Timberland: Going beyond the border of Sustainability & Responsibility

Timberland is an outdoor brand, one of the most well-known worldwide to say the least. One of the reason, apart from quality products, is their serious commitment for environmental and social causes. Right now, Timberland is looking for a Sustainability and Responsibility Manager, a moment for us to take a look into their S&R agenda.
So how exactly does Timberland improve their three main pillars outdoors, product and community? How do they go beyond the borders of regular engagement?

The long-term plan: Timberland’s 2020 agenda

Already years ao, the company changed their production to be more sustainable, making a statement towards treating the environment with respect. In 2016, when launching their responsibility website, Timberland also announced further steps in improving their strategy. The sports brand set ambitious goals until 2020 regarding their products and the environment:

• All of the used cotton for their apparal collections are supposed to come from US-american eco-friendly cultivation,
• Every procued shoe shall contain recycled, organic or renewable (ROR) materials
• All products shal be PVC and PFC free
• Timberland wants to reduce their energy consumption by 10% in total and obtain 50% by regenerative energy sources
• Plant 10 million trees

Social engagement: A focus on community work

Of course, social responsibility has kind of become courteous in worldwide industries, after scandals of brands capitalizing workers in third world countries. It’s obvious that claiming to aim for responsibility, Timberland of course helps raising awareness and supports save working environments by collaborating mostly with fair suppliers. What makes the difference though, is Timberland’s special focus on local communities – an individual approach on the social subject.

• My PlayGreen© is a support program which establishes outdoor spaces in urban areas, building community gardens and parks. In 5 big cities around Europe, they want to offer the residents a possibility to access nature and fresh air. Something that is rare in areas with populousness. After London in the last year, on the 19th of July 2017 the program started building in Mailand. Following after will be Berlin, Paris and Barcelona.
• Path of Service©: To support different community projects, Timberland’s employees engage in community services all over the world. Until now, they already participated 1.000.0000 hours in their communities – supported by their employer and the team of global stewards. By the way, the Path of Service celebrates its 25th birthday this year – in a special way: On 25 days, employees can take time off of work and take their time to volunteer to support their communities. They even connected them with possibile projects by setting up a Volunteer Fair.

Joining the team: Timberland is hiring a Sustainability & Responsibility Manager

In this position, the manager is responsible for integrating the S&R strategy throughout the company, delivering information to employees and customers. As a spokes person for Timberland’s values, you represent the sports brand on conferences and workshops over Europe. 
Work closely with the different departments, from HR, over Marketing, Production and Supply Management to achieve te 2020 goals. Manage the community and environmental projects, engage and inspire the employees in participating in Timberland’s Path of Service, different commuter programs, etc.
If you feel inspired to help Timberland achieve their 2020 agenda, apply for the job here.

Further sport jobs by Timberland can be found on their company page here.

A perfect supply chain or production in regards of nature is almost impossible to achieve, but Timberland’s vision aims on a very close solution. Their achievement sets high goals for the whole industry, a development we could already witness at adidas (Producs from Recycled Materials, their „Run for the Oceans“  and more), Patagonia and The North Face, too. With more brands following, this hopefully defines new standards for production and engagement worldwide.

 

If you want to find out more about Responsibility and Sustainability at Timberland, check their goals and progress at their website “Responbility at Timberland”.