An environmental advocacy organization has filed a complaint against Lululemon alleging that the athletic apparel giant has misled consumers about its impact on the planet.
In February, Stand.earth announced that it had submitted an anti-competition complaint to Competition Bureau Canada after Lululemon's reporting showed that the company had doubled its carbon pollution since beginning its "Be Planet" marketing campaign in 2020.
"Stand.earth's position in its complaint is that Lululemon's business is inconsistent with its public claims to be an environmentally positive company," the organization wrote in its announcement.
"They benefit from a carefully constructed image of environmental sustainability and wellness … but their exponential growth has been built on fossil fuels, from clothing literally made from fracked gas to polluting manufacturing that threatens the health of communities in the Global South," added Tzeporah Berman, Stand.earth's International Program Director.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, the fashion industry is one of the most polluting sectors worldwide. Earth.org notes that it generates roughly 1.3 billion tons of carbon dioxide every year, second to only the food and construction industries.
The continued rise of fast fashion has significantly contributed to the problem. More than 100 million tons of textiles are tossed annually, leaching harmful chemicals and microplastics into the Earth as they slowly break down. Some fast-fashion giants have also been linked to illegal deforestation, and the wider industry was put under the spotlight in a recent HBO documentary about teen clothing company Brandy Melville.
Lululemon hasn't presented itself as a fast-fashion brand, but Stand.earth recently gave it a C for its practices related to the use of renewable energy and a C- in regard to low-carbon materials.
Good on You also gave it a 2 out of 5 sustainability rating across the board for its impact on people, animals, and the planet, citing in part a lack of evidence regarding livable wages and the protection of biodiversity.
In its complaint, Stand.earth acknowledged that Lululemon is taking steps to reduce its negative environmental impact, something that a company spokesperson affirmed in an email to Fashion Dive after the filing, as reported by Retail Dive.
However, the organization is calling for Lululemon to remove the "Be Planet" campaign from its website because of its "false and misleading representations" that go "too far by creating the general impression that the company's actions and products are positively contributing to the environment and a healthier planet."
"... This definitely seems to fit my own oft-cited definition of greenwash as 'communication that misleads people into adopting overly positive beliefs about an organization's environmental performance, practices, or products,'" Wren Montgomery, associate professor of management and sustainability at Western University, said in a Stand.earth press release.
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