If I were the Director of Sustainability at Burberry, I would make a number of changes to our business practices to ensure we are operating as environmentally sound as possible. As many have heard, Burberry has gotten bad press and backlash from environmental groups criticizing the brand for burning $38 million of unsold inventory. My steps toward a more sustainable business practice would be starting a program that would combat the bad damage that has been done. To achieve this, I would focus on areas such as reduction of our water footprint, combatting climate change, and offsetting. The fashion industry uses an immense amount of water, and especially brand like Burberry that sells luxury and leather goods; the water consumption needs to be drastically reduced. One way to lower the amount of water used would be to invest in a machine that uses gas to dye fabrics. This machine specializes in dying garments while utilizing virtually no water throughout the process. Next I would ensure all toilets throughout the company were low-flow toilets. In addition, I feel all of our facilities from our factories to our retail stores should have some variation of a rainwater harvesting system.
Next, to combat climate change, I feel all of our buildings should run off of 100% renewable energy in the form of solar panels. This will not only have a positive impact on the company financially, but also ensure we are utilizing all of our energy as sustainably as possible. Also, I would be sure to collaborate with the team that is responsible for all of the merchandise transportation that takes place. Since transportation is such a large contributor to greenhouse gas emissions, it is imperative that Burberry will combat that by switching to shipping inventory domestically via trains and internationally via ships. This is much more sustainably versus shipping using trucks or flying merchandise from country to country.
Lastly, offsetting will be a huge contributor to the sustainable future of Burberry. I would like to heavily invest in projects that are responsible to planting trees, gardens, and green roofs. I feel strongly that more green will bring great things back to our planet, so the more our company can assist in that the better. Trees and other greenery can be attributed to increase in CO2 as well as lowering temperatures.
Overall, I would focus on these three areas to ensure that Burberry is on the right track to righting their wrongs. While doing this, since I am a marketing major, I believe it would be genius for Burberry to look at these investments of time in money as a marketing tactic as well as a way to give back what it has take from our environment. For instance, the brand can release an advertising campaign with how many trees hav been planted not he company’s behalf, or the progress of the gardens that have been planted, or even a social media post showing how much is shipped via a train versus a truck. By doing this, it will combat the negative connotation that is with the brand now, that stems from burning unsold merchandise. This will be a win-win situation for the company AND our environment.
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