As brands and retailers have come under greater scrutiny regarding their impact on the environment, many have set measurable goals such as cutting water and energy use by 2025 – a date that is rapidly approaching.
As companies work to meet growing consumer demand for sustainable products, new research from the U.S. Cotton Trust Protocol revealed that 65% of brands and retailers agree that data is important to their future sustainability goals. Increasingly, brands and retailers must provide sustainability metrics to stakeholders, but without verification behind their data, they can leave themselves open to accusations of greenwashing.
This “reporting gap” threatens to undermine the progress they’ve made to source materials sustainably. Brands and retailers need to do more than just promise sustainability. The U.S. Cotton Trust Protocol was designed to help address this need.
U.S. Cotton Trust Protocol Provides Needed Metrics
Through quantifiable and verifiable goals and measurement, the Trust Protocol will deliver the sustainability credentials brands and retailers need to validate their own sustainability benchmarks.
“The Trust Protocol is here to meet the sustainability challenges of 21st century brands and retailers,” said Ken Burton, Manager of Program Implementation at the U.S. Cotton Trust Protocol. “We know they need sustainability metrics that are measured through sophisticated data collection and verified by an independent third-party.”
The process starts with collecting the data brands and retailers increasingly need. Participating growers share their sustainability practices through an extensive questionnaire. Growers will also gain access to the Fieldprint calculator, provided by Field to Market: The Alliance for Sustainable Agriculture, to receive in-depth sustainability analytics about their fields. The aggregate data collected is provided to brands and retailers as proof behind their sustainability metrics.
“U.S. cotton growers are continually making sustainability improvements to their operations. The Trust Protocol is here to demonstrate that through data,” Burton said. “With this aggregate data, brands and retailers sourcing U.S. cotton can confidently tell the sustainability story of their supply chain without fear of hearing the term ‘greenwashing’ thrown at their ambitious environmental commitments.”
Brands and retailers who become members of the Trust Protocol will have access to aggregate year-over-year data on water use, greenhouse gas emissions, energy use, soil carbon and land-use efficiency.
“At Levi Strauss & Co., the quality and sustainability of the cotton we use are critical to our business and important to our customers. We are deeply committed to sourcing sustainable cotton and reducing water usage, carbon emissions, and chemical usage,” said Liza Schillo, Senior Manager, Global Sustainability Integration at Levi Strauss & Co., and a board member of the U.S. Cotton Trust Protocol. “We are therefore in strong support of the introduction of standards – including the U.S. Cotton Trust Protocol – that champion sustainably grown cotton and drive wider adoption over the long-term of sustainable cultivation practices.”
The U.S. Cotton Trust Protocol has gained more than 400 brand, retailer, mill and manufacturer members since it opened enrollment six months ago. This includes Levi Strauss & Co. and its legacy brands, Gap Inc. and its collection of purpose-led lifestyle brands as well as global apparel manufacturer Gildan. The Trust Protocol has also welcomed UK retailers Tesco, Byford and Next Plc. Other Trust Protocol member announcements include the first 10 U.S. mills to join and the first members in Latin America. These members have joined to better understand the sustainability progress of U.S. cotton and communicate that progress to customers.
Data Helps All Growers Be More Sustainable
This data will help measure the sustainability progress of the U.S. cotton industry. Over the past 35 years, U.S. cotton has seen significant reductions in land, water and energy usage, soil loss, and greenhouse gas emissions. Focusing on continuous improvement and innovation, the Trust Protocol has set ambitious goals of further reductions in these key metrics by 2025. The continued improvement in the sustainability of U.S. cotton will make it easier for brands and retailers to find the quantities of responsibly grown cotton they need.
The Proof is in Independent Verification
The data collected by the Trust Protocol is not only measured but also verified by Control Union Certifications (CUC), a third-party source. This verification will give additional assurances to brands and retailers that the metrics they receive are accurate. CUC has certified more than 150 programs worldwide, including working as a key partner in the early development and piloting phases of Field to Market’s Impact Claim Verification Protocol.
The Trust Protocol is on the Textile Exchange’s list of 36 preferred fibers and materials that more than 170 participating brands and retailers can select from as part of Textile Exchange’s Material Change Index program and is a member of the Sustainable Apparel Coalition. The Trust Protocol is also working to align with existing standards in the cotton industry and is part of the Forum for the Future Cotton 2040 and the CottonUp guide. The Trust Protocol aims to build on U.S. cotton’s 35-year history of sustainability improvements, while providing brands and retailers the critical assurances, backed up by quantifiable and verified measurements to show that they are sourcing responsibly grown cotton.