Boden was established in 1991 by Johnnie Boden. Headquartered in London, United Kingdom, the brand designs and sells dresses, swimwear, and other apparel. Their products are manufactured in China, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Macedonia, Morocco, Philippines, Portugal, Romania, Spain, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Tunisia, Turkey, UK, and Vietnam.
In our pursuit of knowing how sustainable Boden is, we researched their current practices and how much they are impacting the environment. Areas we explored include raw material use, brand communications, long-term use, energy efficiency, and waste generation.
The larger part of their collection is made of cotton, which is known to have very high water and energy requirements. Additionally, the brand also uses viscose, nylon, linen, and polyester in manufacturing their clothes. This heavy use of polluting fabrics show that they have lower-than-the-average standards when it comes to sourcing of raw materials.
Boden values sustainability by actively communicating their green efforts and goals while informing their customers about the most pressing environmental issues. They have marketing campaigns that inspire the public to take steps in improving their global impact. However, results of the environmental life-cycle assessment of their products are not available to the public. Thus, withholding details that could help their customers make responsible purchasing decisions.
To promote long-term use of their products, they establish initiatives that help consumers reuse their old clothes or repair any damaged articles. Likewise, they also encourage customers to reduce their personal waste footprint by organizing garment collecting programs where assistance is given in sending donated goods for reuse or recycling.
One of the most remarkable changes that they’re implementing is their use of energy-saving technologies and renewable energy within their operations. Despite this, they don’t provide their customers with eco-conscious care instructions that could’ve stretched their energy conservation vision as far as the consumer stage.
Our environment pays a hefty bill for every package that we transport quickly. When distributing their products, the brand provides their customers with the choice to go for a standard shipping optionÑa slower and less harmful way to move goods. In addition, they also offer their customers with incentives for opting out of express shipping methods like same-day or overnight delivery.
Boden packages their products free of any plastic material. Instead, they are using mainly post-consumer recycled materialÑa material that is reusable. To further minimize any waste that comes from their products, they use the appropriate size box and fewest possible components to pack their orders in.
After researching how sustainable Boden is, we determined that, based on their computed score of 4.2 or a rating of Garden Variety, they are reasonably sustainable. This is an average rating and indicates that they are unremarkable with repect to their environmental efforts.
