10 eco-friendly retailers
BUY, BUY, BUY: Shop 'til you drop with green retailers. (Photo: patty_c/iStockphoto) 
REI’s sustainable outdoor products come with ecoSensitive™ labels that help consumers easily track items made from a high percentage of recycled, rapidly renewable and/or organic fibers. About one-fourth of all REI locations are supplied by green energy, six of its buildings are LEED-certified and REI’s employees are encouraged to be green with biking and public transportation incentives. Plus, REI has big plans to become both climate neutral and a zero-waste-to-landfill company by 2020 through emission cuts, green energy and carbon offsets.
Having coined the term LOHAS (Lifestyles of Health and Sustainability), GAIAM has long been a leader in providing green lifestyle solutions. GAIAM specializes in fitness products, certified organic cotton/natural fiber bedding and apparel, renewable energy solutions, eco-gadgets and household items that help consumers reduce their environmental impact, save money and increase efficiency. In 2006, GAIAM partnered with The Conservation Fund to launch the world’s first “Go Zero®” sustainable shipping program, which allows online customers to offset their package delivery emissions through donations to tree planting projects.
Outdoor retailer Patagonia’s green credentials include an entirely organic cotton clothing line, product transparency through its product impact tracking tool, The Footprint Chronicles, and a recycling program that takes worn-out Patagonia products and recycles them anew. Patagonia’s catalogs use FSC-certified recycled paper, its California headquarters houses solar panels and, through the company’s environmental campaign, Freedom To Roam, Patagonia has donated more than $35 million toward helping to create, restore and protect wildlife corridors.
This urban outdoor apparel company based in Portland, Ore., specializes in clothing made from sustainable and durable fabrics such as recycled polyester and organic cotton. NAU products are shipped in envelopes made from up to 50 percent post-consumer recycled content, which cuts emissions, waste and fossil fuel use, and it donates 2 percent of every sale to humanitarian and environmental groups through Partners for Change.
Forget odd-smelling bars of “eco” soap. LUSH, a high-quality 100 percent vegetarian bath and body care retailer loads its products with great-smelling natural ingredients that contain little to no preservatives, forgoes fancy packaging for 70 percent of its products and has switched to 100 percent post-consumer recycled containers for the rest. Plus, 100 percent of the retail price of LUSH’s Charity Pot, a luxurious hand and body cream, goes directly toward supporting animal rights, environmental protection and humanitarian concerns.
Outdoor wear company Timberland’s Green Index™ rating allows customers a clear view of the company’s environmental footprint, from boots to sandals, many of which contain recycled content. Plus, many Timberland products carry both nutrition labels and product icons to show their climate impact, chemical use and resource consumption. Timberland also has reduced its direct carbon emissions by 27 percent since 2006, planted more than 1 million trees and has plans to become carbon neutral by 2010 for the facilities it owns and operates and for employee travel.
All products sold at Green Depot, a leading source for sustainable building solutions, must pass through a filter that evaluates their health, durability, performance, life cycle, natural resource conservation and energy conservation. In addition, each product contains icons that break down the product’s green factor into five easy-to-understand categories. Plus, The Green Depot’s Bowery location in Manhattan is on track to be platinum LEED-certified, the Brooklyn, N.Y., showroom roof features solar panels and the company has sustainable purchasing guidelines for the back office operations.
American Apparel provides customers with nontoxic versions of its most popular styles with its 100 percent organic collection. It also supports the Cleaner Cotton Campaign, which buys California cotton that uses fewer chemicals and non-GM seed. On the business end, American Apparel’s downtown L.A. factory houses solar panels and contains retrofitted light fixtures to help save more than 1 million kilowatt hours of energy each year, and it cuts down on waste by donating and recycling its excess materials. To encourage a more sustainable workforce, the company lends out bikes and provides employees with subsidized bus passes.
When it comes to environmental responsibility, Nike’s mantra is clearly “Just do it.” While steadily expanding its 100 percent organic cotton line, Nike’s overall goal is to blend a minimum of 5 percent organic cotton into all of its cotton-containing apparel materials. Through its Reuse-a-Shoe program, the company has recycled more than 23 million pairs of athletic shoes that have been made into more than 300 sport surfaces. In 2007, the World Wildlife Fund recognized Nike for leadership in climate change by reducing its annual CO2 emissions to 18 percent below its 1998 levels.
We know what you’re thinking. Every greenie loves to hate Walmart. But the retail giant has been making huge strides in providing average people with eco-friendly options by filling its more than 8,000 retail stores worldwide with green living items like Energy Star appliances, non-toxic cookware and organic-certified groceries. Most notably, Walmart recently announced it plans to work with other retailers and suppliers to help create a worldwide sustainability index that drives supplier transparency and ultimately allows customers to assess their products’ environmental impact.
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Comments(16)
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Posted By The Resort at Isla Palenque - Fri, Feb 05 2010 at 5:15 PM ESTAnother List Possibility
Why don't you do a list about the top eco-friendly hotels?
