Outdoor Industry Association (OIA) Eco Index Beta

Evaluation Tool

Outdoor Industry Association (OIA) Eco Index Beta

Tool Category

Third-party Evaluation Tools

At a Glance

Currently under development, the Eco Index is an assessment tool designed to be used internally by suppliers, manufacturers, and retailers. It assesses the environmental performance of apparel, footwear, and outdoor gear products throughout the supply chain - from raw materials to the end of a product’s useful life.

Tool Website(s)

www.ecoindexbeta.org/

Tool Owner/Sponsor

The Outdoor Industry Association (OIA) Eco Working Group (EWG) and the European Outdoor Group (EOG) Sustainability Working Group (SWG) have together developed the Eco Index. To date, the Eco Index initiative has been entirely funded by OIA and its member companies. There are other partners: Zero Waste Alliance, Portland Development Commission, American Apparel and Footwear Association, and Ceres.

Type of Entity

Outdoor Industry Association is a US trade association (US active outdoor recreation business): www.outdoorindustry.org/. European Outdoor Industry is an EU trade association (EOG): www.europeanoutdoorgroup.com

Focus of Evaluation

Products

Product Stage of Life Evaluated

Manufacturing, transportation, consumer use, end of life

Impact(s) Evaluated

Ecological health, energy use, GHG's, human health, material impacts, water use

Tool Description

The Eco Index tool measures the environmental performance of products through an evaluation that includes a life cycle-based perspective. It is designed to be used for both materials and finished products, and provides a cumulative assessment of performance at various stages of a product's life cycle.

The Eco Index contains three types of tools which can be used together or separately and that are progressively more complex:

• Environmental Guidelines. These are qualitative principles and practices, intended to be used as an educational tool, promoting continuous environmental improvement for companies and suppliers.
• Environmental Indicators with a Comparative Scoring System. These are measurable attributes or parameters that demonstrate environmental impact or improvement. They can be either qualitative or quantitative. The indicators may be utilized for one specific life cycle area (e.g. materials, packaging, product manufacturing) or used across all life cycles to create a full assessment for a consumer product.
• Environmental Footprint Metrics. These are units of measure, including an industry wide common methodology of calculating the metric and collecting the data within seven critical "lenses" (areas of impact): land use intensity; water; waste; biodiversity; chemistry/toxics—people; chemistry/toxics—environment; and energy use/greenhouse gas emissions. The metrics are used to assess environment impact and measure improvement.

Certifications such as bluesign or ISO 14001 compliment the index; used together better Eco index scores will result. Currently the index is an internal facing tool or scorecard, but this may change in the future when an independent certification system is put in place.

The Eco Index is currently in a test phase and is expected to launch sometime in late 2011.

Product Categories

Apparel & Footwear; Outdoor/Sporting Goods; Textiles

Tool Requirements

Users (suppliers, manufacturers and retailers) provide data on raw materials, packaging, manufacturing, transportation, and use and end of life information. Data requirements differ as those just entering the arena of assessing and measuring environmental performance of products start with the guidelines, and work towards the indicators (broader more generalized data) and ultimately the metrics.

Cost of Tool

Available free of charge to any interested parties. Membership in the OIA or EOG is encouraged.

Evaluation Frequency

In test phase currently

Strengths and Weaknesses

Strengths: The Eco Index will provide retailers with a common language for understanding the environmental impacts of the products and brands they sell.

Weaknesses: The EcoIndex is still in the testing phase. Full metrics have not yet been developed for land use intensity, biodiversity, chemistry /toxics (people) and chemistry / toxics (environment).

Examples of Retailers That Use It

Patagonia, Timberland, REI, adidas, Black Diamond, Brooks, Mountain Equipment Co-op, Levi Strauss, nau, New Balance, Nester Hosiery, The North Face, Polartec, GoLite, and Outdoor Research

For More Information

Beth Jensen: bjensen@outdoorindustry.org