Designers all over the world have submitted their entries for the 6^th annual Independent Handbag Designer Awards (IHDA), presented by InStyle and Handbag Designer 101.  The only handbag competition of its kind in the world, the IHDA recognizes handbag excellence in nine categories, including Best Green Handbag – an IHDA award Timberland is proud to sponsor, along with Amorim Cork, for the third year in a row.  Timberland strives to use recycled, renewable and organic materials in our own products, and we’re happy to recognize and support handbag designers who share our love of green!

Meet the fabulous finalists in the Best Green Handbag category:

Now it’s your turn: one of the handbag awards will go to the Audience Fan Favorite – the handbag design that receives the most audience votes.  Just click through to the Audience Fan Favorite voting page and cast your vote for the bag you love best (one that’s made of recycled and sustainable materials, maybe?).

All of the winning designers and their handbags will be announced at the IHDA awards ceremony on June 13^th.  Stay tuned – we’ll be sharing photos from the ceremony and details about the Best Green Handbag winner here on the Bootmakers Blog.

Colorado may be home to some of the best skiing in the states, but when the temperature warms and the snow melts, we love it for a whole different reason: Mountainfilm in Telluride.

To call Mountainfilm a film festival would be an understatement: it’s as much about the people that attend and the experiences they share as it is about the films that are shown.  Each year, activists, explorers and artists of all kinds congregate at Mountainfilm to examine environmental, cultural and social issues in a uniquely creative way — and to be moved and motivated to take their own action.

As a brand that appreciates creativity and is passionate about protecting the great outdoors, we’re excited to be the Official Footwear Sponsor of Mountainfilm in Telluride.  As part of our sponsorship, we’re going to be outfitting filmmakers and other Mountainfilm VIPs in our Earthkeepers footwear (made with recycled and environmentally-conscious materials), and encouraging festival-goers to be more eco-conscious in their own lives.  If you’re going to Mountainfilm, stop by the Timberland kiosk and make a pledge to reduce your environmental impact — we’ll plant a tree in your honor!

If you’re not traveling to Telluride, stay connected to all the best of what’s happening at Mountainfilm by visiting our Festivals page - we’ll be sharing stories, photos and videos from our experience there.

Along with our longstanding partner SkillsUSA, Timberland PRO is once again supporting Harvesters and the critical work they do through our Virtual Food Drive.  To participate, simply click through to the food drive and add much-needed food items to your virtual grocery cart.  It’s that easy!

All donations are tax deductible, and Timberland PRO will match food drive donations, up to $1,000 or 5,000 meals.  Better still – all donors will be entered in a raffle to win a $250 American Express gift card!

We’re proud to work with SkillsUSA and help Harvesters give hunger the boot.  To learn more and make a donation, please visit www.timberland.harvesters.org; the Virtual Food Drive ends on June 27th.

While giving new life to old things is environmentally rewarding (less waste going into a landfill), it’s also a lot of fun!  See for yourself what it was like when we went trolling for treasures at the legendary Brimfield Antique Show:

Put your own repurposing skills to work by visiting an antiques show like Brimfield (which opens today) to see what precious pieces await you.  To learn more about the materials and methods we use to design our stores in more sustainable ways, visit the sustainable store design section of our website.

We all know it isn’t nice to play favorites — but nice or not, the truth is that most of us do have a pair (or two) of shoes or boots that get more than their fair share of love and attention.

Even here at Timberland — where we’re surrounded by footwear made to look good, feel good and perform well — we’ve got our own personal can’t-resist picks:

Marketing associate Gillian has a soft spot for the Earthkeepers Deering Boat Ballerina because, ” It’s a trendy looking cross between a boat shoe and a ballerina, with a touch of casual ruggedness—perfect for any outfit, any day of the week.”

Earthkeepers Deering Boat Ballerina

Our senior retail marketing manager Rachel has found a perfect travel companion in the Timberland Boot Company Marge Wood Heel Sandal.  “For someone like me that travels a lot, this is the pair I’m going to pack first this season. Handcrafted details, great heel height and a back strap so I can run to catch my next flight—it’s perfect!”

