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As paradoxical as it may sound: you don’t need a full-fledged CSR strategy to reap the benefits of it. So many companies wait until they’ve got it all figured out. They wait for the perfect approach. And they wait… and wait...

That’s such a shame! After all, the results of your first (perhaps less streamlined) initiatives often act as a catalyzer for the strategic integration of sustainability.

WHERE TO START?

• here are plenty of opportunities at the office. Think of sorting waste, printing on recycled paper and collecting empty cartridges.
• You could switch to renewable energy.
• Plastic is an absolute no-go. Do more than banning plastic cups and disposable cutlery, and go completely plastic-free.

Make a habit of distinguishing between long-term and short-term goals. Transportation is a case in point:

• Consider these quick and easy ways to improve your transportation operations:
  • teaming up with Lean and Green shipping companies (like these frontrunners and ‘stars’), who make a conscious effort to cut back on CO₂ emissions.
  • compensating for your CO₂ emissions by investing in climate projects. Read more about it on this website.
• Installing ‘short chains’, combining deliveries and rethinking your overall logistical flow are important long-term strategies.
  • Reflect on the amount of transport involved in your chain. How do your fabrics and accessories get to the manufacturer? Does your prototyping phase involve any transportation operations? How do your items get from the factory to your head office? Do they go to retailers from there? Can you optimize your planning process and use more eco-friendly transportation methods? And how about your online sales? 

NEED MORE INSPIRATION?

• Use these checklists to make sure you don’t overlook any sustainability actions at the office and in your stores (in Dutch).
• Maybe the cases featured on the website of CSR Flanders (in Dutch) or the ‘Sustainability in the cultural sector’ report (also in Dutch) will get your sustainability juices flowing.

The yearly Green Week, the occasional Fair Trade breakfast, a day of volunteering at local nursing homes, … Though these initiatives deserve praise, you have to do more to really make CSR a part of the DNA of your organization.

It takes only five steps to evolve from individual, ad hoc initiatives to a fully developed sustainability policy.

1. Rally support for your sustainability plans by getting the most important stakeholders involved. That’s your employees, at the very least. Have them take part in a work group, for instance.
2. Include sustainability in the mission and vision of your company.
3. Draw up an action plan.
4. Execute that plan.
5. Use the results you achieve to improve and/or further develop your plan.

Steps 1, 2, 4 and 5 are probably easy to grasp. Is step 3 less self-evident? Let us help you draw up an action plan in five steps.

1. Map the themes that matter most to your organization. To make sure that nothing gets overlooked, we developed a ‘Close The Loop Planner’. The Planner walks you through every step of the chain, feeding you questions to make you reflect on the most important topics for your organization. Would you like to do a final check? The ISO 26000 standard lends a helping hand.
2. Break the goals that emerge from the Planner down into specific actions and make them SMART: specific, measurable, attainable, realistic and timely.
3. To determine your starting point, a baseline measurement comes in handy for some aspects of your business. There are several scans and tools available to help you with that. Cultuurzaam, an organization that wants to put sustainability center stage in the youth and cultural sectors, as well as in the media industry, has composed a practical list (in Dutch).
4. Establish your priorities. A few tips:
   • You have identified your quick wins. Put that information to use! It takes little time to write these actions down in a sustainability report, and the latter is the perfect starting point for your communication. Make sure to back up your accomplishments with measurable data.
   • Move actions that require little effort yet have a big impact to the top of your to-do list. 
5. Increase the likelihood that your action plan will come to fruition by providing answers to the following questions:
   • What’s the timeframe for achieving your targets?
   • Who is responsible?
   • Do you need a budget and, if so, do you have one?
   • Who will you review the progress of the action plan and when?

The Planner results in an action plan that helps you answer these questions!

You have no doubt thought long and hard about the sustainability issues that are crucial to your organization. Yet sustainability is not a one-man or one-woman show. The success of your project will depend on the support of your colleagues and the level of engagement of all the members of the organization. So don’t forget to ...

INVEST IN INTERNAL COMMUNICATION

Get your employees and/or colleagues involved in your sustainability story. The sooner they are on board, the more ideas and actions they will support and come up with. Don’t neglect the management either, because the first steps towards a more sustainable organization often require some change management skills.

ENGAGE YOUR STORE STAFF AND CUSTOMER SERVICE

Both these teams are crucial to get your message across. Imagine a well thought-out CSR strategy that goes completely unnoticed because your employees fail to adequately answer your customers’ questions… Heartbreaking, right? Make sure your store staff and customer service team are able to provide customers with the right information or refer them to the right person.

IMPROVE YOUR AFTER-SALES SUPPORT

Your store staff can also play a part at the end of the chain, when your item is already hanging in your customer’s closet. Giving advice on how to mend and maintain the clothes you sell, as well as on what to do with clothes that are no longer wanted, are part and parcel of a circular approach.

CSR is all about transparency. The importance of keeping your employees informed should be clear by now, but your stakeholders and customers should be kept up to speed on your approach, your plans and your results as well.

It goes without saying that your information should be 100% correct at all times. Greenwashing, or misleading customers about your sustainability efforts or the environmental benefits of your product, is deadly for your business in these times of quick tweets and snappy posts.

Don’t wait for perfection, but communicate about the bumps in the road as well. Sustainability is never ‘done’: there are always things you can improve on.

How you communicate your sustainability efforts is completely up to you. Here are a few beautiful stories to inspire you:

• Reformation  
• Stella McCartney  
• O My Bag  
• Studio JUX
• Filippa K

Want to do everything by the CSR book? Then a sustainability report is a good idea. You can create one using the Global Reporting Initiative standard (and a little outside assistance if it’s your first time). This allows you to turn your communication strategy into a measurement and management tool. A few examples to get you going:

• C&A  
• Marylise & Rembo styling fashion group
• JBC
• Van de Velde

Thinking of working with sustainability labels, but no idea where to start? Have a look at the Labelinfo website (in Dutch) or use the Clean Clothes Campaign to learn the ins and outs of labels, trademarks and management systems. Which certification system you ultimately use depends on what exactly you want prove. This guide on apparel and textile verification systems give you an overview and can help you decide (in Dutch).