How to choose Outdoor Sustainable Gear
To paraphrase Henry David Thoreau, “What is the use of a tent if you don’t have a decent planet to put it on?”
As we know, Environment on Earth is getting worse and worse. People are not only putting effort into new energy sources’ inventions but more into environment protection activities.
Outdoor recreation provides important recreational ecosystem services (eg. Stress relief, socialization, nature (appreciation, etc. ) through physical interaction with the natural world (Acholte et al, 2019). Outdoor enthusiasts are the first group to fell the changes in nature, and they are the protection environment pioneer. Since more and more people regard outdoor activities the requirements for the environment are also becoming more and more important.
For outdoor adventure, Besides the action, the most important is the gear to assist. So which unique environmental protection symbols are needed to be noticed when you select the outdoor gear? What does these environmental labels represented
First, you should know that lot of outdoor gear has synthetics, especially fluffy fleece jackets. Shed microfibers into the environment, which make up about 35% of microplastics in the ocean. So, try to go with brands that use recycled polyester and nylon, if possible, to lessen their impact.
Select REACH-Certified， is adopted to improve the protection of human health and the environment from the risks that can but posed by chemicals. And whenever you purchase outdoor equipment, check the product to see if it is bluesign approved. If you think these researches are too tedious, check out these brands through social media before you place the order. If they have appealed to the environment, they will post it and people will leave comments. By doing our best to choose eco-friendly gear, we can get out and explore knowing we’re contributing to our destinations.
Patagonia
Patagonia is one of the popular outdoor apparel retailers, they use organic non-GMO natural fibers. And they have REW-certified merino woo, PVC, and phthalate-free inns and dyes; It is worth mentioning that, they regularly audit their factories. Ranked in the top tier of Fashion Revolution’s Fashion Transparency Index at 70% supply chain transparency. With the recycled poly bags for shipping, are piloting a regenerative farming certification.
Overall sustainability rating: 5/5
The North Face
The North Face has keep improving their impact in environmental. As well known brand, their mantra is “exploration without compromise”. beside that, they have various projects focus on protecting the environment directly or indirectly through environmentally friendly outdoor clothing. The North Face Renewed where used The North Face clothing is refurbished and renewed in a bid to produce less textile waste.
Overall sustainability rating：5/5
Waterfly Outdoor
You might be unfamiliar with Waterfly outdoor, they are one of the pioneers in outdoor backpacks and fanny packs. Using costly but recyclable materials for all fabrics, selected the nylon wire with high elastic and also the resistant minus-40 degree material buckles for each product. Their quest for environmental protection is always improving.
Overall sustainability sustainability rating：5/5
Arc’teryx
Arc’teryx is driven by durability, fighting fast fashion with clothing “designed for the long run”. Arc’teryx provides a lot of information on products care and repair, they have full trust in their products. Proper care is the simplest way to extend the life cycle, reduce the amount of textile waste going into landfills. Moreover, Arc’teryx has worked on a research project with Ocean wise to understand microfiber pollution from synthetic fabrics.
Overall sustainability rating：5/5