Boot Co. Marge Wood Heel Sandal

The members of the Royal Spanish Sailing Federation aren’t the only ones who covet our Formentor boat shoe.  Women’s product manager Andrea says, “When I race sailboats, I’m often on the foredeck—by far the most unstable and slippery part of the boat. That’s why I absolutely need to make sure my shoes are really made for performance sailing with the best traction imaginable.”

Formentor Fabric and Leather Oxford

And senior designer Penelope loves the versatility of the Earthkeepers Nevali Peep Toe: “Because it’s a peep toe, it works in warm and cooler temperatures —so it has a longer season in my wardrobe. It works with skirts, dresses and jeans.”

Earthkeepers Nevali Peep Toe

You can see which styles are topping the list for other Timberland women by checking out our staff picks section.  To find a new favorite pair for yourself, shop our entire selection of women’s footwear now.

As a values-driven company, Timberland is always looking for ways to walk the walk as we talk the talk. It’s not always easy. When it comes to community service, we often face questions from employees about how to take time out of the office to serve while staying on top of their job responsibilities. How do you show employees that when they serve, it isn’t just good for the community but in fact also good for the business?

That’s the task at hand for Rob Rizzotti, Director of National Accounts for Timberland’s U.S. Field Sales Team, a group of fifty-plus field-based sales reps. In his role as a Global Steward, Rob works to inform, inspire and engage the sales team by sharing our CSR programs and values. Chief among these values is creating positive and sustainable impact by serving in our communities.

Rizzotti recognizes that the sales team has unique opportunities to engage customers, whether they’re large national retailers or small independent retailers.

Service strengthens relationships with retailers and business partners in a way that taking them out to lunch doesn’t. You see a different side of people when you’re rolling up your sleeves and working for a common cause.

- Rob Rizzotti

Timberland’s sales teams have developed their own memorable and meaningful traditions of service over the years. Every September 11th, a Timberland sales team serves at a school in the Bronx, commemorating the same day in 2001 when they first served at a school in that community — before knowing the historic events that would unfold.

Rizzotti staunchly believes relationships are the core of his team’s business. “When you’re serving with an account, it makes a huge difference in building trust and a deeper relationship,” he says. “As a sales rep, when you do something like this, it shows what you’re made of—that you’re a person with a heart, you want to give back, and you want your business to honor that as well.”

At Timberland, we’re optimistic that this type of interaction will continue to create different conversations and new partnership opportunities – and that’s simply good business. To learn more about the ways in which we engage citizens, employees and consumers around the world through community service, visit our Responsibility website.

Because today is Arbor Day, which is all about honoring and celebrating trees.  And we can’t imagine a more appropriate way to show our appreciation for trees than by planting MORE of them.

It’s not too late, and you don’t even have to get up from your computer to do your part: just click over to the Hortiscope quiz on Timberland’s Facebook page.  If you take the quiz, we’ll plant a tree for you in Haiti.  Simple as that!  And in the process of taking the Hortiscope and finding out what tree best matches your personality, you’ll also find out more about the real trees we’re planting through our sustainable agroforestry program in Haiti.

You might say the Hortiscope has a personality of its own — fun and frivolous, but with a serious, responsible side.  The trees we’ll plant for Hortiscope takers will benefit volunteer farmers in Haiti; these farmers receive the necessary tools and training through our agroforestry program to run our nurseries, grow and sell crops and trees, and help rebuild their communities and their environment.   See for yourself:

To learn more about Timberland’s longstanding commitment to reforestation, visit our tree planting page.  Happy Arbor Day!

