A Vancouver non-profit is calling on Canada’s competition regulator to launch a greenwashing investigation into Lululemon — saying the athleisure brand is misleading consumers about its environmental practices.
The complaint, which was filed by the organization Stand.earth last Thursday, says Lululemon’s Be Planet sustainability campaign from 2020, in which the company said it would work to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions, is contradicted by a 2022 impact report that outlined Lululemon’s progress in reaching its climate goals.
The impact report shows the company’s Scope 3 greenhouse gas emissions — indirect emissions that occur as a result of a company’s activities, including those produced by customers using its products — increased fromabout 471,100 tonnes in 2020 to 847,400 tonnes in 2022. Lululemon wrote in its report that this area “needs acceleration.”
The company also wrote in 2020 that it “leaned into investments and partnerships to develop sustainable materials that demonstrate our leadership in product innovation and environmental harm reduction.”
Last year, Lululemon partnered with a startup to create clothes from recycled nylon and polyester. But the report from Stand.earth notes that many of the company’s products continue to be made with polyester or nylon, both of which are materials manufactured from fossil fuels.
“We think in this case, Lululemon is telling its customers a bunch of things about the products, that they are environmentally friendly, climate friendly, restorative to the Earth — and that none of those things are true,” said Todd Paglia, executive director of Stand.earth.
“That’s what the Competition Bureau is set up to crack down on, and we’re asking them to do so in this case,” he added.
WATCH | What does greenwashing mean?
Greenwashing: the secret that some brands don’t want you to know | CBC Kids News
3 months ago
Duration 5:16
Do you ever see companies using terms like “sustainable” or “eco-friendly?” It could be a clue that they are doing something called greenwashing.
It isn’t the first time that Stand.earth has brought attention to Lululemon, either, presenting the company with a “coal medal” in 2022 to highlight its coal emissions after the brand was chosen to design Canada’s Olympic wear during the Beijing Games.
“There’s a lot of greenwash out there. We picked Lululemon because they’re the most egregious, but there are lots of companies out there that I think are selling themselves as green,” said Paglia.
“They are such a big brand and so much is expected of them,” he added. “They can actually be part of the solution to the climate crisis that we’re facing by driving the company towards what they say they are already doing.”
A swell of public pressure
Lululemon shorts are seen with a tag describing material components. The description includes the body of the shorts, listed at 95 per cent nylon and five per cent elastane, and a pocket lining as 100 per cent recycled polyester. (David MacIntosh/CBC)
A spokesperson for Lululemon told CBC News the company is focused on helping create an industry that is “more sustainable and addresses the serious impacts of climate change.”
The company is committed to its decarbonization plan, the spokesperson added, with the aim of meeting its 2030 climate targets and achieving net-zero emissions by 2050.
“We recognize that the majority of impact comes from emissions within the broader supply chain,” the spokesperson wrote, adding that the company reported on its own emissions in the 2022 annual report.
The complaint comes amid a swell of public pressure on the Canadian brand. A recent Bloomberg story highlighted members of the yoga community, including former Lululemon ambassadors, who have distanced themselves or severed ties with the company, disappointed by its track record on climate change.
Danielle Hoogenboom, a yoga instructor and activist who lives in Vancouver, worked on a Stand.earth campaign two years ago that called on Lululemon to transition to 100 per cent renewable energy by 2030 — a goal the company says it has met in its owned and operated facilities.
“They’re one of Canada’s most influential companies, one of the biggest fashion brands in the world that promote a healthy lifestyle, but they’re fronting,” Hoogenboom told CBC News. “They’re not really doing what they say that they are going to do.
“I think there’s an infinite amount of potential for there to be a really great shift in the way that business is done. And I would love for [Lululemon] to just step out as an absolute leader,” said Hoogenboom.
A test of Canada’s greenwashing laws
Lululemon’s offices in Vancouver’s Kitsilano neighbourhood are pictured on Dec. 9, 2022. While complaints about deceptive marketing are generally quicker to resolve, these cases can sometimes take years to move through the Competition Bureau’s system, said Keldon Bester, executive director of the Canadian Anti-Monopoly Project. (Gian Paolo Mendoza/CBC)
Marianne Blondin, a spokesperson for the Competition Bureau, confirmed in an email to CBC News that it received the complaint alleging that Lululemon has engaged in deceptive marketing practices. “There is no conclusion of wrongdoing at this time,” she wrote.
“As the Bureau is obligated by law to conduct its work confidentially, we cannot provide further details related to this matter.”
If the complaint moves forward, it wouldn’t be the first time Lululemon is investigated by the Competition Bureau.
In 2007, the athletic-wear company removed unsubstantiated claims that a clothing line infused with seaweed had health benefits, following a decision by the regulator that it violated the Textile Labelling Act.
