Outdoor Retailer - June 2021 - 15

IDEAS / The Weekly Chat
Sign of
Approval
Bluesign CEO Jill Dumain
talks about what it takes to
achieve true sustainability.
BASED IN SWITZERLAND, BLUESIGN
Technologies is the ultimate agreed-upon arbiter
of sustainability across the supply chain.
The company offers solutions to brands in
all industries and works as an independent,
trusted verifier to assure brands live up to
sustainability claims in every aspect of production.
The coveted Bluesign certification
means a brand has kept to strict principles
and practices for resource productivity, water
emissions, air emissions, occupational health
and safety, and consumer safety as well as
meeting the organization's list of general criteria
to be accepted. It's a rigorous process to
be Bluesign-certified, but it ensures a brand
is truly walking the walk when it comes to
sustainability. After a long run as Patagonia's
director of global environmental strategy, Jill
Dumain took the reins as CEO of Bluesign
Technologies in 2017. During her tenure, the
organization has become even more proactive
when it comes to helping brands find sustainability
solutions and helping to analyze
supply chains to eliminate harmful substances
before production even begins through
Bluesign's Input Stream Management
Process. Below are her thoughts on achieving
true sustainability culled from interviews
with Conscious Fashion Campaign Founder
Kerry Bannigan and Sourcing Journal
President Edward Hertzman.
Never underestimate the power of an
individual who is really motivated to do
something.
Jill Dumain
If we are going to be an example, or any
company's going to be an example, it has to
make business sense. People say to Bluesign,
" Why aren't you an NGO? I thought you were
a nonprofit. " But, actually, we believe in profitability
because if we can't make it work, we're
not going to hit the whole industry. It has to
work from an economic standpoint.
We have system partners who very much
trust us as an expert voice, and the combined
experience in Bluesign, with all of our
colleagues added up in the industry, is hundreds
and hundreds of years.
Most of my career has been in the sustainable
part of this business, and often it can
feel like a weight or a responsibility-but once
you get into those kind of relationships, it's so
motivating and empowering and you remember
why we all got into this industry at the
beginning. It's fun; it's creative; and it doesn't
have to be this weight of responsibility.
Nobody wants to be an environmental or
sustainability martyr. There's a place in time
for it all. We need to move quickly-the
Earth is crying out for that-but, on the
other hand, we have to move at a cadence
that can be supportive. There's nothing
more disempowering or discouraging
than to have to go back on something you
worked so hard to do because it didn't work
for whatever reason.
So often sustainability and responsibility
can feel like this weight, this burden,
instead of this empowerment.
What is sustainability? What is the definition?
As they say, if you ask 10 people you'll
get 10 different answers. If there was a very
clear, defined, agreed upon definition, maybe
it would be easier. But, on the other hand,
if the idea of sustainability is broad enough
to allow people to enter in a way that they
feel they can, that doesn't bother me.
The prodding to go a little bit deeper to
understand a bit more-it's all part of the
journey, I think, of educating the industry,
educating individuals. O.R.
June 2021/ OUTDOOR RETAILER 15
Courtesy Bluesign
http:// https://www.bluesign.com/en http:// https://www.bluesign.com/en

Outdoor Retailer - June 2021

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