Fashion Design University Honors NRDC’s Linda Greer for Innovation

WASHINGTON (November 16, 2015) — Linda Greer, pioneer of the program Clean by Design at Natural Resources Defense Council, will be recognized this evening with a “Positive Impact Award” for her innovation in sustainability in the fashion industry.  The award will be presented by The Brooklyn Fashion + Design Accelerator, an initiative of the fine arts university Pratt Institute, in Brooklyn, New York devoted to ethical fashion and design. 

Clean by Design is a global campaign by NRDC to reduce energy, water and chemical use throughout the fashion manufacturing and supply chain.  The program promotes a set of best practices for textile dyeing and finishing mills, which account for the bulk of the industry’s environmental impact.  To date, major apparel retailers and brands—including Target, Gap, Levi and H&M—have participated. 

Last year, Clean by Design reduced water use by 9% on average, and energy use by 6.5% on average, in the textile mills that participated.  Those mills each saved an average of $440,000, and will continue to benefit from the efficiency improvements in years to come.

NRDC’s Greer will be celebrated along with leaders in fashion and the apparel industry, including designer Eileen Fisher, director Andrew Morgan and others.

The following is a statement by Linda Greer, director of the Health Program at NRDC:

“It is truly an honor to be recognized this way, and in the company of such talent.  Just seven years ago, we piloted this ‘best practices’ approach to a dozen textile mills. The reductions in water and energy use, and environmental impact, were so dramatic that today, we’re aiming to scale this up across the globe—so there’s a lot more work to be done.”