Brooks – A Shoe-in for CSR Leadership

Ethics in business with a focus on planet and social responsibility has been on the rise in recent years.  It has become increasingly obvious that business needs to be conducted in a new fashion and that includes taking our planet and global community into consideration and Brooks, a running shoe manufacturer, is doing just that. 

The company has created an eco-friendly running shoe. This shoe is not the company’s first foray into responsible product manufacturing as they were “building off the momentum gained by [their] 2006 Runner’s World International “Best Innovation” Award for [their] environmentally sustainable development projects, Brooks has introduced the first-ever biodegradable running shoe midsole: BioMoGo. Yes, [they have] taken the long-lasting cushioning of [their] original MoGo midsole and made it more environmentally friendly”.

The company added a “non-toxic, natural additive to the MoGo compound that encourages anaerobic microbes to munch away once it hits the landfill. Traditional Ethylene Vinyl Acetate™ (EVA) midsoles can last up to 1,000 years in a landfill. BioMoGo’s microbial munch rate is a staggering 50 times faster, biodegrading nutrients into reusable byproducts within 20 years! That means that within 20 years time, Brooks alone will save 29.9 million pounds of landfill waste”.  This alone is an impressive feat however the company went on to make their packaging sustainable.

Their shoeboxes are made from “100% post-consumer recycled (PCR) content”. Beyond that the company “switched to a single-color, less energy-intensive flexographic printing process, and water-based inks and adhesives that are cleaner and better on the environment. More box sizes mean a tighter fit, saving 150 tons of paper annually. They got rid of anything superfluous in the packaging including show stuffing and silica packages. Even the limited amount of tissue wrapping they use is “chlorine-free, 100% PCR”. Also they are “thrilled to be sourcing it from a nearby, low-emissions box factory with its own on-site water treatment facility”. Quite impressive. 

Another aspect of their business that makes Brooks a leader CSR is the fact that they intend to “release this [bio-degradable] technology to all other footwear brands”.  The company does not want to become complacent in their quest to be an ethical, responsible company, so they “routinely work with reputable outdoor industry and environmental organizations to analyze [their] current business practices and their impact on the earth. Examples include:  The Outdoor Industry Association’s Eco Working Group, BioEnvironmental Polymer Society, Society of Plastics Engineers’ Environmental Plastics Technical Division, American Society for Testing and Materials’ Environmental Plastics Technical Committee, The Bainbridge Graduate Institute, Business for Social Responsibility”.

Way to go Brooks.