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Thousands of yoga instructors pressure Lululemon to clean up its act, quit coal

As first reported by Bloomberg, thousands of yoga instructors have signed a petition urging Lululemon to convert its supply chain into renewable energy. Keep reading below for more details.

Sierra Hollister, a yoga instructor and reformed Lululemon Ambassador, is now leading the charge in a global campaign that is putting pressure on the athleisure giant to switch its supply chain from being reliant on coal to one that is reliant on renewable energy.

The petition, headed by environmental organizations Stand.Earth and Actions Speak Louder, has garnered over 7,000 signatures from yoga instructors calling for Lululemon to make the supply chain conversion to 100% renewable energy; many of Lululemon’s suppliers reside in counties such as Sri Lanka, Vietnam, and Cambodia, where coal is a primary source of energy used to power factories.

One of the issues, as noted in the piece by Bloomberg, is Lululemon’s reliance on coal-supported supply chains which comes into direct conflict with the company’s three corporate pillars:

Be human. Be well. Be planet.

Obviously, relying on non-renewable energy doesn’t fit with the latter two pillars, “Be well” and “Be Planet.” This, along with Lululemon’s global popularity amongst yoga instructors and other health-minded individuals is why this petition singles out Lululemon rather than its competitors. Stand.Earth and Actions Speak Louder rightfully believes that if Lululemon makes that change, other companies will follow. Erdene Batzorig, spokesperson for Stand.Earth:

It’s one of the biggest fashion brands, and its focus is on wellness, sustainability, people and planet. We felt that Lululemon had the potential to be a leader in this industry.

Stand.Earth gave Lululemon a rating of C- on its annual report card, which covers the 43 leading industry apparel companies and their attempts to lessen their dependence on fossil fuels. Scoring highest on the report card was H&M with a B-. Notably, none of the 43 graded companies aced the scorecard.

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Author

Avatar for Laura Rosenberg Laura Rosenberg

Laura is a dedicated gym-goer, a sucker for anything with sugar, and a fan of all four Michigan seasons. She has also written articles for 9to5Mac and Electrek.