Banana Republic goes green!

[izzie stevens]

Preparing for Earth Day on April 22, Banana Republic will launch a 50-piece eco-friendly green collection for women and men that will hit stores on April 8th. The collection, made of renewable or sustainable fabrics like bamboo and organic cotton, retails from $24 to $150, and will be a continuing concept. From April 22 to 27, Banana Republic will donate 1% of all in-store sales, to a maximum of $100,000, to Trust for Public Lands, a nonprofit national land conservation organization. Parent company Gap Inc. also is coordinating regional volunteer activities in San Francisco and New York where customers can volunteer alongside Banana Republic employees on April 27th.

credit: wwd.com.

Earth Day is on April 22, but Banana Republic is showing support for the global holiday early. Starting April 8, the retailer will house a 50-piece eco-friendly collection for women and men. All merchandise, retailing from $24 to $150, is made of renewable or sustainable fabrics like bamboo and organic cotton. One percent of all in-store sales will go to Trust for Public Lands, a nonprofit national land conservation organization.

This isn't a one-time thing for Banana Republic though; it will be an ongoing concept. Given Banana's stylish track record, I'm sure I'll be investing in some pieces and simultaneously helping out mother nature!

credit: fabsugar.

any opinions about this?

 

[Trista]

I mean I think that it is a great idea, but the fact that they are only donating 1% is a bit off-putting to me.

 

[aldn]

i know. up to 100,000?

 

[wonderland]

1%-thats gap inc for you. its similar to the product red at gap. they donate half the profits, but that merchandise is clearly marked up so gap doesn't actually reaaaallllly end up splitting their share, they've just charged the consumer more

 

[eeyore]

1 measly percent?

ugh, their stinginess is exactly what turned me off from product red. no thanks.

 

[izzie stevens]

1%-thats gap inc for you. its similar to the product red at gap. they donate half the profits, but that merchandise is clearly marked up so gap doesn't actually reaaaallllly end up splitting their share, they've just charged the consumer more

actually, the product is more expensive because of the quality of the materials used to make pieces for the product red line. so you're incorrect about gap pricing up their product red pieces in order to gain back the profit aside from their donation.

although i will say that i am a bit disappointed with banana republic only donating 1% to this cause. they usually donate much more than that, and even match donations towards severals causes when their employees donate to anything they are supporting.

 

[aldn]

1%-thats gap inc for you. its similar to the product red at gap. they donate half the profits, but that merchandise is clearly marked up so gap doesn't actually reaaaallllly end up splitting their share, they've just charged the consumer more

However, gap is not alone. I bought this water at starbucks cause it was talking about giving back to villages that don't have access to water. It was twice what I would normally pay at 2 bucks and they were giving back like 5 cents or some crap. I was so pissed off. I mean I know every bit counts but that just seems wrong. My favorite good doer is tom's shoes. For every pair of shoes that you buy from them someone that doesn't have a pair of shoes recieves a pair. I wondered if there are any photos of the new line.

 

[Erin]

I am in agreeance with everybody... 1%... better than nothing, but... what an easy way to make people think you're seriously helping out. "Banana Republic will donate a portion of the profits to Trust for Public Lands." Just an easy way for them to get their name on something positive, I think - for minimal cost.

Not to mention - this spans only 5 days.

 

[izzie stevens]

I am in agreeance with everybody... 1%... better than nothing, but... what an easy way to make people think you're seriously helping out. "Banana Republic will donate a portion of the profits to Trust for Public Lands." Just an easy way for them to get their name on something positive, I think - for minimal cost.

Not to mention - this spans only 5 days.

although i agree that it should be more than 1%, did you read the entire post?

This isn't a one-time thing for Banana Republic though; it will be an ongoing concept.

 

[Becca Rich]

I love the Tom's Shoe concept.

Ehh, it reminds me of kotex and their
"buy our product and we'll give it to the
girls that are less fortunate..."

okay, back to banana..


1% seems a bit selfish...
I wish they would give more.
good idea.
bad follow through.

 

[Meg]

I agree Becca and I actually think the kotex thing is pretty important since it's something far less obvious than clothing and to be honest, it had never crossed my mind before the commercial but is obviously quite important.

I agree that 1% is too low, esp. since they capped it at 100k. The thing is, it's great that you are using sustainable products but I want to know more. Where are the products from? Who picks your organic cotton? How did it get to the final destination? Where was it processed and the garmet created? All these things matter.

 

[sakina]

not to be a wet blanket but even the kotex thing is stupid. most women around the world deal with their periods without using the same pads/tampons in modernized countries. if they have food/water/clothing than they can deal with their period their own way-- usually with rags which is a lot more reuseable.

anything company that tells people to buy things to help people leaves a bad taste in my mouth.

 

[*Happiness*]

only 1%? and only up to $100,000? that isn't much money considering its Gap, Inc. we are discussing....

 

[Meg]

sakina, I agree, that it is a very westernized approach and that obviously people have their own methods...but i don't think a rag is a better approach if you don't have access to clean water to wash them in versus something that is disposable. Anyway has Gap Inc. ever contributed more than 1%? Other than the Red campaign?

 

[seanutbutter]

I'm sick of all this "green" nonsense.

 

[wonderland]

Some of the product red yes is better quality than the regular gap product, so the price will be higher but still shouldn't be that high... for instance, the t shirts (plain graphic) are about $30-35 and a gap fav tee is 16.50... believe me, my aunty is a head of store for gap inc... anyway 100,000 is so stingy because her gap store alone made 30,000 dollars yesterday in sales, given its busier than normal because of the holiday...

 

[lazypadawan]

Marketing fad.

 

[izzie stevens]

Some of the product red yes is better quality than the regular gap product, so the price will be higher but still shouldn't be that high... for instance, the t shirts (plain graphic) are about $30-35 and a gap fav tee is 16.50... believe me, my aunty is a head of store for gap inc... anyway 100,000 is so stingy because her gap store alone made 30,000 dollars yesterday in sales, given its busier than normal because of the holiday...

you can't compare a product red tee to a favorite tee. a favorite tee is simple, regular cotton, and etc., etc., with no graphic on it. it's not comparable in any way. although it's true about the sales. (i work for gap inc., too.) but think about it, of that $30,000? part of it goes to rent fees, and payroll, and etc., etc.!

yes, i feel that banana republic could donate more towards this, much more. but product red? it's actually not a scam at all. i mean, read the product red manifesto, it explains it all very well.

 

[SandraJH]

I wonder how well all this stuff will sell...It could possibly have a big impact on other companies and ideas for going 'green/eco-friendly'

 

[avedon]

warning: i'm pretty idealistic about the "green" thing. i think that anything that raises awareness is good, even if it's mostly for profit and publicity. could they be doing a lot more, especially with the amount of money they have? of course! but they're also doing it at their regular price point, which is commendable.

i think it's pretty neat that this is probably their big spring event instead of gap's designer edition white shirts. (not that i don't want a bunch of those as well!) those shirts are at a much higher price point for a typical gap customer, though. i just can't wait to see the pictures for banana--hopefully the new fabrics and "going green" will be more "blair waldorf meets stella mccartney" than a typical girl at bonnaroo. i'm not too worried though...i think (hope) banana has a good idea of who buys their clothes.