practice what you preach:
open letter to lululemon

We are yoga teachers and students from around the world.

We call on lululemon to live up to its values and stop using coal — for the planet and humanity.

Over 7,000 yoga teachers and students signed from 44 countries

Practice What You Preach: Open Letter to lululemon

 

Dear Martha Morfitt, Chair of the Board, lululemon,

 

As yoga teachers, we ask lululemon to commit to phase out coal and source 100 percent renewable energy across its supply chain.

 

lululemon is one of the largest, fastest growing and most profitable fitness apparel brands in the world.

 

lululemon’s marketing claims its clothes are ‘designed by yogis’ and offers connection to a global community of mindfulness practitioners, sporting leaders and health and wellness professionals.

 

Yet almost half of the energy powering lululemon factories comes from burning coal.

 

lululemon’s reliance on coal as a source of energy is extremely harmful to people and the environment, particularly in countries like Vietnam, Cambodia, China, Sri Lanka, and Bangladesh, where its products are made.

 

Fossil fuels like coal cause dangerous climate change and air pollution that is responsible for the deaths of millions of people around the world each year. Nearly one in five premature deaths globally are attributed to air pollution that’s caused by fossil fuels, according to a 2018 Harvard study.

 

lululemon’s current climate commitments fail to adequately address its pollution. In fact, its total GHG emissions are increasing due to the company’s rapid growth. In order for the company to meet the Paris agreement targets, lululemon has to take immediate action to phase out coal and other fossil fuels from its supply chain.

 

lululemon: Please commit to immediately phase out coal and source 100 percent renewable energy such as solar and wind for your factories and across your supply chain.

 

Yoga Teacher Signatories (partial list):

 

