Stand.earth, a Canada-based non-profit focusing on transformational change, has slapped athleisure giant lululemon with a greenwashing complaint. In a statement, Stand.earth notes that lululemon’s slogan, “Be Planet” misleads the public with the company’s actual environmental impacts. Keep reading to learn more.
Based out of British Colombia, Stand.earth is a group of “strategists, researchers, communicators, policy and issue experts” who are united with donors and activists in bringing about transformational change.
We reported last week on the thousands of yoga instructors who had signed a petition asking lululemon to convert its supply chain into renewable energy, rather than relying on fossil fuels – Stand.earth and Actions Speak Louder were behind that petition. A part of that story, as is the case with the greenwashing complaint, is that the “Be Planet” part of lululemon’s corporate slogan “Be human. Be well. Be planet,” is not in alignment with the company’s own practices.
Tzeoprah Berman, Stand.earth’s international program director:
Lululemon is one of Canada‘s most influential companies and one of the world’s biggest fashion brands through its ‘Be Planet’ campaign. Although Lululemon has taken some actions and set some targets to reduce the harmful impact of its business operations and products, Stand.earth’s position in its complaint is that Lululemon’s business is inconsistent with its public claims to be an environmentally responsive company.
In conclusion, Berman noted, lululemon’s three-pillar corporate mantra is a lot more akin to “Be Profit.”
Stand.earth has requested Canada’s Competition Bureau to fully investigate lululemon and its greenwashing practices, arguing that the company misleads its customers regarding its environmental impacts. Specifically, Stand.earth notes that lululemon’s own impact report from 2022 reveals double the amount of greenhouse gas emissions since the 2022 report was published.
Lululemon’s impact report stated that the company’s “products and actions help lead the industry toward a climate-stable future where nature and people thrive,” a hilarious thing to say, given that the company’s total emissions rose to early 1.7 million tonnes, up approximately 830,000 tonnes in 2020. In the impact report, it shows that “Scope 3” activities make up 99.7% of its total carbon footprint.
For its part, lululemon in a statement said:
We recognize that the majority of impact comes from emissions within the broader supply chain. In 2022, we measured and reported a limited intensity reduction in our Scope 3 greenhouse emissions and are working to accelerate this progress.
The Canada Competition Bureau has yet to announce whether or not they will investigate lululemon for its alleged greenwashing (via Global News).
More on lululemon:
- Thousands of yoga instructors pressure Lululemon to clean up its act, quit coal
- New year, same problems: lululemon faces backlash with latest advertisement
- Lululemon hires Gap’s Jonathan Cheung as new global creative director
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