Sustainability Round-up June 2022
People enjoy a moment of leisure at the Bund area in Shanghai on May 28, 2022 as the city recovers from a prolonged COVID outbreak. [Photo/IC]
Just as Shanghai gradually reopened after two months of lockdown silence, this past June witnessed sustainable initiatives enlivening the fashion and lifestyle industry, with World Environment Day falling on the 5th. Cities in China celebrated the 10th National Low-carbon Day highlighting eco-friendly initiatives that reduce carbon emissions. Find out more at GREENEXT's Sustainability Round-up for June 2022!
Brands
Image: Kiehl's
In celebration of World Environment Day and World Oceans Day, POP MART launched upcycled DIMOO bag in support of wild plant conservation in China, while HowBottle launched the "Reinvent This Moment" campaign, together with Corona with an eco-friendly collection of recycled plastic bottles and discarded fishing nets. Kiehl's China also launched a successful multi-channel campaign to engage Chinese consumers with protecting the green planet where wild pandas inhabit. Besides, GREENEXT took an in-depth look into the sustainability strategy of ANTA, one of the largest sportswear brands in China.
Events
Shanghai Fashion Week went fully digital for the first time due to the latest COVID-19 outbreak in Shanghai, which concluded on June 19. Ponder.er, a Hong Kong-based gender-inclusive label founded by Derek Cheng and Alex Po, has been named the winner of this year’s Yu Prize top honor, the Li-Ning Grand Award. Also, during the 3-day event, PepsiCo cooperated with Inert Plan to create an interactive scene between a virtual human and a Pepsi Cola intelligent recycling machine, to engage the younger generation in recycling and sustainability. With cities gradually opening up, sustainable lifestyle brands delicates launched a nationwide recycling tour to encourage the consumers to "turn waste into romance".
Image: Yu Holdings
E-Commerce
Image: JD.com
618 is the second largest and most important online Shopping Festival in China. This year, China's largest online retailer JD.com launched Green Impact Initiative for 618 Grand Promotion, to help Chinese consumers find and buy green products more easily online. While on the fashion side, Chinese online fashion e-commerce retailer Shein announced a new partnership with Or Foundation to launch its Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) Fund, to support waste management efforts in communities deeply impacted by textile waste.
Education
Image: Redress
At the beginning of this month, the Woolmark Learning Centre launched its first Chinese edition, which includes the flagship program "Wool Appreciation Course" and "Wool Fibre Science" on the online education platform. While Redress, a Hong Kong-based environmental NGO, released Circular Fashion Education Toolkit, a bilingual and interactive resource for students and teachers, that aims to inspire the next generation and build their knowledge on sustainability in fashion.
Innovations
The Planet First program, initiated by the H&M Foundation, and world-renowned The Hong Kong Research Institute of Textiles and Apparel (HKRITA) unveils garments that capture CO2 from the air.
Image: H&M Foundation