  1. Sierra Hollister, Living Yoga and Former lululemon Ambassador, United States
  2. Prasanna Djukanovic, Human.Kind Studios & lululemon Ambassador, Australia
  3. Jennifer Tan, Freelance yoga teacher & movement educator, Former lululemon Ambassador, Singapore
  4. Sandra Woo, Former lululemon Ambassador, Malaysia
  5. Rachel Nicks, MIRROR and lululemon Ambassador, United States
  6. Yogacharini Maitreyi, Arkaya Foundation, Canada
  7. Joanna Benn, Everybody Yoga, United Kingdom
  8. Galen Tromble, ClimateYogi.org, United States
  9. Kennae Miller, Transformation Yoga, United States
  10. Miles Borrero, Miles Yoga, United States
  11. Sinah Diepold, Kale&Cake, Germany
  12. Shiva Rea, Samudra, United States
  13. Tias Little, Prajna Yoga, United States
  14. Surya Little, PrajnaYoga, United States
  15. Cyndi Lee, United States
  16. Eddie Stern, Ashtanga Yoga New York, United States
  17. Frank Jesse, Senior Iyengar Teacher, Griffins Hill Yoga Retreat, Australia
  18. Amanda Hood, Senior Iyengar Teacher, Hamilton Yoga, Australia
  19. Simon Joannou, Senior Iyengar Teacher, Marickville Yoga, Australia
  20. Julie Hodges PhD, Senior Iyengar Teacher, Lismore Yoga School, Australia
  21. Pixie Lillas, Director, Balmain Iyengar Yoga School, Australia
  22. Arjun von Caemmerer, Senior Teacher, Hobart School of Iyengar Yoga, Australia
  23. Simon Marrocco, Founder and Director, St Kilda Iyengar Yoga School, Australia
  24. Ashlea Wilken, Manager, YogaWest, Australia
  25. Akhila Hughes, The Yoga Workshop, Australia
  26. Marjon Robati, Shiva Shakti Unite, Australia
  27. Bronwyn Rust, Senior Iyengar Teacher, Yogaville, Australia
  28. Sarah Ball, yoga teacher, art therapist, counsellor, and social worker, Australia
  29. Nikki Calonge, United States
  30. Aileen Epstein-Ignadiou, United States
  31. Ingela Abbott, Founder-Yoga Northwest United States
  32. Nancy Gilgoff, The House of Yoga and Zen, United States
  33. Annie Piper, United States
  34. Dass Padmani , Golden Bridge Yoga, United States
  35. Margi Young, Nest Yoga Center, United States
  36. Michael Cecconi, Running Yoga, United States
  37. David Miliotis, Samjiva Nilayam, United States
  38. Andrea Mullen, Tranquility, United States
  39. Joan White, Iyengar Yoga School of Philadelphia, United States
  40. Leslie Howard, Nest Yoga, United States
  41. Andrew Hillam, Jois Yoga, United States
  42. Jane DoCampo, Sarasota Scoliosis & Backcare, United States
  43. Sarah Wilner, Nest, United States
  44. Penny Dedel, Innerstellar, United States
  45. Dafna Sarnoff, Shala, United States
  46. David E Morreno, Yoga Alliance, United States
  47. Sarah Trelease, Sola School, United States
  48. Caron James, Margo Young Yoga, United States
  49. Linda Collery, Independent Yoga Teacher, United States
  50. Erika Trice, Yoga Works, United States
  51. Annie Carpenter, SmartFlow Yoga, United States
  52. Kim Stabbe, Blue Yoga & Wellness, United States
  53. Sharon Steffensen, Yoga Chicago Magazine, United States
  54. Josh Schrei, Tapta Marg Productions, United States
  55. Tina Rumenović, Tula yoga Amsterdam, The Netherlands
  56. Triton Tunis-Mitchell, Human.Kind, Australia
  57. Susannah Russell, Yogahaven, England
  58. Luciana Comas, Yogaspot Amsterdam, Nederlands
  59. Saija Merilaeinen, Self-employed, Finland
  60. Heidi Edwards, Australia
  61. Erika Hoopes, Bluebirds Amsterdam, Netherlands
  62. Jane Shufflebotham, Yoga Ananda, England
  63. Christina Madlani, Go holistic, Spain
  64. Ana Conneely, HOTPOD yoga, United Kingdom
  65. Zsa Zsarizat Othman, Earth Air Retreat, Malaysia
  66. Lauren Munday, Ashtanga, United Kingdom
  67. Vic Smith, Yogarise, United Kingdom
  68. Marion Bierling, Ashy, Germany
  69. Liliane Meier, littleyoga.ch, Switzerland
  70. Chris Keller, Yogatribe, Germany
  71. Julia George, FFHC, Australia
  72. Sarah Worby, Authentic Living, New Zealand
  73. Carolina Lee, Freelancer, Singapore
  74. Tia Stonier, Private, Australia
  75. Piper Montag, Kula, Australia
  76. Angelique Jordan, Frog Lotus Yoga, France
  77. Sebastian Warschow, Spirit yoga, Germany
  78. Kirsty Lillis, Yoga Lane Studios, New Zealand
  79. Cat Reynolds, Graceful Cat Yoga, Spain
  80. Lynn Yeo, Space & Light Yoga, Singapore
  81. Loretta Voivodich, Unfold Yoga + Wellbeing, Australia
  82. David Keens, YA + YAP UK, United Kingdom
  83. Adele Bauville, Vinyasa ashtanga, France
  84. Valerie Grüninger, Yogahaus Dubs, Switzerland
  85. Lea Kolbe, Lea Lea Mang, Germany
  86. Hannah Murray, Flo Yoga, England
  87. Tamsyn Heynes, Private teacher – Quietly Sitting, Australia
  88. Lauren Urquhart, OOTV, Australia
  89. Susan Drummond, Sivananda, Australia and India
  90. Yazmin Low, Triyoga, England
  91. Carson Wind, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
  92. Andy Fermo, Invisible Injuries – veteran yoga project, Australia
  93. Patscharaporn Distakul, Patanjali Yoga Centre, Germany
  94. Hannah Rawlinson, Sun Power Yoga, United Kingdom
  95. Kylie Bailey, West Coast Yoga, New Zealand
  96. Alexa Posth, Soul Yoga, Germany
  97. Nadja Rippmann, Mutti Space Zürich, Switzerland
  98. Chatlotte Troa, All yoga, Norway
  99. Kathryn Caddick, 200 YTT with The Travelling Yogi, United Kingdom
  100. Reika Sroyphet, Solace Ground Yoga, Australia

Jennifer tan,
Freelance yoga teacher

Former lululemon Ambassador

singapore

“As a former lululemon ambassador whose individual voice was not always heard, I feel a collective calling is necessary in order to facilitate meaningful change. lululemon has the power and resources to make significant shifts in how it operates – not only from a climate crisis perspective, but from an intersectional stance, too. It is encouraging to see so many names on the petition, and I encourage others to join this invitation, for those in power to have their values and actions align with one another.”

