Suston Issue #1 2017

Suston SUSTAINABLE OUTDOOR NEWS #1/ 2017

PREMIER!

Read the fi rs issue of Su t ston Magazine!

RECYCLING

PIONEER The entrepreneur who wants to solve Ghana’s waste problem.

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METERS Suston makes a tough pilgrimage to Norway’s eco-mountain.

OUTDOOR

ECO HIGHLIGHTS The full program with seminars and discussions.

EXPERT INSIGHTS The need-to-know about responsible sourcing.

#1

IT’S GREAT OUT THERE

SAVING NATURE

PARTNER PROFILES

A campaign to get Europe outdoors.

EOCA is funding new projects.

Lundhags, AKU and Bergans.

dachcom

PROTECT PEOPLE, ENVIRONMENT AND RESOURCES. Do you know how your textile product is made?

The bluesignÂŽ system based on Input Stream Management helps a responsible industry, establishing more sustainable and safe products respecting functionality, quality and design. managing inputs. responsible actions.

bluesign technologies ag Moevenstrasse 18, 9015 St.Gallen, Switzerland Phone +41 71 272 29 90 info@bluesign.com, www.bluesign.com

Load the VAUDE Green Shape App and experience Green Shape.

VAUDE ECO PRODUCT

Genuinely good. Genuine leather from Ger many.

We have used Terracare® leather from German bullhides for this product.

The high environmental sustainability of this leather has led to it being awarded numerous by the Leather Working Group. Guaranteeing natural wear comfort in addition to resource-conserving and environmentally-friendly production.

Women‘s TRK Skarvan Mid STX Robust boots for trekking and hiking with certified leather from Germany, 100% recycled Sympatex® membrane, EcoPlush Ortholite® insoles and other recycled materials.

vaude.com

PHOTO: STÉPHANE ROBIN

EDITORIAL & CONTENTS

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Get back to the roots

6 News

Action from the outdoor industry.

8 Recycling

I

n my view, the outdoor industry holds a unique position when compared to other industries, in terms of sustainability. The outdoor industry – its staff, products and business ideas - have a closer relationship with nature than many others.

For us who work with the outdoors, nature is not something abstract or far away. It is our ”raison d’être”.

The close and obvious relationship with nature can create motivation and make the goals clearer. It is easy to understand why it is better to recycle PET bottles into textiles than to put them in landfills. It is easy to understand why chemicals from leather tanning or the dyes from clothes should not be released into the rivers. Because where will the outdoor community go if there is no longer any great outdoors?

With this issue of Suston, we want to tell you about important and positive steps in transitioning to a more sustainable outdoor industry. However, we also want to remind you that sustainability is about more than technical solutions and intelligent processes.

Sustainability is also about going out into nature, smelling its aromas, experiencing the changes in the seasons and letting the body, mind and soul rest – in order to gain energy and the inspiration to do an even better job.

Gabriel Arthur, Editor-in-chief

Learn the basics about recycled polyester.

Jeffrey Provencal brings recycling from Switzerland to Ghana.

12 CSR

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The Great Outdoors campaign is now taking off.

How the outdoor industry supports nature conservation.

18 Sourcing

An expert’s view on responsible sourcing in foreign countries.

20 Retailer

What does today’s customer ask about sustainability?

26 Inspiration

Alpinism, ecology and philosophy on Norway’s national mountain.

34 Program

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All the green happenings at the OutDoor-fair.

Suston Editor-in-chief: Gabriel Arthur, gabriel.arthur@norragency.com Partner cooperation and sales: Karen Hensel, karen.hensel@norragency.com Editor and translator: Robert Moskowitz Art director: Susan Larsen Layout: Melanie Haas Editorial advisory board: Pamela Ravasio, Cira Riedel, Joel Svedlund

Cover illustration: Nadia Nörbom Suston is published by NORR Agency. norragency.com, info@norragency.com +46 8 462 0707 Metargatan 11 116 66 Stockholm, Sweden sustonmagazine.com

suston – 5

NEWS

“ We stand now where two roads diverge” achel Carson, from the book Silent Spring (1962).

R > Read more on page 26 –33.

BEST IN EUROPE

Every year, over 30,000 companies from 34 countries participate in the European Business Award.

