Page 318 - Design for Environment A Guide to Sustainable Product Development

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nearly all of its product lines boast environmental benefits.
For example, by reformulating Windex glass cleaner, the
®
company has avoided 1,800,000 pounds of volatile organic
compound (VOC) emissions annually, while achieving 30%
more cleaning power.
• Nike has been refining the practice of DFE for over a decade,
resulting in a holistic design ethos called “Considered.” Nike
products are designed from a life-cycle perspective—they are
constructed from sustainable materials with minimal use of
adhesives in manufacturing and minimal packaging through-
out the supply chain, and they are recoverable at the end of
their useful life. To assess the product environmental foot-
print, Nike has developed a Considered Index for both foot-
wear and apparel products, which includes metrics such as
the use of solvent-based cleaners, primers, and solvents; the
waste generated in cutting and assembly; and sustainable
material life cycles, including growing and extraction prac-
tices, chemistry, energy intensity, energy source, water inten-
sity, waste, recycled content and end-of-life. For example,
Nike’s Trash Talk athletic shoe has an upper and midsole made
entirely from manufacturing scrap waste, and the outsole also
incorporates Nike Grind, which is made from reprocessed
post-consumer waste.
• Timberland, a manufacturer of outdoor footwear and cloth-
ing, is deeply committed to environmental stewardship and
plans to have all of its facilities carbon neutral by 2010. Tim-
berland has taken a unique step in devising a “footprint”
label, similar to a nutrition label, which appears on its foot-
wear packaging—a shoebox made from plain brown recy-
cled paper. The label includes a selected set of environmental
criteria: the percentage of renewable energy used, the per-
centage of PVC-free products used, the percentage of eco-
conscious materials used, and the number of trees Timberland
has planted. Timberland’s DFE philosophy is exemplified in
the Earthkeepers™ line of premium boots, which boasts
recycled, organic, and renewable material content, solvent-
free adhesives, and reduced climate impact.

This chapter highlights the application of DFE to a particularly
sensitive product category—personal hygiene products such as baby
wipes—as practiced by Kimberly-Clark Corporation. Other examples
presented below are taken from The Procter & Gamble Company, a
leader in global sustainability, Mohawk Industries, a “green” carpet
manufacturer, and Patagonia, an early pioneer in eco-design of cloth-
ing. But these stories represent only a small part of the vast range of
DFE efforts taking place in the diverse arena of consumer products.