Timberland is proud to be a member of the Climate Counts Industry Innovators program (i2) — an initiative which has helped to make the Climate Counts scorecard available and useful to many more companies.  Along with other i2 companies (Amtrak, Ben & Jerry’s, Clif Bar, REI and Shaklee), Timberland supports the Climate Counts mission of educating consumers while holding our brand and our business to the highest standard of climate leadership.  In fact, Timberland received the highest score in the apparel / accessories category (86 points out of 100) from Climate Counts for our commitment to fighting global warming!

Now it’s your turn to show your support for i2 companies and climate consciousness by taking the Climate Counts i2 Challenge:

• Snap a photo of yourself, supporting one of the i2 companies.  The photo could be you wearing Timberland Earthkeepers boots, riding on the Amtrak, eating Ben & Jerry’s … you get the idea.
• Email the photo with a brief description to Climate Counts (info@climatecounts.org) with “Climate Counts i2 Challenge” in the subject line.
• Don’t be late: all photo submissions must be received by Tuesday, May 1.

All photos will be compiled and added to the Climate Counts Facebook page and blog; the coolest photo will win a $50 gift card to the i2 company of your choice!

You can read more about Climate Counts and the i2 program on their website.  To learn more about the ways in which Timberland is working to reduce its climate impact, check out our Responsibility site.

• Product: Innovate Cradle-to-Cradle Design

Timberland experienced continued growth of Earthkeepers^® – our most eco-conscious line, now comprising one-third of total sales.  Earthkeepers® products best represent our use of environmentally preferred materials – such as recycled, organic or renewable materials – and this is driving improvements across all product lines.   In fact, for the 58.6% of footwear we measured in 2011, over half the materials were recycled, organic or renewable.

• Service: Engage Employees

2011 produced our best employee participation rates ever in the Path of Service^TM employee volunteer program, which celebrates its twentieth year in 2012.  We’re proud to have met our Hours Utilization Rate goal of 42%, which measures total volunteer hours used vs. available Path of Service hours.  In total, our employees served more than 92,600 hours this year.

• Climate: Protect the Outdoors

Our greenhouse gas emissions increased by 4.5% over 2010. While we didn’t meet our 2011 target, this is still a positive achievement in a year of strong business growth. The emissions increase was primarily due to increased air travel by employees; in 2012, we will experiment with carbon budgeting to alleviate emissions increases from air travel.  In addition, we met our industry-leading 2011 goal to source 15 percent of energy from renewable sources.

• Factories: Improve Workers’ Lives

Global factory performance remained relatively static in 2011, with continuing business partners showing slightly improved performance. We were challenged to meet our 2011 target for factories’ environmental performance, as measured by the Global Social Compliance Program. In 2012, Timberland will promote the benefits achieved by those factories that did meet its target to demonstrate financial incentives to other suppliers.

To learn more about our 2011 results and to compare them to our bold 2015 CSR goals, go to the Goals & Progress section of our website.

We’re proud to continue our commitment to transparency and accountability by disclosing this information. How are we doing?  Let us know your thoughts about our performance at csrinfo@timberland.com.

Not to worry, this is a family blog.  And a Lisina is a tree that helps to produce sustainable charcoal in Haiti, where people depend on fuel wood and charcoal for cooking and heating.  It’s one of several tree species we’re growing in Haiti as part of Timberland’s sustainable agroforestry program there, which has resulted in 1.4 million trees planted to date.

We’re working on adding another 100,000 trees to that tally, and you can help:  In honor of Arbor Day (that’s this Friday, tree fans), we’re asking Facebook users to check out Timberland’s Hortiscope — a quiz which matches your personality with the tree in Haiti that’s most like you.  And if it wasn’t rewarding enough to learn whether you resemble a Benzoliv (caring and selfless) or a Kasya (trustworthy and practical), there’s more:  For every completed Hortsicope quiz, Timberland will plant a tree in Haiti.

Click, learn, plant.  What better way to celebrate Arbor Day?

Once you’ve become acquainted with your true tree personality, you can learn more about our global commitment to reforestation in the Tree Planting section of our website.  And to read more about Timberland’s Arbor Day campaign, check out our Newsroom.