They compete in eleven award categories. On May 4th, Vaude received the 2017 award in the category “environmental and corporate sustainability”. businessawards europe.com

Saving the ice

THAT GLACIERS ALL AROUND THE GLOBE are melting

is a well-known fact. This implies that the natural records of variations in atmospheric composition – a vital contribution to environmental and climate science – is also disappearing. To preserve this scientific heritage for generations to come, UNESCO launched the Ice Memory project in March. The goal is to constitute the world’s first library of archived glacier ice, deep down in the Antarctic ice cover. The project is managed by the University of Grenoble Alpes in collaboration with other universities and experts from the international community of glaciologists. Outdoor companies like the Italian shoemaker AKU also sponsor the Ice Memory project.

unesco.org

188 000 KILOS OF CO2. The German retailer Globetrotter Ausrüstung makes all shipments to customers carbon-neutral via an investment in Costa Rica; the GlobetrotterVision Forest. The total amount of CO2e compensated from this forestation project in 2016 was 188t, according to the Fenix Outdoor CSR Report 2016.

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FAIR WEAR LEADER

In the last performance review of Jack Wolfskin, conducted by the Fair Wear Foundation (FWF), the German company was reported to have met most of FWF’s management system requirements and surpassed several of them. As a result, Jack Wolfskin received the FWF Leader award for the third time in a row.

The foundation is open to European garment companies. fairwear.org

UNESCO Global Geopark, Arxan Tianchi (High Crater Lake), China

EIGHT NEW GEOPARKS ARXAN’S VOLCANIC LANDFORMS in Mongolia, the basalt rock columns in Mexico’s Comarca Minera and the limestone moorlands of Las Loras in Spain are three of the eight new sites that received UNESCO Global Geopark status in May. The Geoparks are geographical areas where sites and landscapes of international geological significance are managed with a holistic concept of protection, education and sustainable tourism. With this year’s additions, the world network now numbers 127 UNESCO Global Geoparks in 35 countries. unesco.org

TRANSPARENT TOUR HOW CAN A BRAND COMMUNICATE their sustainability performance in a transparent and easy to understand way? What is transparency based on? One way to get to know more about these complex questions is to visit the Greenroom Voice-exhibition at the OutDoor-fair in Friedrichshafen. There, eighteen brands will present themselves in poster format, to explain what transparency and traceability means to them. Furthermore, the brands and Anna Rodewald from Greenroom Voice will give a daily guided tour, and explain even more. Suston Magazine is a media partner of Greenroom Voice and will also be there from time to time. Drop by!

Greenroom Voice, Foyer East, OutDoor Guided Transparency Tour every day at 11:00

NEWS

WHERE IS IT MADE?

New textile loop FIVE EUROPEAN COMPANIES HAVE STARTED an industrial partnership called Wear2wear, in order to develop 100 percent recycled, recyclable and PFC-free functional fabrics. The companies are Heinrich Glaeser Nachfolger GmbH, Märkische Faser GmbH, Schoeller Textil AG, Sympatex Technologies and DutchSpirit, and they represent each phase of the recycling process.

AWARD-WINNING FOSSIL-FREE JACKET IN FEBRUARY, THE SWEDISH COMPANY TIERRA won the sustainability award ISPO Award Eco Achievement Apparel for its Deterra jacket, which is manufactured from 100 percent bio-based materials. Deterra is a shell jacket where the outer fabric resembles nylon in the structure, but is made of oil from ricin beans. The lining is made of wool from German sheep and the Tencel threads are extracted from wood. The jacket’s buttons are made of corozo nuts from the tagua palm. By reducing the number of components in the jacket, transportation has also decreased during production.

“Deterra shows how technical you can make a jacket today while also being completely fossil free. We can of course make lightweight, waterproof and cheaper jackets, but then they are not 100 percent bio-based,” says Erik Isaksson, who is responsible for product development at Tierra. tierra.com

Human Rights Watch has examined if 72 large apparel companies publish information that enables advocates, workers, and consumers to find out where their products are made.

According to a report, only 17 of the companies will be in full alignment with the pledge standards by December 2017.

Among them are companies like Patagonia, Nike and Adidas. hrw.org

NEW EU RECYCLING GOALS In March, European Union MEPs voted to increase the share of waste to be recycled to 70 percent by 2030, from 44 percent today. MEPs also propose reducing landfilling to 5 percent of the total amount of waste generated. europarl. europa.eu

LET’S INCLUDE

THE SUPPLIERS IN THE DISCUSSION

T

here is an elephant in the room – and addressing it could really benefit all of us in the industry. The elephant could be called “the absence of level-eyed partnership and collaboration between brands and suppliers”.

Like in most industries, we have all grown up with the saying ‘The customer is king’. And this is the way suppliers and manufacturers tend to see their clients, when it comes to sustainability.

The brands tell their manufacturing partner the suitable priorities, or how to meet the demands for documentation, chemical specifications, code of conducts or labor conditions.

