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Timberland Earthkeepers: These Boots Were Made For Marketing Green

January 17, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Timberland Earthkeepers logoIf you were to watch a music video featuring Nancy Sinatra’s 1966 song “These Boots Were Made For Walking” you would likely see her wearing white, knee-high patent leather boots. That’s not very earth friendly by today’s standards considering the natural resources needed to raise cattle and then tan their hides. In contrast, today’s hip-hop videos may feature someone wearing Timberland’s brand of leather construction boots to accessorize their look. Marketing has always been about image and successful brands know that consumers buy into the image before they buy into their products.

Timberland has another reason to boast about their marketing prowess via their Earthkeepers boots debuted in 2007. The New Hampshire-based Timberland has not only introduced a wholesome and Jubblingly thoughtful shoe but also a whole new way of marketing it. A quick online search of the Earthkeepers boots reveals, not one, but THREE entire sites dedicated to explaining the benefits of less global impact through a simple choice in shoes. Jubbling is exactly that – making an impact through personal choices. Timberland says it this way:

“Every day, we examine decisions and actions both large and small to ensure we are doing our part for the planet. We have a passionate belief in the potential that one voice, one action can make a difference.”

http://www.earthkeeper.com/Gear/Earthkeepers-2-dot-0

http://earthkeepers.timberland.com/index_ek_us.html

http://www.timberland.com/corp/index.jsp?page=csr_your_footprint

Earthkeeper Boots from TimberlandTheir sites are not the only innovation. They have incorporated a labeling system that looks and reads like a food nutrition label. Customers can read about the percentage of organic material content or the quality of the tannery used in leather production.

Here are some label highlights from the box of Mens’ Earthkeeper brown boots I got from Macy’s (thanks Nan):

  1. 100% Recycled material in shoebox

  2. 74.4% PVC-free
  3. 3.4% Eco-conscious materials
  4. 6.6% Renewable energy used in production
  5. 600,000 trees planted in 2006

Last summer Timberland announced their new Earthkeepers 2.0 boot with a clever twist – they can be fully dismantled and recycled into new shoes when your ride on the shoe leather express is done. Timberland provides links for purchase through their Earthkeeper 2.0 website.

It’s refreshing to see so much thought go into so many aspects of a simple thing like shoes.

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Related Articles:

  • April 9, 2010 – Timberland’s Emissions Drop 36 Percent, Organic Cotton Use Jumps
    • Filed Under: Clothing, Featured Jubbling, Reuse Tagged With: , , , ,

    Hello Brita Filter and Preserve Products. Goodbye Arrowhead, Crystal Springs, Dasani, Evian, Fiji, …

    December 8, 2009 By Leave a Comment

    Mr. McGuire: I want to say one word to you. Just one word.
    Benjamin: Yes, sir.
    Mr. McGuire: Are you listening?
    Benjamin: Yes, I am.
    Mr. McGuire: Plastics.
    Benjamin: Just how do you mean that, sir?

    In case you didn’t know, Benjamin is Dustin Hoffman’s character in the movie The Graduate from 1967. Today Benjamin wouldn’t be so confused about the role of plastics in our lives and nowhere is it more prevalent than in the form of the plastic water bottle.

    Brita Water Filter OptionsI’d like to think that Benjamin was a conscientious person and that maybe he would have landed a job with the Brita Water Filtration Systems Company. By now you’ve probably seen their clear plastic pitchers hanging out in your friend’s fridge, or maybe you own one like me. Brita’s plastic filters reduce your tap water’s chlorine taste and remove mercury via the carbon bits stuffed inside. But what do you do with the filter after it has served its purpose and needs replacing? To solve this question, Brita partnered with Boston-based Preserve, a 13-year-old company that makes house wares from recycled plastics. You may be wondering how this translates into Jubbling?

    Jubbling starts when the consumer uses their tap water instead of bottled water. This reduces plastic bottle waste in landfills. It also lessens overall impact stemming from the transportation and warehousing of bottled water, including the fuel consumption and emissions produced when bringing it to the marketplace.

    Preserve Products Gimme-5 ProgramThe Double-Jubbling, if you will, is fulfilled when the pitcher filters are further recycled into other items like toothbrushes and cutting boards via Preserve’s recycling process.. Preserve is currently promoting their Gimme 5 Program, which offers consumers drop-off locations, like Whole Foods Markets, as well as mailing instructions for used filters. The number five refers to the No. 5 polypropylene plastic (the number is found inside the small triangle on the bottom or side of some plastic containers) used in the Brita filter’s design. Apparently, not many municipalities accept this type in their recycling programs so this program keeps those items from filling up landfills.