Dr. Shyam Ranganathan, Professor, York University

founder, Yoga Philosophy
Canada

“Before yoga was a commodity that Lululemon could profit off, it was, in ancient times, the original philosophy of decolonization, which aimed at interrupting systemic harm to make room for independent persons. If Lululemon wants to make money off of yoga, it ought to embody the practice of yoga, and do its part to disrupt climate change by, for starters, divesting from coal.”

Hala Khouri Co-Founder,
Off The Mat

“Climate change threatens our future and we all have to do our part to reduce emissions, including lululemon.”

Joanna Benn,
Every Body yoga

United Kingdom

“We need to halve global emissions in the next 8 years if we are to have a liveable Earth. We must, as yoga practitioners, lead through ahimsa, non-harming and make every effort along the supply chain and in all our actions to do the right, if sometimes, more challenging thing. Coal is not clean. It’s time to go 100% renewable.”

Galen Thromble,
Climate Yogi

United States

“To end the climate crisis, everything matters, even how our clothes are made. I urge lululemon to bring its supply chain’s climate impacts in line with its environmental and social values by committing to quit coal and transition to 100% renewable by 2030.”

Sierra Hollister,
Living Yoga

Former lululemon ambassador

United States

“lululemon is uniquely positioned to make good on their core value ‘taking personal responsibility’ and also move industry standards by committing to quit coal and utilize renewable energy in their manufacturing plants. With the climate crisis threatening every aspect of life on earth, it is more important than ever for each of us to do everything in our power to turn the wheel and step away from business as usual – which is literally killing us.” 

Yogacharini Maitreyi,
Arkaya Foundation

canada

“I signed the letter to lululemon because the pollution from the production of lululemon’s apparel is a threat both to human health and climate change. Lululemon’s failure to address the health and climate impacts of its supply chain is out of alignment with the company’s values and brand promise. I invite the yoga community to join me in signing the letter asking lululemon to quit coal and go renewable by 2030.”

 

Kennae Miller, Transformation Yoga

United States

“As yogis we know that the outward manifestation of what happens to the Earth is a reflection of what is happening within. We have a responsibility to buy clothing and equipment from reputable and regenerative brands and call into question and hold accountable brands that continue to succeed because of our funding by challenging them to do their part in climate change. We borrow this planet from our children and if we are determined to leave a planet for them to inherit, it is imperative that we do our part and stop the use of coal, which contributes to the decline of our climate.”

Miles Borrero, Miles Yoga

United States

“One of the lead tenants of yoga is ahimsa, the practice of ‘doing the least amount of harm’. Lululemon makes a living through its connection to yoga. As an avid advocate for our planet, I have signed along with many other yoga teachers, for lululemon to move from its coal dependency toward renewable energy by 2030. We must be the changemakers, and we can’t stop the effects of climate change without commitment from these big corporations. Sign the petition if you’d like to join me.”

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Frequently Asked Questions

lululemon has built its brand and loyal customer-base off the back of yoga. The company claims to be a ‘mindful movement’ and has leveraged the yoga community in its marketing campaigns by engaging instructors as brand ambassadors and offering free yoga classes around the world.

Yet lululemon makes its yoga products using fossil fuels that cause global warming and damage the health of local communities.  Remarkably, almost half of the energy powering lululemon factories still comes from burning coal, the largest driver of the climate crisis.

The Open Letter from yoga instructors and students around the world demonstrates to lululemon that its customers know about the brand’s harmful climate footprint and are demanding that lululemon does better.

Specifically, the Open Letter calls on lululemon to commit to phasing out coal and other fossil fuels and sourcing 100 percent renewable energy across its supply chain, in line with the Paris climate agreement and the goal of keeping global warming well below 2 degrees.

Hundreds of yoga instructors from around the world have signed the Open Letter addressed to lululemon, calling on the brand to phase out coal and other fossil fuels and source 100 percent renewable energy across its supply chain.

A significant number of the yoga teacher and student signatories come from those countries where lululemon does the most business; the USA, Australia, the UK, Germany and France, among others.

Two climate change campaigning organisations are coordinating the Open Letter from yoga instructors; Action Speaks Louder and Stand Earth. 

Action Speaks Louder is a global community taking action to hold companies accountable for their climate change promises, and their campaigners are also part of the yoga community. Stand Earth challenges corporations and governments to treat people and the environment with respect, because our lives depend on it.

