The Higg Index (Not Higgs boson) is being developed by the Sustainable Apparel Coalition as a rating system to indicate the environmental impact of clothing products. The concept was introduced by Patagonia and now includes Walmart, Levi’s, Nike and 50 of the largest clothing companies in the world. It will give consumers the option to choose not only sustainability, but responsibility with their purchasing power.
Patagonia has been an environmental leader by example. In the early 90’s, founder and CEO Yvon Chouinard decided to examine their clothing line for both pollution and energy use. They began making fleece jackets from recycled plastic bottles and using organic cotton exclusively.
An aside: As I swam into the Delta during “Swimmin’ the River”, I learned “...the biggest source of pollution on the lower Mississippi River is run-off from chemicals used in the production of cotton. In fact, the Sustainable Cotton Project in California estimates about 1/3 of a pound of chemicals is used to make just one cotton t-shirt. To make matters worse, because cotton is not a food crop the chemicals used are some of the most hazardous insecticides, herbicides and fungicides available today.”
-The Fandango, Vol. 14 #3/4, 1996