Ugg announces new ‘Restore our Earth’ sustainable targets

Southern California-based global lifestyle brand Ugg has announced four new sustainable commitments to celebrate Earth Day 2021, including the launch of its first-ever repair service.

“With time running out to prevent irreversible damage from climate change, Ugg understands that we cannot simply protect – we must actively restore the Earth, its ecosystems, and the livelihood of its inhabitants,” said Ugg in a statement. “Through ‘Feel Good’, the brand’s journey towards a more sustainable future, Ugg has committed to restoration across four focus areas.”

The footwear brand’s sustainable future will focus on four areas: regenerating acres of land; repairing Ugg classics; restoring forests; and working to promote transparency in fashion.

An estimated 300 million pairs of shoes are thrown away each year, and Ugg is stating that the responsible solution is to “buy less, but buy better”. This philosophy will be backed up with the brand’s first-ever repair programme, which will see Ugg restoring customers favourite Ugg classics to “like-new condition”.

Ugg has also announced a commitment to regenerating 200,000 acres of land in 2021 and 1,000,000 acres by 2025. The brand will be establishing a grant to provide holistic solutions to promote soil health and biodiversity, to help the Australian sheepskin industry transition to regenerative practices.

Alongside this Ugg is increasing its efforts to restoring forests by committing to sourcing 100 percent of wood-based products from responsible forests by partnering with Canopy, an organisation dedicated to responsible sourcing, tree planting, stewardship, education, and advocacy to restore forests. This is in response to the facts from the UN that suggest that forest conservation could provide up to 30 percent of the solution to climate change.

The final goal is to work on restoring transparency in fashion, which Ugg states can only be done with a “collaborative, transparent approach” and that’s why it has joined the Apparel Transparency Pledge, committing to being open about where its products are made and by who.