SUSTAINABILITY AND ENVIRONMENTAL RESPONSIBILITY

Here at Highpoint, we’ve committed to making positive changes in order to minimise our impact on the environment. We’re happy that many of our retailers are also joining us on the road to continuous improvement with their sustainability practices and commitment to environmental responsibility.

Here are some highlights from a few of our retailers who have made a commitment to environmental responsibility and sustainability, and have made significant inroads in this area.
 

LUSH

Ever been into a LUSH store and wondered, ‘Why are all the products so naked?’.

Over 40 percent of LUSH products come ‘naked’ (without packaging), including the top 10 bestselling products. When customers take them home, they are placed in recyclable paper bags, which drastically reduces the packaging and plastic usage.

Since LUSH began, it has had environmental and sustainable initiatives at its very foundation. And the more the business grows, the more sustainable it is committed to becoming, by using its buying power to drive positive change.

Did you know that LUSH invented the first-ever solid shampoo bar?
This initiative alone has saved nearly 6 million plastic bottles going to landfill!

Here are some of the key sustainability initiatives at LUSH:

Packaging
In the product design process, LUSH plans for little or no packaging – and when packaging is unavoidable, it prefers to use recycled materials which can be recycled or composted.

Raw materials
Ingredients are selected with a preference for those that are produced in a sustainable way, and the suppliers are chosen with consideration to whether they respect the environment, and the animals and people living there.

Waste and Recycling

• Lush packaging is about 89% recycled (including paper bags, aluminium tins, gift wrap, ribbons, boxes, tags and inserts). 
• Pots and bottles are made with 100% post-consumer recycled (PCR) plastic, saving about 65 tons of carbon dioxide and 90 tonnes of virgin plastic per year.
• Carrier bags are made with 100% post-consumer recycled paper, saving 100 tonnes of carbon dioxide each year. 

Check out the other environmental achievements by LUSH on its website and drop into our LUSH store and grab a naked product for yourself!
 
 

COUNTRY ROAD

Aussie fashion retailer Country Road is committed sustainable farming and ethical sourcing of raw materials.

It has taken measures to increase energy efficiency, include installing LED light fittings in all new and refurbished stores, using timers on shopfront lights and sensors in back areas, using only cold water in most stores and timers on hot water systems in large stores, and encouraging employees to take public transport to work.

Did you know you can get a $10 voucher for donating your old Country Road clothes?
Country Road has partnered with the Australian Red Cross on Fashion Trade - a unique clothing exchange program that rewards customers with a $10 discount voucher for donating pre-owned Country Road clothing to the Red Cross and saving clothing from going to landfill.

Find out more by visiting the Country Road store’s website or come in-store to Country Road.
 
 

THE COTTON ON GROUP (Cotton On, Cotton On Body, Cotton On Kids, Typo, Rubi, Supre and Factorie)

The Cotton On Group aims to minimise its environmental impact and make continuous improvements to its sustainability practices for the future of our planet.

Some of the initiatives in place to create a better world include identifying more efficient uses of water, energy, transport and packaging, focussing on reducing, reusing and recycling throughout its stores and office locations, and empowering its employees to be advocates for minimising its environmental footprint.

Did you know that Factorie stores have started using cardboard coat hangers?
Each of The Cotton On Group stores retain and reuse their own plastic hangers whilst Factorie stores have rolled out the use of cardboard hangers. All stores also use biodegradable plastic bags to reduce the impact on landfill.

Better Cotton Initiative
In 2016, Cotton On Group became one of the first Australian retailers to join the Better Cotton Initiative. By sourcing ethically and sustainably grown cotton it ensures traceability throughout its entire supply chain, right down to the raw materials. Its short-term goal is to have thirty per cent more sustainable cotton by 2019.
 
Sustainability in Cotton On Group Stores
The Cotton On Group is on a continuous road to improvement throughout its stores to reduce its environmental footprint and improve operational efficiencies. All Cotton On Group stores have recycling practices and any unsold product is returned to its Distribution Centres for discount sale or given to charity organisations.

Find out more about the Cotton On Group’s sustainable practices here and don't forget to visit a Cotton On store.

