Peter Girard on Timberland’s leadership in environmental sustainability (Part 1)
Alternative Channel's Leaders in Sustainability Series
Leaders In Sustainability is an exclusive series of interviews with those at the fore of the sustainability movement, both in the corporate and non-profit sectors.
By Chris Advansun and Kassandra Linklater
Most people would agree that carbon neutrality is not something regularly associated with a boot company. But then again, most people are not familiar with Timberland’s policy on the environment. I recently had the opportunity to connect with Peter Girard to discuss ambitious plans to become carbon neutral by 2010.
CA - Before we start, tell us about your background and how you joined with Timberland?
PG - Timberland is actually the first private company I have worked with; my background is in Environmental Science and Resource Management. I have worked for non-profits, state government and actually on a coalition with Environment Canada.
I completed my Masters in Resource Management at the University of New Hampshire which is quite close to where Timberland is headquartered. Some of the things I did as part of my Masters were looking at how do you value and put metrics around a lot of environmental qualities. There are many clean air, clean water, and low carbon impact titles, but they aren’t generally monetized so they can be hard to manage and plan around.
So when I finished my graduate program I had some interaction with Timberland. They were in the beginnings of a project to really look at how to drive metrics into their products and into some of their business processes. That is when I joined the company and that is what I primarily worked on.
CA - Was it intentional to take the skills and the knowledge that you acquired in the pubic sector and bring it to the private sector, or was it that the opportunity arose and you took it?
PG - I think for me, I have consciously transitioned from working with non-profits and government. There was a realization, while there’s a role for regulation; the most cutting edge environmental changes are going to go on in the private sector. That is where most of the money is, and that is where the power to move very quickly is. Business has a great power to do harm, but it also has a great power to do good. For myself, I started in science and then why I moved into resource economics and management was because I thought, “Ah ha, maybe that’s where the more levers of power exist in order to try and make change.” And it was the same thing in work, I started off in NGO’s and government and have transitioned into the private sector because I am constantly looking for places where I can be more effective in creating change and right now I think that the private sector is the place that’s doing that.
CA - Were you surprised that this wasn’t a forestry company, this is Timberland, a garment producer? Did it surprise you that they had such an interest from an environment management perspective?
PG - From a public perspective, this is a brand, a clothing company and a boot maker but historically Timberland is very much a manufacturer and is rooted in manufacturing and putting goods together in the footwear and leather industry. So it is not too much of a surprise that they are interested in managing their resources. Their position with the brand, because there is more interaction with the consumer than say a commodities producer like a paper company, creates a dynamic where there is more of a demand for that information. There is more visibility.
CA - What is Timberland doing that is leading the way, that maybe competitors aren’t, and going that extra distance on sustainability?
PG - Timberland has two broad initiatives that we are moving forward with. One is, as a company, we are moving towards carbon neutral. We have set out a goal of being carbon neutral, in our operations and facilities - things we own, by 2010. The other bold goal is that we are looking at our product and figuring out how to make it a low impact, even a zero impact product.
I think what’s bold about the first one is the timeline in which we are trying to do it. We are pushing to be carbon neutral very quickly for our own operating facilities. First trying to reduce, second trying to purchase renewable energy, and only as a third choice, starting to offset some of our admissions.
The second initiative is moving towards sustainable products. A lot of companies just think about greening their headquarters, the things that they do in the office which in a sense is a lot easier. But the reality is that we are a boot company and we make a lot of boots. When we look at the whole company and we look at relative impact, the majority of our impact is in the materials and manufacturing of the products we make. Digging into that long supply chain is obvious but at the same time I believe we are ahead of some of our competitors at starting to look deeper into where our product comes from and how we can affect the whole supply chain.
CA - Carbon neutrality in two years is extremely tight. What are some of the main challenges in trying to complete it within that time frame?
PG - I think most of it comes down to electrical purchases because most of what we are looking at is office space and distribution facilities. I think two years is very soon but, in the context of what we have been doing, it is not that far fetched. We have been investing in renewable energies in our facilities for many years. Our European facility buys wind power, our actual distribution center in California has solar panels, and just recently our Mid-West distribution facility was involved in a project to directly purchase energy from a small scale hydro company in the area. We have been tracking and looking at our energy use for a while and that has helped it go down.
CA - So it is not quite 0-to-60 in two years, it is more like 70-to-100% in two years:
PG - We’ve definitely started down the path and we are familiar with what we need to do. As per percentages that we have reduced, we still have a ways to go. Although it still is going to be a challenge to meet that goal, I think we are on the path and accelerating towards it.
Next: Peter Girard on partnerships, Timberland’s CEO’s commitment to justice in commerce, and what motivates him personally.
Image credits (from top): 1) Peter Girard, Sr. Analyst Environmental Stewardship; 2)Instillation of solar power at Timberland's distribution centre in California
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