Nike Announces Collaboration with MIT Climate CoLab

Following it’s pledge to use 100% renewable energy by 2025, Nike has now announced it’s partnership with MIT’s (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) Climate CoLab division to bring innovation in materials to the forefront of the climate conversation.

“For more than a decade, we’ve worked hard to understand where our greatest impacts lie. We know materials make up about 60 percent of the environmental impact in a pair of Nike shoes,” said Hannah Jones, chief sustainability officer. “This knowledge has focused us on the need to bring new low-impact performance materials to scale through innovative solutions.”

According to research by MIT’s Materials System Laboratory, “the global apparel industry is expected to produce more than 400 billion square meters of fabric per year – representing nearly enough material to cover the state of California – and is estimated to consume nearly 1 billion kWh (kilowatt hour) of electricity every year.”

To counter this trend, Nike and MIT have launched the MIT Climate CoLab Materials Challenge, seeking revolutionary new ideas for how to engage industries, designers and consumers in valuing, demanding and adopting low-impact fabrics and textiles. Nike has also created the MAKING App, a predictive app that helps designers and product creators make better decisions about their material choices, showing the climate-related impact of choices alongside chemistry, waste and water.

Learn more about Nike’s latest initiatives here.