 

BOOST JUICE

The Boost Juice fresh juice and smoothie bar promotes a healthy and sustainable lifestyle. Boost is continuously researching how it can reduce its environmental footprint, and its cups play an important role in this. After much research about the environmental impact, its current paper cups were selected as they are manufactured using a renewable and sustainable resource, printed using non-toxic, food-safe inks, which are not harmful to the environment, and more than 98% of the paper component is biodegradable.

Boost recognises that the best method is actually minimising disposable cups, and so it offers Boost Enviro Cups in every store, and to encourage customers to purchase these it offers $1 off your Boost every time you bring it in for a refill!
In addition, Boost Juice has planted 100,000 trees to date with a commitment to plant over 10,000 trees per year.

Check out all the great initiatives Boost Juice have in place on their website, and don’t forget to buy an Enviro Cup next time you are at Boost!

 

THE BODY SHOP

As a pioneering business in the area of sustainability, it will be no surprise that The Body Shop has a solid commitment to supporting threatened areas of the planet.

The Body Shop has stated that by the year 2020, it has committed to:

• Regenerating 75 million square metres of habitat
• Developing 3 new sustainable packaging innovations
• Ensuring that 70% of its total product packaging doesn’t contain fossil fuels
• Powering 100% of its stores with renewable or carbon balanced energy.

Help support The Body Shop in its endeavours towards a more sustainable world by popping into their store, or visiting The Body Shop website for more information.
 
 

WOOLWORTHS

Aussie supermarket Woolworths continually strives to innovate across its supply to chain in order to alleviate environmental pressures and mitigate climate change. It aims to use natural resources even more efficiently, and through innovation, collaboration and engagement, it has already achieved significant inroads, including:

• New and refurbished stores are 30% more energy efficient than stores opened in 2008.
• $2.3 million was invested in installing more than 4,000 rooftop solar panels across its stores around Australia.
• A focus on sustainable water consumption has led to rainwater replacing drinking water for gardens, toilets, cooling towers and truck washing at nine distribution centres.
• Moving towards a target of zero food waste to landfill, many diversion programs have been implemented, including food donation to farmers and food rescue charities like OzHarvest, FoodBank and SecondBite, as well as commercial food recycling and the new end-to-end stock-loss initiative ‘Fresher Faster’.
• New packaging for the Macro Organic brand has eliminated polystyrene trays and replaced them with compostable or recyclable trays, or simply a band around the product for identification purposes.
• Giving customers a way to recycle the soft plastic bags that packages many frozen products and bakery items (which cannot be recycled via Australia’s regular recycling program), Woolworths partners with the REDcycle recycling program to keep it out of landfill and dispose of it responsibly. REDcycle collects the plastic from dedicated bins at the front of 100 Woolworths' Supermarkets in Sydney and Melbourne and sends it to an Australian processor to make plastic park furniture. Since it began the partnership in 2015, it has disposed of 190 tonnes of plastic this way, equivalent to 47.6 million pieces of packaging! 

To find out more about the sustainable measures that Woolworths takes every day, visit the Woolworths website and make sure you bring in your soft plastic bags to recycle them!
 
 

TARGET

 Target strives to be a sustainable, ethical and socially responsible business, which works to make a positive difference in all parts of its business, by minimising its environmental impact, being active members of its communities, promoting diversity and ensuring its products are sourced ethically.

Target continues to look at ways to reduce its carbon footprint by investing in the reduction of energy consumption across its sites, including new lighting design standards featuring high efficiency LED fittings, improvements to building management systems to better control the air-conditioning, lighting and equipment usage.
 
Did you know that 77% of Target coat hangers are recycled for re-use?

This is the equivalent to 14.5 Olympic pools!

The remaining 23% of plastic waste that cannot be recycled for re-use is a mixture of broken hangers, non-Target hangers or given away at point of sale. Coat hanger waste is transported to a plastics recycler in Hong Kong where it is sorted and made into granules used for other plastic products such as garden furniture, sign posts and garden equipment.
 
Find out more about Target’s sustainability goals by visiting the Target website and don’t forget to shop at Target next time you are here!
 
 
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