    What is incredible here is that we’re seeing three life-cycles of useful products. First is the pitcher filter, second is the new Preserve product created from recycled filters and the third use comes from recycling the second product after its lifespan is done. What do you call already good Jubbling that has been tweaked for increased benefit? Is it a Double-Jubbling? Maybe it’s a Redundant Jubbling, or Jubbling To The Third Degree? I’m not sure but this idea holds huge potential for reducing consumer impact and even calming the future concerns of present-day Benjamins all around the world.

    Benjamin: I’m just…
    Mr. Braddock: Worried?
    Benjamin: Well…
    Mr. Braddock: About what?
    Benjamin: I guess about my future.
    Mr. Braddock: What about it?
    Benjamin: I don’t know… I want it to be…
    Mr. Braddock: To be what?
    Benjamin: [looks at his father] … Different.


    Filed Under: Featured Jubbling, Food and Drink, Recycle Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

    U2 Tour = 360, Carbon Footprint = Zero?

    November 30, 2009 By Leave a Comment

    Ireland’s fab four, U2, is redefining the rock concert in more ways than one with their newest world tour called the 360° Tour, produced by Live Nation. U2’s website touts that they’re committed to a net zero emissions goal for the global tour with suggestions that fans carpool to their concert dates and refill aluminum water bottles instead of buying plastic bottles at the venue. A marketing firm called Music Matters is acting as U2’s official “Environmental Advisor.” “The crew has embraced a lot of our initiatives and has even been developing ideas of their own they would like to implement,” said Lucy August-Perna, Music Matters touring Greening Manager. Their initiatives include backstage and bus recycling, battery and electronics recycling, refillable water stations, composting in catering, analyzing truck and bus operations to reduce their environmental footprint.

    U2 inspires us at Jubbling, as they do so many others. They are, by far, my favorite band dating back to the early 80s when I first heard their entire Boy album on a Philly radio station. They’re still socially and politically conscious, musically innovative and they continue to strive for excellence and relevance as younger hearts and minds replace their original fan base. So why do I have the long face? Does Adam Clayton even care?

    Maybe George Costanza’s remarks from a 1990 Seinfeld episode can best sum it up – “Jerry, just remember, it’s not a lie if you believe it.” Music Matters’ emissions target for this tour can be far reaching but consider the amount of manpower and machinery it takes to power a world tour of this magnitude. In fact, check out this video clip of U2’s main stage being erected and then tell me that battery recycling is really the answer to reducing impact:

    YouTube Preview Image

    Don’t get me wrong; I love the band and I have paid my money to see their shows over the years but there is some hypocrisy to hyping a tour with net zero emissions and then flying away on private jets. See my carbon offset story for more details.

    We have to admit to ourselves that entertainment in the form of arena concerts uses lots of natural and man-made resources to keep shows exciting, especially in a culture where bigger is better. This beginning attempt by U2 and Music Matters may be enough to make other big acts wake up and take notice, especially if it saves money in the long run. Simply paying off a show’s impact with carbon credits is not the answer! The tricky thing is keeping a live show interesting enough for audience members while at the same time cutting the environmental impact. That’s a Jubbling puzzle we all face when we look to lessen impact in our own lives. Personally, I already have tickets to their Seattle show in June 2010 and I plan on taking public transportation and wearing an extra pair of adult undergarments so I don’t have to miss a beat.

    Filed Under: Celebrity, Entertainment, Featured Jubbling, Music, Reduce Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,

    Carbon Offsets = Environmental Penance?

    November 15, 2009 By 2 Comments

    “Take only pictures, leave only footprints.”

    That suggestion is the motto of the Sierra Club and has been their hallmark philosophy on how to reduce man’s impact on nature, mainly parklands, for numerous decades. It is simple, inexpensive and conducive to extending the lifespan of parks for future generations…and it’s Jubbling at the core.

    That idea was contemporized and tweaked to produce the carbon footprint philosophy. As defined by Merriam-Webster.com, a carbon footprint is “the negative impact that something (as a person or business) has on the environment; specifically: the amount of carbon emitted by something during a given period.” That term dates back to 1999.

