Expect to see more environmental, sustainable products from Nike and hopefully the industry. The company just released its Environmental Apparel Design Tool to foster collaboration between companies, and maximize the use of sustainable materials and processes.
The Environmental Design Tool is an open source tool based on Nike’s Considered Design Index. This is seven years in the making and the company has made a $6 million investment in the software-based system to help designers make real time choices that decrease environmental impact in their process.An early product of the initiative is the new line of football jerseys and kits introduced for the South Africa 2010 World Cup competition. The design tool was used to create a lightweight, environmentally-friendly and technologically-advanced kit made from 100% recycled polyester. Nike reports the material choice diverted 13 million plastic bottles from the landfill, and doesn’t mention that an equal quantity of plastic wasn’t used to produce the uniforms. The Environmental Apparel Design Tool was used to calculate and source the materials, and translate the impact of the material demands in real time so designers can make informed choices throughout the process.
In addition to apparel, Nike plans to release a Footwear Design Tool, Material Assessment Tool and Water Assessment Tool in the next year. This will spread Nike’s initiative across more of its product line.
The Environmental Apparel Design Tool is located on the NikeBiz website. Nike also has an informational webisode at NikeResponsibility and regularly holds webinars on the Environmental Design Tool hosted on its NikeBiz site.