Thanks,
The Resort at Isla Palenque
www.islapalenque.com
Posted By Tammy - Thu, Feb 04 2010 at 10:08 PM ESTSimple should be there
It does seem this list has more to do with the size of the co and it's influence, rather than just it's practices. I think Simple shoes should be here. Were they evaluated for this? How were these Co's chosen?
Posted By Josey - Wed, Feb 10 2010 at 3:08 PM ESTSimple
Again, Simple's ingredients are not natural (they also contain SFS and parabens, just like some of Lush's products) SO if the actual product ingredients were considered on this list - neither of them should be there! Top 10 ECO FRIENDLY BUSINESSES should be exactly that - not cause you like them or because they have SOME products that are!
Posted By Ashley - Thu, Feb 04 2010 at 3:41 PM ESTHow About The Body Shop?
The Body Shop supports many great causes. They have never and will never test on animals, support community trade and try to be as eco-friendly as possible. At least that's what they say & what I believed. Is there a reason they didn't make the list but companies like Nike did? I'd like to know since we shop with them because we support their causes.
Posted By Kate - Thu, Feb 04 2010 at 9:32 PM ESTBody shop
Hey Ashley, the problem I think with the Body Shop is, they sold out to L'Oreal (a few years ago now) and there was a huge backlash, as L'Oreal does animal testing etc - do a google search and you'll see all the info about it. Also, again, not all of The Body Shop's products are "natural" but as mentioned below, I also am not sure what this story is saying about the businesses...are they not necessarily selling eco friendly products but do "ethical" things? It's very misleading.
Posted By Concerned - Thu, Feb 04 2010 at 2:51 PM ESTGreenwashing?
You know, being a retailer of eco friendly products, this frustrates me. For instance, not ALL of Lush's products are natural (some contain sodium lauryl sulfate!). Also with Nike, so they do a few "token" things to "appear" green (or more likely in response to the backlash they received) - doesn't make them truly an ethical company...NOT IN THE TOP 10 anyway! These kind of misinformed and inaccurate stories are why alot of people are still confused what it really means to be eco friendly..... More
Posted By Anne - Thu, Feb 04 2010 at 9:37 PM ESTre : greenwashing.
Lush does not claim to be 100% natural.
At least Lush is straight forward with their ingredient listing. "Natural" soap companies that list "a coconut-based surfactant" in their product are green washing. Sure, Sodium Lauryl Sulfate is coconut derived, but it's so far removed that it shouldn't be called natural any more.
Lush is a huge step in the right direction. If you can't make your own fresh skincare or haircare, it's good to know there's an option in the marketplace for.... More
Posted By Patricia - Thu, Feb 04 2010 at 9:49 PM ESTGreenwashing
It's the story that gives the impression the products are eco friendly and there are LOTS of completely natural products/businesses who sell skincare and haircare - the point is, what constitutes being in the top 10? Less packaging, lowering your emissions or having actual natural/eco friendly products? Shouldn't it be all?
Posted By Marie - Fri, Feb 05 2010 at 11:48 AM ESTRe: Greenwashing
I second with the poster above me, Lush never claimed to be 100% natural. However, they make sure that each ingredient they use are being sourced from locations that help sustain communities. For being such a huge, international company, they do a lot of work to maintain their standards. When I went in this summer they were doing a "Wash Your Hands of Palm" campaign. They completely formulated a new base of soap because they didn't want to be involved with palm-oil in indonesia anymore. How.... More
Posted By Jonathon - Thu, Feb 04 2010 at 12:08 PM ESThttp://www.google.com/profiles/burkinaboy
Now, what are the top 10 green non-profits?
Posted By The team at MNN - Thu, Feb 04 2010 at 2:35 PM ESTThat's a great idea Jonathan
....we're looking into it now.
:)
thanks from the team at MNN
Posted By joe - Thu, Feb 04 2010 at 10:30 AM ESTNo Links?
Why no links to get to the retailers' websites?
Posted By The team at MNN - Thu, Feb 04 2010 at 11:58 AM ESTthanks Joe
We've added links to all of the retailers. thanks!
The team at MNN
Posted By Gregory Jaccobs - Thu, Feb 04 2010 at 7:23 AM ESTEco-m Friendly
Shopping with planet in mind can make a big difference in many ways. Online shopping provides the largest selection of eco - friendly products and best prices. Going green is not just a lifestyle, its mindful of this planet.
Gregory
http://onewayshopping.com
Walmart dropping green products
At my local Walmart, they used to sell a variety of Greenworks products, but now only have one or two if they can keep stock on the shelves. They used to also sell kitchen scrub brushes made from recycled plastic, but they don't now. In fact, they dropped the quality on the ones made from virgin plastic. This,the combination of dropping quality (from the already lower quality they had), and the empty shelves, my husband and I have decided not to shop at Walmart, but for the occassional item.... More