    The Carbon Offset Confessional

    Environmental Penance Kiosk

    Now with ten years of consumer guilt and the perceived corpulent western lifestyle under our belt we arrive at carbon offset credits. Carbon offset’s are defined as “… credits for an amount of carbon dioxide-equivalent (COse) reduced, avoided or absorbed. Many types of credits are available, produced by several schemes or mechanisms and with a series of sometimes overlapping standards.”

    We’re all about reducing, reusing and recycling but carbon offset credits sound more like an environmental penance for all of your past earth-bashing sins. Jubbling is about making smarter personal choices and changes that work for you. It’s not about paying a broad ransom, of sorts, to some faceless entity and then going about your business as usual. It’s also not about guilt for living your daily life.

    Can you really take carbon credits seriously when the company Bombardier Learjet has a carbon offset program? Should you be riddled with guilt if you owned a 1970s muscle car from Detroit? We argue that the car is less of a black eye to Mother Nature versus a private jet.

    Carbon credits are being sold on an idea that says we can essentially pay off our poor environmental habits or abuses while still continuing along without sacrifice or concern. This hypocrisy is making nations and individuals wealthy while the real problems are ignored.

    Filed Under: Featured Jubbling, Reduce, Travel Tagged With: , ,

    Bike Dispenser: It’s European

    November 3, 2009 By Leave a Comment

    Parking a car in a big city is anything but convenient. Public transportation can be over-crowded and the odors inside the subway typically do not mix well with breakfast, lunch or dinner. That’s where some fresh air and Bikedispenser come in.

    This Dutch company created a contraption that literally dispenses a bicycle to a paying commuter right on the street. It’s open for business 24/7/365 and no actual human beings are involved in the transaction. The rental device can be customized for a number of settings including railway stations and park-and-ride lots. It can hold 30, 50 or 100 bikes depending upon need. Who would have thought that the country that brought us wooden shoes could make Jubbling so cool?

    Although Jubbling staff might’ve injured themselves trying to figure out how the bikes get to the little doorway when someone places an order, the bigger unanswered brainteaser is how the idea would work here in the U.S. Only a few European countries have been using Bike Dispenser since 2007 so little is known about its long-term success or failure.

    A similar rental idea using automobiles, called Zipcar, has been successfully operating in North America and some European cities. However, true Jubbling would lend itself to more pedal power and less throttle power. Even though America’s love affair with the car may be hard to break we can see this starting in already biker friendly cities like Seattle, Denver, Portland and Washington D.C. The only other enhancement would be to make them graffiti-proof. We suggest Brooklyn, NY, for a test city.

    Filed Under: Commuting, Reduce, Travel, World Jubbling Tagged With: , , , , ,

    You should get a stroke for using Dixon Golf balls.

    September 8, 2009 By Leave a Comment

    Dixon Golf BallsAre your balls in the rough? Are you not Jubbling when you swing your stick? It is easy to notice that the game of golf is not exactly earth friendly, why with all those gas-powered golf carts and showering sprinkler heads. Well, let’s clarify a bit, shall we?

    One company, Dixon Golf, has now made losing golf balls in the rough, or even finding the lost balls of others to be. Dixon Golf offers the Earth Ball, a moderately priced ball that can be recycled after use. Heck, they’ll even give you a $1 towards new Dixon balls when you recycle their own and $.50 when you recycle another brand. That’s Jubbling folks! Here’s what they offer (directly from their website):

    • High-performance

    • Made from renewable materials
    • 100% recyclable with a recycling program to back it up
    • Does not contain heavy metal pollutants like cobalt, tungsten, or lead
    • 100% recycled packaging

    Read their reviews. Many said the Dixon Earth Ball is a better play than more expensive brands. That’s important if you’re going to lay down cash for a Jubbling product versus a tried and true performer but it’s exactly the kind of thinking that will change the game.

    Dixon also touts themselves as responsible corporate neighbors. They report that communications are mostly emailed instead of paper mailings and that 25 percent of their employees use carpooling or public transportation in order to lessen overall emissions.  And check this out – 10% of all their profits are used for philanthropic advances. Think of that as multi-level Jubbling!

    Of course, some things will never change: I’ll continue to shank more balls than I hit for par but at least now, when I lose a ball, I can smile with pride at my Jubbling.

    Dixon Golf – Toll free 866-468-2259 http://www.dixongolf.com

    Filed Under: Featured Jubbling, Reuse, Sports Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , ,