CorpComms Magazine

Sportswear giant Nike has released its Environmental Apparel Design Tool in the hope that other clothing manufacturers will work together to reduce usage of natural resources.

The tool is based on Nike's Considered Design Index, and rates how clothing designs score in reducing waste and increasing the use of environmentally preferred materials while allowing the designers to make real time adjustments.

The tool, which cost more than $6 million and took longer than seven years to finesse, is designed to reduce Nike's use of natural resources, such as oil and water. The sporting giant is also planning to release its Footwear Design, Material Assessment and Water Assessment tools next year.

Nike has made it an open source tool in the hope that designers will build, use and improve it, thereby accelerating collaborations between companies and promoting industry support to fast track sustainable innovation. Hannah Jones, vice president of Nike's sustainable business and innovation, said: 'The tool is about making it simple for designers to make the most sustainable choices right at the start of the product creation process. Over the past four years, it has proved to be invaluable at Nike.

The tool's most notable success to date has been the South African 2010 football jersey. Designers produced the most environmentally friendly and technologically advanced kits made from recycled polyester, diverting 13 million plastic bottles from landfill. Indeed, last year Nike doubled its use of recycled polyester, saving 83 million plastic bottles from landfill. It has estimated that, if all clothing manufacturers converted one third of their polyester garments to recycled polyester, the demand for recycled polyester would be greater than the annual production of plastic bottles.

Nike has further demonstrated its belief that the best way to stimulate sustainable innovation is through open innovation by committing to place more than 400 patents on GreenXchange (a web-based marketplace where companies collaborate and share intellectual property) for research.

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