High-profile initiatives by major fashion and beauty names are expected to contribute to the greening of local consumer culture.

Last week, the New York-based cult beauty brand, Kiehls, launched its Rare Earth line by announcing its support for Pasig River rehabilitation efforts.

On Tuesday, the Ayala Malls bannered its green bona fides by presenting its program of environmental awareness campaigns involving its Greenbelt 5 tenants, including the commissioning of reusable shopping bags from six well-known fashion designers and limited-edition, eco-friendly clothing lines and accessories from various fashion and jewelry brands.

Both events indicate an increasing readiness among lifestyle brands here to embrace the global trend toward sustainable development and responsible consumerism and may signal a season of extensive green marketing among local enterprises.

Activities revolved around engaging the public to patronize eco-friendly merchandise while creating awareness for and contributing financial support to various environmental projects around the country.

Ayala Malls focused on its upscale Greenbelt 5 mall, which houses a Filipino Zone featuring boutiques of local designers and brands. It asked six Filipino designers—Randy Ortiz, Vic Barba, Patrice Ramos-Diaz, Michi Calica-Sotto, Jun Escario and Louis Claparols—to create fashionable Eco Totes as alternatives to plastic shopping bags. Each Eco Tote will be sold for P400 in August at the mall concierge, with P100 for every bag benefiting the wildlife protection group World Wildlife Fund.

Proceeds from the sale of the bags also will benefit the designers’ pet environmental organizations, ranging from livelihood projects for low-income communities to animal welfare advocacies.

To push for eco-friendly merchandise, the mall is sponsoring a two-week sale of green clothing and accessories, probably the largest green fashion effort in the country to date.

From September 16 to 30, a number of Greenbelt 5 tenants will sell limited-edition clothes and accessories under the Green Line, from statement T-shirts by casualwear brands Bayo and Folded and Hung to organic clothing by Myth, Jun Escario, Barba, Bonne Bouche, Paradi and Religioso and eco-inspired jewelry, shoes and bags by Avatar Atelier, Aranaz, Arnel Papa and Gaupo.

Other activities under its “Greenology” program include an Eco Art exhibit of art installations using recycled materials by name artists and students from a number of universities, an Eco Dash “race against time to save the earth” run on September 13 at Bonifacio High Street to benefit the Bantay Kalikasan environmental watch group and a performance in October by progressive audio-visual artist and musician Kenji Williams whose work concerns “planetary consciousness and spiritual evolution.”

Kiehls, whose only Philippine store is likewise located in Greenbelt 5, took members of media to a “secret destination,” which turned out to be a ferry ride on the Pasig River, to launch its latest skincare range, the Rare Earth line of pore-minimizing and deep-cleansing facial care products featuring Amazonian White Clay, drawn from the basin of Brazil’s Amazon River at Marajo Island.

Highlighting efforts to save the Pasig River, now considered biologically dead, Kiehl’s took its guests on an eye-opening ride upriver, while inviting the Tuesday Group of artists to paint the scenery. The paintings will be auctioned off to benefit river rehabilitation projects, which include resettling families living along the river. One of the paintings also will be featured on the label of Rare Earth Deep Pore Cleansing Masque.

Both events point to a worldwide trend for companies to adopt environmental policies as part of good corporate governance and the rise of so-called green marketing, where brands highlight their eco smarts.

Ayala Malls and Kiehls have been ahead of the green curve—the Greenbelt malls have been noted for years for its green spaces and smart architecture while Kiehls is famous for its use of natural ingredients sourced from biodiverse communities as well as for community-driven projects in its stores’ locales.

Both seem to be taking advantage of the increasing popularity of eco-aware lifestyles to reiterate their long-standing environmental commitments and promote eco-friendly consumption.

Says Ayala Mall vice-president and COO Rowena Tomeldan at the Greenology launch, “We at Ayala Malls have explored ways to balance our environmental commitments with our customers’ need for a rewarding experience. We’re celebrating Greenology through a series of earth-friendly events designed to remind everyone to take care of the environment. We urge all our merchants, shoppers and supporters to help us make a difference for a sustainable future.”