This week’s topic brings about a lot of interesting thought regarding our planet and continuing a sustainable path. Though work ethic towards employees is paramount, one crucial thing to bear in mind is our environment. Our environment is the soil we step in, the air we breathe, and the water we drink. As a result Banana Republic, which I am a frequent customer of theirs, crossed my mind.

The clothing industry has been under a lot of pressure to increase its sustainability from the product itself, lines of production to packaging to its consumers. For instance, Banana Republic, in particular, has pledged to the slogan “greener, one step at a time.” With regards to packaging, Banana Republic has committed to increasing the supply of recyclable material wherein, for instance, shopping bags “contain 15% recycled material and are recyclable.” it is important to put an emphasis on the text of writing. Yes, 15% of the shopping bag is from recycled material and the remaining 85% is “recyclable”, however, the majority of shopping bags are barely recycled even if they are made from recyclable material. It is one thing to reduce the amount of bag usage and another thing to make bags from recyclable material as if it is actually being recycled at the end.

Furthermore, Banan Republic committed to “installation of a one megawatt solar system at our Fresno, California distribution center” but after a brief research, I could not find any record of any said project done by Banana Republic which claimed that it will power around 350 homes. However, credit is given when credit is due, Banan’s Republic physical infrastructure is either partially made from recycled material or being recycled for a different use, from using old advertising billboards being used for home roofing material to floors and bathrooms in their stores being made of sustainable forests or 15% recycled material. In addition to physical stores being partially made of that of recycled material, Banana Republic’s commitment to a 100% “sustainable cotton by 2023” is only 87% through, according to goodonyou.eco website.

Equally important, Banana Republic has a horrible rating of “not good enough” on goodonyou.eco, whereby Banana Republic has a lack of transparency in its supply chain. It is known as a result of globalization, that most products are made overseas and it often, though ignored, involves child labor or lack of safety and workers’ rights. This is crucial, especially during the Covid pandemic whereby the supply chain was affected, and it was unknown if those overseas workers were paid enough wages.

Though a good clothing brand, I believe that Banana Republic has a long way to go from where it stands today. This discussion, however, is not targeted solely towards Banana Republic, in fact, the fashion industry is reckless and disregards the environment. Though I’m not a customer of H&M, it has been noted before that the clothing industry in general, but fast fashion in particular exacerbates the problem to the planet.

With regards to recommendations to the orgainization, it is best if there was an established governemntal oversight keeping track of green commitments made by different companies—Inclusive of Banana Republic. If a company were to commit to something, they must do it, otherwise don’t commit anything and make your public image worst. This however does not apply to labor practices because it has been always known that the supply chain of made cloths is not labor-friendly. Hence, a suggestion would be if consumers monitor more labor-friendly clothing companies wherein child labor and an intensive work environment does not exist.

Cheers,

Saleh

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