While complaints about deceptive marketing are generally quicker to resolve, these cases can sometimes take years to move through the system, said Keldon Bester, executive director of the Canadian Anti-Monopoly Project and a former special advisor at the Competition Bureau from 2019-2021.
“Deceptive marketing claims are one of the most frequently brought cases by the bureau. So relative to other parts of the competition, Canada’s competition law, they are quite common,” he told CBC News.
“What we are seeing now with this complaint and the more recent RBC greenwashing complaints is whether these broader criticisms of potentially misleading sustainability claims will be recognized not only by the Bureau but by the tribunal who ultimately decides,” he said.
“These cases are going to be important tests of the limits of Canada’s greenwashing laws.”
While deceptive marketing cases sometimes involve fining an offending company, the goal is often a change in behaviour, added Bester. Still, the Competition Bureau is not required to keep the public updated on active investigations.
“I think it won’t be a snappy resolution by any means,” Bester said.
TORONTO – Roots Corp. may have built its brand on all things comfy and cosy, but its CEO says activewear is now “really becoming a core part” of the brand.
The category, which at Roots spans leggings, tracksuits, sports bras and bike shorts, has seen such sustained double-digit growth that Meghan Roach plans to make it a key part of the business’ future.
“It’s an area … you will see us continue to expand upon,” she told analysts on a Friday call.
The Toronto-based retailer’s push into activewear has taken shape over many years and included several turns as the official designer and supplier of Team Canada’s Olympic uniform.
But consumers have had plenty of choice when it comes to workout gear and other apparel suited to their sporting needs. On top of the slew of athletic brands like Nike and Adidas, shoppers have also gravitated toward Lululemon Athletica Inc., Alo and Vuori, ramping up competition in the activewear category.
Roach feels Roots’ toehold in the category stems from the fit, feel and following its merchandise has cultivated.
“Our product really resonates with (shoppers) because you can wear it through multiple different use cases and occasions,” she said.
“We’ve been seeing customers come back again and again for some of these core products in our activewear collection.”
Her remarks came the same day as Roots revealed it lost $5.2 million in its latest quarter compared with a loss of $5.3 million in the same quarter last year.
The company said the second-quarter loss amounted to 13 cents per diluted share for the quarter ended Aug. 3, the same as a year earlier.
In presenting the results, Roach reminded analysts that the first half of the year is usually “seasonally small,” representing just 30 per cent of the company’s annual sales.
Sales for the second quarter totalled $47.7 million, down from $49.4 million in the same quarter last year.
The move lower came as direct-to-consumer sales amounted to $36.4 million, down from $37.1 million a year earlier, as comparable sales edged down 0.2 per cent.
The numbers reflect the fact that Roots continued to grapple with inventory challenges in the company’s Cooper fleece line that first cropped up in its previous quarter.
Roots recently began to use artificial intelligence to assist with daily inventory replenishments and said more tools helping with allocation will go live in the next quarter.
Beyond that time period, the company intends to keep exploring AI and renovate more of its stores.
It will also re-evaluate its design ranks.
Roots announced Friday that chief product officer Karuna Scheinfeld has stepped down.
Rather than fill the role, the company plans to hire senior level design talent with international experience in the outdoor and activewear sectors who will take on tasks previously done by the chief product officer.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
VANCOUVER – Mediated talks between the union representing HandyDART workers in Metro Vancouver and its employer, Transdev, are set to resume today as a strike that has stopped most services drags into a second week.
No timeline has been set for the length of the negotiations, but Joe McCann, president of the Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1724, says they are willing to stay there as long as it takes, even if talks drag on all night.
About 600 employees of the door-to-door transit service for people unable to navigate the conventional transit system have been on strike since last Tuesday, pausing service for all but essential medical trips.
Hundreds of drivers rallied outside TransLink’s head office earlier this week, calling for the transportation provider to intervene in the dispute with Transdev, which was contracted to oversee HandyDART service.
Transdev said earlier this week that it will provide a reply to the union’s latest proposal on Thursday.
A statement from the company said it “strongly believes” that their employees deserve fair wages, and that a fair contract “must balance the needs of their employees, clients and taxpayers.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 12, 2024.
MONTREAL – Travel company Transat AT Inc. reported a loss in its latest quarter compared with a profit a year earlier as its revenue edged lower.
The parent company of Air Transat says it lost $39.9 million or $1.03 per diluted share in its quarter ended July 31.
The result compared with a profit of $57.3 million or $1.49 per diluted share a year earlier.
Revenue in what was the company’s third quarter totalled $736.2 million, down from $746.3 million in the same quarter last year.
On an adjusted basis, Transat says it lost $1.10 per share in its latest quarter compared with an adjusted profit of $1.10 per share a year earlier.
Transat chief executive Annick Guérard says demand for leisure travel remains healthy, as evidenced by higher traffic, but consumers are increasingly price conscious given the current economic uncertainty.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 12, 2024.
