CRAiLAR joins the Sustainable Apparel Coalition

22 May, 2013

We have gotten to know the team at the Sustainable Apparel Coalition over the past several months and are excited to announce today that we have joined the organization, which has quickly established its leadership position in the industry since its launch in 2011 with founding members including Nike, Gap Inc., H&M, Levi Strauss & Co., and Patagonia. The Coalition, which represents more than one-third of the global apparel and footwear industries, was formed to address current social and environmental challenges. Importantly, the Coalition "seeks to lead a shared vision of industry supply chain sustainability through the creation and use of the Higg Index."  The Higg Index will provide a shared vision, language and measurement tool for supply chain sustainability across the apparel industry.

The Coalition aims to positively impacting the apparel industry in the areas of:

1. Water Use & Quality
2. Energy & Emissions
3. Waste
4. Chemicals & Toxicity
5. Social and Labor

Not only do we plan to measure CRAiLAR's practices with this tool, but we are excited about the impact CRAiLAR will have on Coalition members with whom we work and are using the Index. A list of current members is available here.

LAUNCH 2020

30 April, 2013

 

CRAiLAR Chief Marketing Officer Jay Nalbach recently participated in the LAUNCH 2020 Summit held at Nike Headquarters in Beaverton, Oregon. Founded by NASA, Nike, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), and the U.S. Department of State, LAUNCH is a global initiative that aims "to identify and support the innovative work poised to contribute to a sustainable future and accelerate solutions to meet urgent challenges facing our society." Last week, Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government announced Launch was one of the “Top 25 Innovations in Government."

The LAUNCH 2013 Challenge Statement was introduced at the two-day event -- an open call for innovation to transform the system of producing fabrics. The approximately 150 attendees, with backgrounds in apparel, design, science, raw materials, energy, education and government collaborated on solutions that "catalyze action around one of the world’s biggest challenges – the sustainability of materials and how they are made."

[Overall] LAUNCH’s mission is to maximize human potential by transforming our existing human systems into new ones that are more sustainable, accessible, and empowering. The quest to maximize human potential will require the collaboration and commitments of government, corporations, investment, sustainability and global development organizations to accelerate innovation and convert ideas into action around the world.  We call this “collective genius” which we harness “for a better world.

A video overview of Launch 2020 event is available here, along with summaries at Launch.org and Nikeinc.com. We look forward to participating in further developments with LAUNCH as they progress.

CEO KEN BARKER TO FORTUNE BRAINSTORM GREEN

26 April, 2013

Ken Barker, CEO of CRAiLAR Technolgies, is one of an estimated 400-invited guests of this year’s FORTUNE Brainstorm GREEN conference, April 29 – May 1 in Laguna Niguel, Calif. One of five featured FORTUNE magazine events per year, the conference website defines Brainstorm GREEN:

In 2013, Fortune will again gather “the smartest people we know” in sustainability to debate and work collaboratively on some of the globe’s most pressing problems, with an emphasis on “sustainable solutions.” We’ll formulate innovative approaches to the most important issues surrounding corporate sustainability, energy, smart cities, and investing in the future economy. As always, our focus will be on the role that business can play, profitably, in achieving these solutions.

Fortune Brainstorm GREEN: Sustainable Solutions brings together an extraordinary community of the smartest CEOs and senior executives, investors, policy makers, environmentalists and thought leaders. 2013 participants include...

Robert McDonald, Chairman of the Board, President and CEO, The Procter & Gamble Company; Dan Akerson, Chairman and CEO, General Motors; Samir Kaul, General Partner, Khosla Ventures; Hannah Jones, Vice President, Sustainable Business and Innovation, Nike; Steve Howard, Chief Sustainability Officer, IKEA Group; Jim Collins, President, DuPont ;  Aron Cramer, President and CEO, Business for Social Responsibility (BSR); Harrison Ford, Vice Chair, Conservation International, and "many other leaders and visionaries."

To see a full list of speakers, see here. We look forward to seeing CRAiLAR represented in this forum, to further defining the solutions to global sustainability, and to advancing opportunities for The Friendliest Fiber on the Planet.

Earth Day 365

22 April, 2013

On April 22nd, 1970, 20 million people rallied to protest the aftermath of the Industrial Revolution in a call for environmental reform. At that time, corporations paid little attention to the effects their practices had on the environment. Today, 43 years later, this resounding global movement is impossible to ignore.  Sustainability has become an everyday word and not something mentioned just once a year.  Consumers are seeking out greener products and companies across the globe are making huge strides to ensure their daily operations do not negatively effect the environment.  

Here at CRAiLAR we are inspired by consumers who are looking for a friendlier fiber alternative to live their everyday lives in, and proud to be working with companies who are invested in the future of the planet, and understand why using our fiber is a positive choice.  

·      CRAiLAR Flax Fiber requires 99% less water than cotton (only 17 liters) to produce the same amount of finished fiber.   

·      CRAiLAR Flax Fiber requires fewer pesticides and herbicides.

·      In an 80-20 cotton-CRAiLAR blended t-shirt, dye uptake increased 8-12 percent

·       The USDA has designated CRAiLAR Flax Fiber 100% BioPreferred®.  

·      The patented enzymatic process used to create CRAiLAR fiber unlocks the potential of flax as a high-performing, eco-friendly natural fiber. 

CRAiLAR has partnered with some of the world’s biggest brands Target, Hanes, Levis, Cone Denim, and Georgia Pacific with the goal of making all-natural, sustainably produced clothing and textile goods accessible to all. 

When you wear CRAiLAR Flax Fiber you are not just enjoying a high-quality garment. You are demonstrating that a return to nature is the best path to a sustainable future and that environmental stewardship is no longer an option for textile and apparel companies. Earth Day is everyday with CRAiLAR Flax Fiber. 

TSX Venture 50 Reception

17 April, 2013

CRAiLAR Technologies CEO Ken Barker recently attended the TSX Venture 50 Spotlight Event at Simon Fraser University in Vancouver, BC. There, he had a chance to meet fellow members of the 2013 Venture 50, analysts and members of the Vancouver investment community, and to accept the company's Venture 50 award from John McCoach, President, TSX Venture Exchange, below. You can revisit an earlier post to learn more about the Venture 50.

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