Earthenterprise Tool Kit - International Institute for Sustainable ...

EarthEnterprise Tool Kit
In this role Akers oversaw all organic cotton sourcing and apparel. He led O
We a r ’s continuing effort to help conventional cotton farmers make the
transition to growing organically, and today O Wear is one of the world’s largest
purchasers of organic cotton. For his efforts,Akers and O Wear received the first
United Nations Fashion and the Environment Award from the United Nations
Environment Programme in April, 1993.
Akers’ commitment to environmental issues extends beyond his professional
life. He serves on the Advisory Board and the Merchandising Committee of
Heal the Bay, a Los Angeles-based organization dedicated to cleaning up Santa
Monica’s polluted coastal waters and beaches, and he was honored in 1993 by
Heal the Bay with its “Superhealer Award.”Additionally, he is a member of the
Advisory Council of the California Organic Growers & Processors Association;
member, Board of Directors, The Fashion Association; member, Advisory
Committee, Earth Action Report; and member, Board of Advisors, Fashion
Institute of Design & Merchandizing - L.A. In May, 1993 he received the First
Annual Los Angeles Magazine “Environmental Pride Award for Innovation.”
For more than 20 years prior to founding O Wear, Akers concentrated on the
“start-up”of numerous clothing companies including Ragtime, Brittania, Texas
Rose, Union Bay, Generra and others.
Currently Akers, who continues to retain his equity position in O Wear but has
fulfilled his employment contracts with VF Corporation, has gone on to his next
challenge: to expand organic farming by developing unique companies to
market organic food, fiber and fashions.
For further information contact George Akers, 10430 Scenario Lane, Los
Angeles, CA 90077. Telephone: (310) 474-3315, Fax: (310) 474-4556.
DEJA SHOE: Footwear With a Past
In 1990, Julie Lewis, an Oregon recycling activist, turned her goal of creating a
market for re cycled materials into DEJA Inc., a shoe company that
manufactures casual/outdoor footwear from 23 recycled materials. DEJA
SHOE, The Environmental Footwear Company, based in Portland, Oregon,
produces shoes that are leather-free and made from recycled and sustainably
harvested materials. Old milk jugs, wet suit trim, coffee filters and automobile
tires are among the 23 pre- and post-consumer materials used to produce
DEJA’s growing product line. DEJA is also the first company to use TreeTap
Vegetal Leather, a plant material obtained by rubber tappers in the Amazon
rain forest, in its footwear. In spring 1995, DEJA will introduce footwear made
of natural hemp fibre, grown in Hungary.
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INTERNATIONAL INSTITUTE FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT