Ecoconception

The Coalition is made up of more than 30 annual dues-paying companies and environmental organizations—including Levi Strauss & Co., Li & Fung, the EPA, Marks & Spencer, Mountain Equipment Co-op, New Balance, Nordstrom, Otto Group, and REI—all working together to develop an industrywide supply-chain index that measures water and energy use, greenhouse gas emissions, waste, social labor practices, and more.

Version one of the Sustainable Apparel Index will be ready for pilot testing by member companies in April. “It’s an indicator-based tool. The next version will evolve into a metrics-based tool,” says Ridgeway. Version two will be ready to go by the end of 2011.

By the end of the year, the Coalition will expand to 40 to 50 companies—by invitation only. And by 2012, it will expand to all footwear and apparel companies that want to join.

That’s just the beginning. Eventually, the Coalition hopes to launch a consumer-facing sustainability index.