Timberland is progressing toward its goal of operating in a socially and environmentally responsible manner. In the category of responsible product innovation, Timberland has set a goal to have 100 per cent of its cotton sourced from organic, US or Better Cotton Initiative-certified growers by 2020. In 2017, a 81 per cent was achieved, a 40 per cent increase on the same period in 2016.

Timberland has also increased its use of recycled PET in its footwear portfolio, incorporating the equivalent of 40 million plastic bottles into its ranges in 2017. The elimination of perfluorinated compounds also forms part of the brand’s 2020 targets. In 2017, 91 per cent of the durable water repellents used in Timberland’s products were PFC-free.

Timberland planted 4,13,757 trees in 2017, taking the firm’s tree-planting initiatives to 9,654,820 to date; this puts the company on track and in a strong position to exceed its goal of ten million trees by 2020. Timberland is a global outdoor lifestyle brand. The company is working in Haiti with smallholder farmers. Cotton varieties from Brazil, India and the United States have been planted, with a Haitian cotton strain. Timberland hopes to transition from being a supporter of smallholder farmers to purchasing cotton from them for the brand’s supply chain.