Fashion Industry Leads All Other Industries In Social Responsibility : Timberland

OK, I have titled my blog "Fashion Industry Leads All Other Industries In Social Responsibility", but I must state that I do not know for sure that the fashion industry actually leads all others in social responsibility. However, this is one of the benefits of writing a blog article and not an article for the New York Times or Wall Street Journal. In a fashion blog post, I do not think anyone will criticize me for possibly stretching the facts. Anyway, I can't be any worse then a politician... Well, back to my point. "In my opinion", the fashion industry has many amazing and environmentally friendly companies. In this blog post, I wanted to point out a few achievements made by The Timberland Company. 1989 Their longstanding partnership with City Year begins with 50 pairs of boots. It will eventually grow to over $10 million in support, allowing City Year to expand to 18 cities. www.cityyear.org 1992 The Path of Service™ program is launched, and employees are offered 16 hours of paid leave to perform service in their communities every year. 1992 Timberland joins Business for Social Responsibility, teaming up with other businesses to initiate social change. Their "Give Racism the Boot" campaign delivers messages of tolerance. 1993 How they make Timberland® products is as important as what they make. They sign a set of environmental guidelines from the Coalition for Environmentally Responsible Economies (CERES). 1997 The Path of Service™ program expands to 40 hours of paid community service time for employees every year. 1998 Timberland's 25th anniversary. They celebrate by putting on their first company-wide day of community service. They call it Serv-a-palooza, and it becomes an annual worldwide event. 2000 Timberland is honored by Business Ethics Magazine as one of the "100 Best Corporate Citizens." 2001 The Path of Service™ sabbatical program is introduced, giving employees the opportunity to apply for long-term service projects. 2001 The Committee to Encourage Corporate Philanthropy selects Timberland as a recipient of the 2001 Annual Excellence in Corporate Philanthropy Awards. 2004 Working Mother magazine names Timberland to their list of "100 Best Companies for Working Mothers." They will receive the honor again in 2005 and 2006. 2004 Timberland employees begin to take advantage of a $3,000 stipend toward the purchase of hybrid vehicles. 2005 Timberland donates footwear and gear to Hurricane Katrina disaster relief efforts and extends its employee service sabbatical program with the Red Cross. 2006 Timberland's distribution center in Ontario, California generates 60% of its power through the installation of new solar panels. The solar installation reduces green house gas emissions by an estimated 480,000 pounds per year. In case you have been living under a rock and are not familiar with Timberland, "Timberland is a global leader in the design, engineering and marketing of premium-quality footwear, apparel and accessories for consumers who value the outdoors and their time in it. Timberland markets products under the Timberland®, Timberland PRO®, Mountain Athletics®, SmartWool®, Timberland Boot Company™, Howies® and IPATH® brands, all of which offer quality workmanship and detailing and are built to withstand the elements of nature. The company’s products can be found in leading department and specialty stores as well as Timberland® retail stores throughout North America, Europe, Asia, Latin America, South Africa and the Middle East. Timberland’s dedication to making quality products is matched by the company’s commitment to “doing well and doing good" – forging powerful partnerships among employees, consumers and service partners to transform the communities in which they live and work. " Learn more about Timberland and other clothing retailers at my site Apparel Search. Learn more about Timberland.