The Timberland Company
Company: The Timberland Company, Stratham, NH
Entry Submitted By: Cone
Company Description: Timberland is a global leader in the design, engineering and marketing of premium-quality footwear, apparel and accessories for consumers who value the outdoors and their time in it. Timberland’s dedication to making quality products is matched by its commitment to forging powerful partnerships among employees, consumers and service partners to transform the communities where they live and work.
Nomination Category: Company / Organization Categories
Nomination Sub Category: Corporate Environmental Responsibility Program of the Year - More Than 2,500 Employees
Nomination Title: Don’t Tell Us It Can’t Be Done
1. Tell the story about what this nominated company achieved since January 1 2009 (up to 500 words). Focus on specific accomplishments, and relate these accomplishments to past performance or industry norms. Be sure to mention obstacles overcome, innovations or discoveries made, and outcomes:
Timberland is committed to helping create climate change solutions because, as
an outdoor brand, global warming is as much a threat to its winter business as
higher energy costs and increased competition. To encourage other companies to
make similar commitments, in fall 2009, Timberland launched the Don’t Tell Us
It Can’t Be Done campaign, a global movement encouraging consumers to challenge
government leaders attending the COP15 conference in Copenhagen to set
international standards for reducing emissions.
As part of the campaign, individuals could make their voices heard by signing
an online petition at www.donttellusitcantbedone.com,
www.facebook.com/timberland or www.earthkeeper.com. The petition asked world
leaders to come to an agreement on fair and binding climate legislation, and
then step aside to let businesses innovate to find solutions to achieve those
limits.
In addition to signing the petition, individuals could learn about climate
change and stay up-to-date on COP15 happenings with Timberland’s on-the-ground
reporting team, business and environment reporter Olivia Zaleski and
documentary filmmaker Gabriel London. The team provided daily reports and
exclusive interviews from COP15 on Timberland’s Earthkeeper.com, as well as on
the company’s YouTube channel, resulting in increased traffic to both sites
during the campaign. Timberland also used traditional advertising, its
Earthkeepers blog and social networks like Twitter and Facebook to get the word
out about the campaign and the urgent importance of addressing climate change.
In addition to raising brand and issue awareness, the campaign drew online
petition signers from 83 countries, voicing their concern over climate change,
and urging government leaders to take action.
While the COP15 outcome was disappointing, Timberland’s Don’t Tell Us campaign
was successful enough to live on. The company continues to promote the premise
that a model of government and civic engagement can lead to climate action by
replicating the model around other relevant events, including Earth Day 2010
and COP16 in Mexico.
Finally, the campaign was built on Timberland’s long-standing commitment to
promoting environmental stewardship and minimizing its own business impact. In
the past year, the company made significant progress against its environmental
and energy goals:
• At year end 2009, Timberland achieved a 36 percent emissions reduction
over its 2006 baseline for emissions coming from company owned and operated
facilities and employee air travel. This industry-leading reduction was
achieved through reduced air travel, increased energy efficiency at
Timberland’s retail locations and renewable energy procurement at its
distribution facilities. The company is tracking well against its 2010 target
for reducing its emissions by 50 percent.
• At the close of 2009, Timberland’s renewable energy use had jumped to
11.45 percent (compared with 6.67 percent at year end 2008), primarily as a
result of renewable energy procurement at the company’s Danville, Kentucky
distribution center.
As an outdoor company that makes gear for getting out and enjoying the world,
Timberland believes it has a responsibility to protect the environment. The
company accepts the challenge to act on climate change and hopes that with
consumers demanding leadership on climate change, governments and others
businesses will accept it, too.
2. List hyperlinks to any online news stories, press releases, or other documents that support the claims made in the section above. IMPORTANT: Begin each link with http://, and enclose each link in square brackets; for example, [http://www.youraddress.com]:
"Swartz Urges ‘Coherent' Climate View From World Leaders: Video," Bloomberg:
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=conewsstory&tkr=TBL%3AUS&sid=a_u_rXdjHL.8
"Don't Tell Us It Can't Be Done Campaign Spotlights China and Grenada: Video,"
The Huffington Post:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/12/09/timberlands-dont-tell-us_n_385514.html
"Smoke Lifts On Obama's Climate Strategy: Video," SKY News:
http://news.sky.com/skynews/Home/World-News/US-Edges-Towards-Regulating-Greenhouse-Gas-Emissions-As-EPA-Confirms-Global-Warming-Is-Health-Threat/Article/200912215495618?f=rss
"The Next Industrial Revolution," Newsweek:
http://www.newsweek.com/id/225777
"Don't Tell Us It Can't Be Done, Timberland Says To Copenhagen Delegates,"
Treehugger:
http://www.treehugger.com/files/2009/11/dont-tell-us-it-cant-be-done-timberland-says-to-cophenhagen-delegates.php
"Interview with Jeff Swartz: Video," Fox Business:
http://www.foxbusiness.com/search-results/m/27551287/timberland-ceo-on-reducing-carbon-emissions.htm
"Boots Boss in Green Charge," The Sunday Times:
http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/industry_sectors/consumer_goods/article6926958.ece
"Business to world leaders: Stop waffling and rise to the challenge in
Copenhagen," Smart Planet:
http://www.smartplanet.com/business/blog/business-brains/business-to-world-leaders-stop-waffling-and-rise-to-the-challenge-in-copenhagen/3283/
"Timberland Campaign Asks Governments to Set Emissions Standards in
Copenhagen," Fast Company:
http://www.fastcompany.com/blog/ariel-schwartz/sustainability/timberland-campaign-asks-government-leaders-set-emissions-standar
“Copenhagen lobbying frenzy," Channel 4 UK:
http://www.channel4.com/news/articles/science_technology/copenhagen+lobbying+frenzy/3409182
“Timberland CEO Jeff Swartz on the new corporate push for climate action,”
Grist:
http://www.grist.org/article/2009-10-06-timberland-ceo-jeff-swartz-talks-about-corporations-andc-climate/
3. Provide a brief (up to 100 words) biography about the leader of this nominated company:
Jeffrey Swartz, president and CEO of The Timberland Company, is an
environmentalist and global business leader committed to corporate
responsibility. He tackles a variety of environmental, social and political
issues on a daily basis, and is particularly interested in the intersection of
commerce and justice. He believes that doing well and doing good isn’t an
either or choice, but rather that the two are intrinsically linked – and he
lives by and leads Timberland based on this belief.