How Nike Measures How Sustainable They Are

 Nike and Sustainability:

Nike measures their sustainability through data. Specifically, Nike created the Materials Sustainability Index (MSI) and this is how they evaluate the impact the materials they use on their products to the environment. Nike also released all of this information so that anyone and everyone can see it and has access to it. So far, this is the only way that Nike has measured sustainability in their company. Every single product that they use can be looked at and evaluated by the MSI which I believe is very good. Overall, I believe that there can definitely be something that they are not measuring. They measure three categories which are the material environmental attributes, the base material score and supplier practices. In more depth, they measure the chemistry, energy and greenhouse gas intensity, water and land use intensity and physical waste. To go even more in depth, they measure green chemistry, recycled content, organic content, RSL, water quality and conservation, energy & carbon, and sustainability certifications & programs. They can get a maximum score of 100 on these evaluations that are similar to report cards. Nike is on a mission to use the most environmentally friendly and sustainable products so this is definitely a step in the right direction.

What is EP&L or GRI?

EP&L stands for environmental profit and loss account. This measures a specific company's evaluation in a monetary stand point and an evaluation of their environmental impact. They measure these results in dollars in the US. This allows more companies to really put things into perspective as they tend to be more familiar with money instead of emissions units (CO2 or kg).

GRI stands for global reporting initiative. This is used to be able to show the public what their environmental impacts are based on their activity. This is especially useful for stakeholders, investors or anyone else who is interested as they can see clearly how the company makes an impact and make the decision if they want to support the company or not.