Fashion brands like lululemon are able to make huge profits by offshoring their production to lower income countries like Vietnam, Cambodia, China, Sri Lanka, and Bangladesh where labor and materials are cheap. This also means offshoring their greenhouse gas emissions and environmental impact.

Yet there is a pathway for companies like lululemon to use more clean energy and clean up the electricity grids it’s hooked into. 

For powering its supply chain, lululemon can work with its factories to set up renewable electricity projects either on-site at the factory that deliver electricity directly to the manufacturer, or off-site and feed into the electricity grid. 

In countries where investment and infrastructure are still needed, lululemon can work with governments and utility companies to support the development of on-and-off-site renewables.  Corporate demand for renewable electricity is now one the largest drivers of new renewable electricity generation in many markets. Fashion companies like lululemon play an important role in the economies of lower income countries and have a big opportunity to positively influence the transition to renewable electricity on a large scale.

Another big use of fossil fuels in lululemon’s supply chain comes from burning coal to boil huge tanks of water for dyeing and finishing fabric – one of the most emissions-intensive stages of the fashion supply chain.

There are solutions here as well. lululemon can follow the lead of its competitors like Adidas and PUMA to replace coal-fired boilers, or Asics to eliminate on-site coal burning at many of its facilities, or Nike to replace thermal fossil fuel boiler systems with electrified boilers as well as switch to dry processing that removes the need for boiling water with coal. 

lululemon has the power, profits and prominence needed to transform its own supply chain away from fossil fuels, positively influence the wider fashion industry and help drive the clean energy transition in producer countries.

Lululemon claims to have an emissions reduction target of 60% of greenhouse gas emissions by 2030. But if you look at the fine print, you’ll see a major loophole.

The company has adopted an ‘intensity-based’ target for its supply chain. That means it’s only committed to reducing its greenhouse gas emissions per unit of production. It is becoming more ‘pollution efficient’, so that when it expands to sell more products, its overall fossil fuel use will still increase.

Compare this to other activewear brands, like Asic and Mammut, who have made commitments to reduce their total greenhouse gas emissions, and Lululemon starts to look dirty and unhealthy.

More than 60% of lululemon’s products are made of synthetic materials like nylon and polyester, which are derived from fossil fuels like oil and gas and produced using greenhouse-gas emitting processes, and ultimately contribute to waste and pollution including microplastics. 

So when we write “lululemon has to take immediate action to phase out coal and other fossil fuels from its supply chain” it’s both about renewable energy and reducing the total emissions from its materials use. 

While lululemon has announced targets to source 75% ‘sustainable materials’, this target is vague and misleading. A big problem is the company’s plan to use recycled polyester made from plastic bottles. This is an ‘open-loop’ recycling system, meaning once the bottles become leggings, they aren’t recycled again and the leggings most likely end up as waste. These plastic bottles could otherwise have been recycled into plastic bottles over and over again in an ‘closed-loop’ system. So using plastic bottles to make polyester clothes is not really a ‘sustainable’ solution.

What lululemon should be doing is recycling the textile waste generated by its own products into new products, in a closed-loop system, as well as developing truly sustainable business models that don’t depend on overproduction and consumption and the emissions and waste that this causes.

Not only are lululemon’s current climate commitments not good enough, but the company is not even on track to meet these weak commitments, with total emissions actually increasing in 2021.

lululemon’s 2021 Impact Report shows the company is polluting more greenhouse gas emissions than before.

In the last year between 2020 and 2021, lululemon increased its total emissions by 55%, taking its total from 414,565 tons of CO2 equivalent, to 643,478 tons.

Worse, total emissions in 2021 increased by almost 100% – or 317,364 tons – since 2018, the ‘baseline’ year against which lululemon sets its climate targets.

This big increase means lululemon is way off-track to meet its already weak ‘intensity-based’ emissions reduction target of 60% per $ of revenue by 2030. The last year saw lululemon actually increase emissions per $ of revenue by 9% since 2020, and by 4% compared to the 2018 benchmark. 

While lululemon has a target to achieve 100% renewable electricity in ‘owned and operated’ facilities, it’s doing so with energy certificates and just one power purchase agreement, which is a weak solution and does not amount to real change in the company’s operations.

These ‘owned and operated’ facilities also represent just 0.03% of the company’s total emissions. The other 99.7% is taking place along the supply chain, where the fabric is made and the products are assembled. This is where lululemon’s emissions actually come from, and why we are calling on the company to commit to phasing out coal and sourcing 100% renewable energy across its supply chain.

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