Timberland goes green with tree-planting initiative

Timberland is boosting its green credentials by planting 50 million trees.

The outdoor lifestyle brand has announced that it will plant the trees in various global locations by the year 2025 by supporting multiple reforestation initiatives, focusing on Haiti, China, the Dominican Republic, the United States, Tanzania and Mali in year one.

It will work with organizations such as the Smallholder Farmers Alliance, GreenNetwork, TREE AID, the UN Convention to Combat Desertification, Connect4Climate - World Bank Group, Justdiggit, Las Lagunas Ecological Park, Trees for the Future, American Forests and Treedom.

To celebrate its pledge, the brand has unveiled "Nature Needs Heroes," a campaign shining a light on 12 "eco-heroes" who are effecting positive change for the environment and their communities. The campaign sees the stars model new styles from the label's Fall 2019 collection.

Timberland is also getting local communities involved in the initiative, and the brand is set to host a three-day pop-up park and urban greening event in New York City, as well as a ‘Remade' workshop in Shanghai, China. Greening events are also being planned for London, Paris, Milan, Berlin and Amsterdam, encouraging consumers to take environmentally-friendly steps.

"At Timberland, we're conscious of the impact our modern way of life has on the planet," said Jim Pisani, global brand president, Timberland, in a statement. "And we believe as a global lifestyle brand, and as individuals, we have a responsibility to make it better." He added: "Trees and green spaces help improve the quality of our planet as well as individual wellbeing. Our commitment to plant trees is a real, measurable way to act upon our belief that a greener future is a better future."

The initiative builds on the brand's history of tree planting -- since 2001, it has planted more than 10 million trees worldwide.

Fashion companies have been taking major steps to become more sustainable lately: last month saw 32 brands including Prada, Chanel, Ralph Lauren, Adidas and Nike sign a global 'Fashion Pact' focusing on advancing sustainability within the sector and consisting of an action plan for members to achieve zero greenhouse gas emissions by the year 2050.