In its effort to become a carbon-neutral company by 2020, Sole Technology, parent of Etnies, eS, Emerica, ThirtyTwo and Altamont, released the results of its first eco-audit. It found that in 2007, the company generated 40,000 tons of carbon dioxide, and recycled 57 percent of its internal trash, well above the 30 percent average in the USA. Sole Technology would like to recycle 70 percent of its waste by 2010.
The audit covered more than seven years and looked at the company’s carbon emissions, waste and consumption, and water usage. It found that 95 percent of Sole Technology’s water usage was for apparel development; water usage is a significant concern of clothing makers. The company has already installed toilets and urinals that save hundreds of thousands of gallons of water each year.
Etnies has already installed 616 solar panels, converted to water-based cement manufacturing, started in-house recycling programs and created a sustainable collection of footwear and apparel, the Etnies SEED Project.
