July 25, 2005 - Growing Grassroots

NatureWorks evaluates the success of its first Ingeo™ Fiber Earth Month: four weeks dedicated to our shared planet.

MILAN - July 25, 2005 - NatureWorks' first Earth Month drew to a close recently. It was 31 days organized around strategic partnerships, roundtables, sales initiatives and rock concerts- prompting the company and many Earth Month participants to step back and take an overall look at what the novel initiative accomplished, and the focus is already extending into the future…

“Not even year one, this was a sort of year zero for us,” says Steve Davies, Director - IngeoTM fibers Business Development for NatureWorks LLC. “We wanted to test the terrain and explore peoples' reactions. And I think the success of what we've accomplished has turned the project into a starting point.”

Okay, but a starting point for what? No other company in the textiles industry has ever organized a concept like this one. A wide-ranging and varied initiative that included, among other things, a rock concert and sponsorship by internationally - renowned artist Moby; global consumer initiatives supported by 13 different commercial brands; partnerships with the Italian National Fashion Designers' Soccer Team and roundtable talks with experts discussing sustainability issues in the textile industry in held in major cities around the world. More than an exploratory enterprise, Earth Month had the hallmarks of a grassroots movement.

“For NatureWorks,” notes Davies; “one of the keys is to get people involved at all levels. Sustainability and responsibility are key issues for the company. More than a mission, it is implicit in the Ingeo™ fiber product: we use 100% annually renewable plant materials in the production of Ingeo fiber. The cycle from raw materials to starch then sugar followed by fermentation and final polymerization produces less greenhouse gases into the environment than conventional fiber production cycles, added to that we pride are always striving to achieve with the best standards in energy conservation. We recognize, however, the need to do more than simply create one great product, move it on the market and let things take care of themselves. There's a larger issue at stake here: creating a viable, sustainable relationship with nature for the textile industry at large; moving textile production away from its dependence on oil; changing the way people think about what they wear and use in daily life.”

Leslie Hoffman, Executive Director of Earth Pledge, also played a key role in the Earth Month initiative. “The point lies in making people understand where the value is, creating at the same time both demand and supply. Today in the U.S., organic food is a widespread reality that has even managed to transmigrate towards other sectors. This is a slower process for clothing, but nevertheless we can see promising possibilities.

Another participant, famed clothing designer Elio Fiorucci took his analysis even further. “If it is true that clothing is written by culture, then it is increasingly important that a cultural revolution starts with clothing. But paradoxically, fashion is one of the sectors in which the concept of sustainability has a hard time gaining a foothold, because ecological sensibilities run head-on into aesthetic aspects.”

The dual importance of aesthetic appeal and sustainable production was emphasized by all the participants in the Earth Month roundtables. “Personally, perhaps even a little selfishly, I think this emphasis on aesthetics was the most important aspect of the initiative,” says Davies. “I say selfishly only because this is the key to our Ingeo product. Ingeo fiber is created entirely from annually renewable resources, yet it provides the look, feel and performance of the best synthetics available. That means it combines the best of both worlds, and responds perfectly to the needs of the market: a textile that looks great, is cost competitive and entirely sustainable.”

With Earth Month, NatureWorks showed itself capable of reaching beyond the simple business requirements of selling a raw material for textiles. The company is working towards a higher goal, involving people at all levels in the discussion, from young music fans who bought their first Ingeo concert t-shirt at one of Moby's shows, to rival companies who actually requested to participate in the roundtable discussions in order to take part in this new way of approaching the industry.

“What we're really promoting,” concludes Davies, “is more than just an innovative & broadly applicable new fiber. We're promoting a new approach, new values, and new ‘lifestyles' if you will. It may sound like a cliché, but it's the truth. Once people realize that they have this choice, there can be no doubt about the novel direction our entire industry will take. The key is getting the word out.”

And at the close of one Earth Month, with the focus already turning next year, the word is starting to spread.

Note to editors:

Founded in 1997, NatureWorks LLC is based in Minnetonka, Minnesota, USA. It is the first company to offer a family of commercially available polymers derived from annually renewable resources with the cost and performance to compete with petroleum-based packaging materials and fibers. The company has achieved this breakthrough by applying its unique technology to the processing of natural plant sugars to create a proprietary polylactide polymer, which is marketed under the NatureWorks® PLA and Ingeo™ fiber brand names. For more information about NatureWorks and its brands, please visit www.ingeofibers.com.

Ingeo, the Ingeo logo and NatureWorks are trademarks of NatureWorks LLC.