Timberland achieves industry-leading emissions reduction

14 Apr '11

4 min read

The Timberland Company, an outdoor footwear and apparel company and environmental steward, announced that it has achieved an industry-leading 38 percent absolute reduction in greenhouse gas emissions, as of the end of 2010. In 2006, Timberland established a five-year, 50 percent reduction goal for absolute emissions associated with its owned and operated facilities and employee air travel. Since then, the company has been significantly cutting its emissions.

"While the net result for 2010 was positive, we fell short of meeting our 50 percent reduction goal. However, we are still planning to achieve this goal by 2015, and to go even further," said Betsy Blaisdell, Sr. Manager, Environmental Stewardship. "2010 was not a typical year. The rebound of our business resulted in an increase in employee travel, and record temperatures, both highs and lows, contributed to increased energy use."

"Timberland's achievement of a 38 percent reduction in absolution emissions and its future goal to reduce 50 percent of emissions by 2015 surpasses the expectation Ceres set forth in our Roadmap for Sustainability -- further demonstrating the company's commitment to lead the way towards a sustainable economy," stated Mindy Lubber, President of Ceres, a national coalition of investors, environmental and public interest groups working with companies to address climate change. Timberland's Climate Counts score also improved in 2010, moving up to 86 from 82 in 2009. This score keeps Timberland at the second highest rated of all 150 companies scored.

Timberland's Reduction Strategy
Over the past five years, Timberland has honed its emissions reduction strategy to achieve the greatest benefit for investments made. The company takes a three-pronged approach for its owned and operated facilities:

• Energy efficiency upgrades -- such as retrofitting facilities with LED lighting and employing LEED standards for store design
• Purchasing renewable energy -- in 2010, 13 percent of Timberland's energy came from renewable sources
• Reductions in employee travel -- the company encourages employees to seek practical alternatives when considering their travel needs

Timberland has significantly reduced its energy demand and emissions for its owned and operated facilities and employee air travel. Meeting the carbon neutral goal required an offset purchase for the emissions it wasn't able to eliminate in 2010. The purchased offsets have been used to support the development of a wind farm in Shangyi County, China, which was chosen because of the desire to find ways to reduce the emissions associated with Timberland's footwear supply chain, which is mainly based in China and Southeast Asia. "Beginning in 2010, Timberland began investing more resources in the direct management of carbon in our supply chain. The company will pursue this strategy, versus large offset purchases, going forward," Blaisdell said.

Timberland's commitment to climate change stems from its long-held values of environmental stewardship and the belief that reducing risk, cutting energy costs, and meeting consumer demand for products with smaller carbon footprints is smart business.

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