Chemistry, Materials & Packaging
prAna’s Responsible Packaging Movement Aims to Foster Sea Change in Fashion

This week, prAna — a leader in sustainable, outdoor fashion and creator of Clothing for Positive Change — launched the Responsible Packaging Movement (RPM), a program to inspire and create an industry-wide shift away from wasteful packaging in retail and e-commerce.

prAna has been working to reduce plastic and excess waste in its packaging for the past 10 years. Now, it is taking the next step — by pledging to eliminate plastic from its consumer packaging by 2021, the use of Ancient and Endangered Forest materials by 2022, and to eliminate virgin forest fibers by 2025. And with the Responsible Packaging Movement, prAna is calling on brands and consumers to join the journey.

prAna welcomes fellow conscious fashion brands Mara Hoffman, Outerknown and Toad and Co. to the movement  at launch; along with supporting non-profit partners 5 Gyres, which has been working to address ocean plastic pollution since 2009; and Canopy — which has engaged over 170 fashion brands, manufacturers and suppliers throughout the global textile chain to adopt forest-friendly practices through its CanopyStyle campaign.

prAna’s efforts to reduce plastic in its packaging started in 2010, when a store manager emailed prAna’s corporate office with a photo showing a mound of poly bags and a message, “What do I do with all this?” Since then, prAna has eliminated more than 17 million poly bags from the supply chain (from 2010-2019). And in June, prAna also joined Stella McCartney, H&M, Reformation, TOMS, VF Corp and more in Canopy’s Pack4Good initiative — which aims to mitigate the impacts of the world’s packaging supply chain on forests.

“As a sustainability leader in the apparel industry, we have always looked beyond our products to use our business as a platform for good,” said Rachel Lincoln, director of sustainability at prAna. “We are so excited to launch this movement to bring people together with a platform to share knowledge. The RPM represents the continuation of our journey and our commitment to Clothing for Positive Change.”

Circular packaging solutions from RePack and Returnity, to name a few, could be game-changers for taking the waste out of e-commerce shipping. And the past few months have seen several moves from the fashion industry, in particular, aimed at reducing its packaging footprint — including Fashion for Good’s Circular Polybag Pilot, working on a closed-loop solution for the ubiquitous polybags inherent in fashion retail and e-commerce; and MATCHESFASHION’s new, FSC-certified and completely recyclable signature boxes. prAna is aiming to continue this momentum with the Responsible Packaging Movement.

By creating room for collaboration, prAna is inviting the fashion industry to share best practices and learn together. When a brand joins the RPM, prAna asks that it creates its own goals around responsible packaging; and that the brand shares the news that it has joined the Responsible Packaging Movement. prAna says it will then share its learnings, resources including its Responsible Packaging Guides, advice through webinars and email communications, access to industry leaders via roundtable discussions, networking with like-minded brands and a social media tool kit to guide brands in sharing their progress.  

Brands interested in joining the movement can sign up at prana.com/reshape-packaging. And consumers are encouraged to share ways they are eliminating plastic and virgin-sourced forest fibers from their daily lives on social media using #ReshapePackaging to build awareness.