Marketing fashion products made from recycled materials

The world's oceans contain all kinds of rubbish, particularly plastic that pollutes and never decomposes--and fishing nets that have been thrown away. Now companies are turning ocean rubbish into 'green' clothing and accessories, stylish as well as a good path to sustainability. Consumers appreciate being able to make a difference through their purchases, the companies seek to accomplish societal objectives and the planet gets a little cleaner in the process.

Some brands are working with the nonprofit Parley for the Oceans to build awareness of the threats to ocean life and reuse discarded plastic in new products. Stella McCartney created a fashion collection based on recycled ocean plastics, for example, and also uses recycled nylon and polyester in fashion items. The sunglass brand Clean Waves markets products made from recycled ocean plastics, again in partnership with Parley for the Oceans.

The fast-fashion retailer H&M is buying nylon made from recycled fishing nets (from Aquafil) and turning it into stylish clothing. This partnership increases education about the challenges of ocean pollution and also showcases H&M as a firm actively working to improve sustainability.

Watch for more such partnerships as consumers increasingly seek out brands that are transparent about ethical sourcing and active in pursuing societal objectives.

L'Occitane teams with TerraCycle for sustainability

Group L'Occitane markets all-natural and organic personal care products through 3,200+ retail stores in 90 nations. With headquarters in Luxembourg and Switzerland, L'Occitane's annual turnover exceeds €1,300 million.

Tech-savvy L'Occitane is leveraging the trend of consumers connecting via mobile devices to personalise offers and encourage purchasing through the firm's many e-commerce sites worldwide.

Behind the scenes, the company also works with Provence-based suppliers to source sustainably-produced ingredients for its beauty products.

It's very committed to achieving goals for recycling. As this window display shows, L'Occitane stores in Canada and the US will accept empty containers from any cosmetics brand and recycle them in partnership with Terracycle, which turns the recycled and upcycled materials into eco-friendly new products for sale.

UK consumers can participate in Terracycle recycling in various ways, including bringing recyclable items to a nearby 'brigade' for free recycling.

This post offers an additional example of societal objectives as covered in Chapter 5 of my Essential Guide to Marketing Planning.

Sustainability Marketing: Fashion Helps Save the Planet

Adidas has partnered with Parley for the Oceans to make and market shoes made from plastic ocean waste. The idea is to raise awareness of the need for clean oceans and recycle this waste in a productive way. Adidas has set a goal of selling one million shoes made from ocean waste by the end of 2017. 

Stella McCartney, who was involved in the Adidas designs, has also partnered with Parley for the Oceans on a new limited-edition backpack made from recycled ocean waste. This product is one of many that will incorporate a new fibre made from ocean waste plastics.

Other fashion marketers are saving the planet as well. ASOS, Tesco, Nike and H&M are some of the brands that will be using only sustainably sourced cotton by 2025. All over the world, fashion marketers are looking at sustainability issues and ways to reduce the stress on natural resources.

How much value do consumers see in buying fashions marketed with sustainability in mind? From the perspective of consumer behaviour, are the ethical issues of sustainability marketing compelling enough to motivate purchasing?

Save the planet by recycling old clothes

For sustainability reasons, Marks & Spencer and H&M are both inviting customers to donate old or unwanted clothing and receive a discount on new purchases. The stores (or their partners) handle behind-the-scenes logistics of getting old clothes to the next step in the recycling process.

From H&M, recycled polyester

This is part of a broader movement to keep usable materials away from landfills and make better use of the world's resources. Popular retailers like M&S (927,000 Facebook likes) and H&M (13 million Facebook likes) can make a real difference when they communicate this message and reward customers for participating.

• H&M, the Swedish fast-fashion retailer with a global presence, already markets products made from recycled materials, such as this top made from recycled polyester. Now H&M has a deal with Germany's I:Collect to collect shopper-donated clothing from the retailer's stores and repurpose the textiles for other uses. From February 2013, shoppers who donate will receive an H&M voucher.

From M&S, shwopping

• M&S has been partnering with the charity Oxfam to promote Shwopping: Shoppers drop off unwanted clothes at the retailer's branches and pick up a discount voucher. The latest twist is that employers are signing up to host drop boxes in their offices, to make it more convenient than ever for consumers to do something positive with their unwanted garments.