Timberland’s Earth Week Events Drive Impact and Meaningful Change

Global outdoor lifestyle brand Timberland recently concluded its second annual Earth Week Celebration at its Stratham, New Hampshire headquarters. During Earth Week, educational events were held each day to foster a better understanding of Timberland’s environmental footprint as well as the footprint of each employee in their personal lives. With this understanding, employees explored new ways to further drive Timberland’s legacy of protecting and restoring the outdoors.

This year’s Earth Week sparked a number of positive changes immediately in its wake. One employee, disturbed by the global plastic waste issue presented during the film screening of “A Plastic Ocean,” requested that all plastic straws in our cafeteria be switched out for paper straws. Plastic straws represent one of the few remaining non-recyclable or non-compostable materials offered in Timberland’s cafeteria. Within a week, the plastic straws were replaced with compostable, vegetable- based straws. 

“Don’t underestimate the ripples created by simple efforts to raise awareness,” said Zack Angelini, Timberland’s environmental stewardship manager. “I am inspired by the impact of this year’s Earth Week events. A straw isn’t a big item by itself, but when you use 24,000 of them each year, they really add up. It’s been remarkable to see employees step up, take ownership, and drive change here at work and in their personal lives. That’s really what Earth Week is all about.”

At another Earth Week event, “Kick the Can,” employees were challenged to turn in their desk trash cans and sign a pledge to “choose the right bin” when disposing of their waste. Timberland’s senior leadership team is now exploring a proposal to eliminate all deskside trash cans in favor of centralized waste collection. This shift could further incentivize employees to recycle or compost by removing the convenience of tossing recyclable or compostable waste into a deskside trash can with its contents destined for the landfill.   

“At Timberland we strive to be Earthkeepers in everything we do, and Earth Week 2017 set a high bar in terms of generating meaningful action,” said Angelini. “The week not only inspires action in what we do here in the office or at our homes, but it further motivates us to continue designing products with the environment in mind.”

To learn more about Timberland’s commitment to resource efficiency and the outdoors, visit https://www.timberland.com/responsibility/outdoors.html.