Marks & Spencer’s new partnership with Oxfam to help recycle unwanted clothing, as well as Schuh’s innovative link-up with Vintage Threads to sell new items made from old shoes, on the pages of Green Retail World.
[Image credit: Green Retail World]
