Levi’s, Nike, & Target Get Serious About Sustainability With The White House

Levi’s, Nike, and Target are among the 68 companies that just joined the White House's American Business Act on Climate Pledge today to make sustainability improvements and to address climate change. There are now 81 companies in total that have joined the Obama administration's climate pledge, going well beyond the fashion fray — McDonald's, Coca-Cola, Kellogg's, General Motors, Disney, and Microsoft are all on board. The green goals of each brand that's joined the pledge vary: Nike wants to reduce its energy consumption by 20% by 2025. In addition to its desire to pare down its energy consumption rates, Nike has paired with the Climate CoLab at MIT to generate "new ideas for engaging industries, designers, and consumers in valuing, demanding and adopting low-impact materials," according to WWD. By 2020, Levi's is striving to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by 25%, to buy at least 20% of its energy from renewable sources and to avoid using "forest-based" materials from endangered forests. Target wants to keep 70% of its waste out of landfills via recycling programs, which fashion brands including Puma and Levi's are already doing. Additionally, the big-box retailer has promised to utilize lots more solar panels (2,000% more, to be exact) in 500 of its store locations and distribution centers, and to ensure that 80% of its locations are certified by Energy Star. "The specific measures the companies are committed to are quite significant,” Brian Deese, senior adviser to President Obama, told WWD. Many fashion brands have been trying to make progress on the sustainability front, though sometimes the measures (or level of commitment) are a bit nebulous. Vowing to be greener as part of a White House-lead initiative — and setting company-specific goals for how to get there — seems like a pretty powerful way to make it happen.