Oregon makes new strides with smaller footprints

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There’s no doubt Oregon is a leader in green energy. We are one of the top 10 states to use both solar and wind power. We are the first state to begin using wave energy. And according to a recent Pew Center study, Oregon created the most green jobs per capita in the country in 2007. If we are to remain leaders in clean energy, we must constantly evaluate and evolve our business processes and invent new ways to reduce our carbon footprint. In committing to a clean, low-carbon economy, we end up creating some of the most innovative products and ideas in the market.

Here’s an example from within Nike: In 1995, we started to take a stronger look at our carbon footprint. At that time, a significant portion of our footprint was attributed to Nike Air, a marquee technology, which was composed of either sulfur hexafluoride (SF6) or perfluoropropane (PFP), two greenhouse gases. In 1997, Nike started to convert some of our shoe models over to nitrogen, a smaller-particle gas. However, in order to change the model, Nike had to modify the materials that encapsulated the gas. This was a massive undertaking that included 60 experts from more than 50 external organizations to work on various aspects of the project.

The work on eliminating PFP led to the breakthrough that allowed Nike to produce the first full-length Air-Sole cushioning unit — the Air Max 360. The advances that made the 360 possible were the direct result of 14 years of trials and testing, driven by the need to eliminate the use of greenhouse gases (GHG). By 2005, Nike had decreased its GHG emissions from 6.6 million metric tonnes (for SF6 alone) to a total of 1.36 million metric tonnes, an 80 percent decrease.

Constraint leads to innovation and innovation needs to continually occur for our businesses to grow in today’s economy. This means measuring and minimizing not only our operation’s footprint, but also the impact of our supply chain.

As we examine our energy footprint in more detail, we have a better understanding of where to focus our efforts. For example, in the absence of data, we might be tempted to focus immediately on transportation from factories in Asia to retail. But in looking at our footprint more completely, we realized that our largest energy impact is embedded in materials to produce our products. This allows Nike to focus our efforts where they will have the most impact: sourcing materials with a lower energy footprint. In 2008, Nike launched a pilot footwear energy-efficiency program with five contract manufactures. As a result, the contract factories absolute CO2 footprint decreased by 6 percent despite a 9 percent increase in production.

Our work with climate change initiatives in reducing their impact and improving business has led to Nike’s latest undertaking — the Business for Innovative Climate and Energy Policy (BICEP). This coalition of like-minded companies, including founding members Nike, Starbucks, Timberland, and Levi Strauss & Co., was created to advocate for stronger U.S. climate and energy change legislation. The aim is to create a level playing field through a cost on carbon. We believe that policy change will unlock the innovation — as it did with the Air Max 360 — that is essential to creating technology and infrastructure solutions.

If we are to remain leaders in the green economy, then we have to be relentless in our pursuit of clean energy. We have to constantly evaluate all aspects of our energy footprint. Find opportunities to collaborate and partner with other companies and organizations. And as one of Nike’s long-held business maxims so aptly declares, never stop evolving, especially when it involves doing the right thing.

Sarah Severn is director of stakeholder mobilization for Nike Inc.