“Telling” may be effective in the short term – but can any business be expected to be genuinely engaged and committed, and make long term investments, when they are not involved in the prioritization and decision process? Or perhaps they do not even understand it, because of cultural differences?

Sustainability cannot, and must not, be anything near a monarchy. Each player has a role that is indispensable in the bigger picture. Therefore, each party along the entire supply chain, from field to end-customer, should own their part of the sustainability equation, and be empowered and entitled to take ownership of it.

Just like brands know their products and possibly end-consumers best, manufacturers know their business of making our goods: in depth, and often with passion, and likely also with a fierce sense of seeking a better and more successful future. It is only through level-eyed, rather than hierarchical, collaboration and partnership that real progress can be made.

How can all parties in the supply chain be pro-active players rather than reactive elements?

If we as an industry can sit down and discuss that on equal terms, we will have a much brighter future ahead of us.

Pamela Ravasio, Head of CSR & Sustainability European Outdoor Group suston – 7

RECYCLING PET PLASTIC BOTTLES

The first step is to collect and wash the PET bottles.

BOTTLE SCRAPS

Stripped of their labels and caps, they are crushed to pieces.

FROM PET TO FLEECE Mechanical recycling of PET bottles is the most common way to produce recycled polyester today. To obtain a polymer of equal value as the raw waste material, the contamination of waste has to be very low. It takes about 50 PET bottles to make a fleecejacket.

FABRIC

Textile fabrics are made from the fibers.

CHIPS PROCESSED FIBER

The fibers are crimped, cut, drawned and stretched.

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FIBER

The chips are melted and extruded into fibers.

The scraps are chopped into flakes, melted and made into chips.

RECYCLING

FACTS YOU SHOULD KNOW ABOUT RECYCLED POLYESTER Polyester is the most widely recycled plastic in the world.

Suston turns to expert Karla Magruder for a basic lesson on the subject of recycled polyester.

TEXT GABRIEL ARTHUR

What does recycled polyester actually mean?

Polyester is a manmade fiber that is made from oil and synthesized from petrochemical products by a process called polymerization. As a raw material, it is a clear, strong and flexible plastic that is used for PET – a short term for polyester – bottles and a lot of other purposes.

It is 100 percent recyclable and it can be done by either mechanical or chemical processes.

The recycled polyester used for textiles is most commonly from PET bottles.

”Recycled polyester” is often used when marketing products as more sustainable. Is it a claim that is always true?

Not necessarily. If you use the term “more sustainable” you should define what the product is compared too. Check if it is “100 percent recycled” – a lot of the time it is a blend of virgin and recycled polyester that is used. And most importantly: the claim has to be certified by a third party.

There are a lot of these labels and certificates on the market.

Which ones do you recommend that the end consumer look for?

The Recycled Claim Standard and The Global Recycled Standard both verify the recycled input material, and track it all the way to the final product. The latter also ensures responsible social, environmental practices and chemical use through production.

Is it true that recycled polyester is a more expensive material than virgin polyester?

Yes, that is true. One reason is that virgin polyester is produced in much higher volumes. International demand is growing and that will help with making recycled polyester price competitive. Multinational sporting goods companies, such as Nike, were early in their use of recycled polyester. In recent years, even the giants in the fashion industry have begun to use it more and more. In the long term, I believe that

prices will level out, especially if companies and industries work together and provide clear signals to the suppliers, so that they dare to invest.

Can new polyester clothes be made from old ones, so that the loop is closed?

Yes absolutely. Several companies have the technology needed to recycle polyester clothing. The problem is rather the collection, distribution and costs. The infrastructure needs to be built in order for textiles to be recycled on a larger scale.

Here too, companies and trade associations in sports, fashion and outdoor could collaborate more to quicken the pace.

Is it also possible to recycle garments made from polyester mixed with other materials?

In some cases, it is technically possible, for example blends with polyester and cotton. But it is still at the pilot level. The challenge is to find processes that can be scaled up properly and we are not there yet.

KARLA MAGRUDER

Karla Magruder has been in the textile industry for more than 25 years, with experience from fiber to finished garments.

She is the founder of Fabrikology International, a textile consulting firm, specializing in textile sourcing, education and business development since 2003. She is also leading the Recycled Polyester working group for the global non-profit Textile Exchange, and is a board member.

RECOMMENDED CERTIFICATES

The Recycled Claim Standard is a chain of custody standard to track recycled raw materials through the supply chain.

The Global Recycled Standard applies to the full supply chain and addresses traceability, environmental principles, social requirements and labeling.

suston – 9

PHOTO: STÉPHANE ROBIN

RECYCLING

S E L C IR C E IV IT S O P G IN T CRE A person’s trash is ne ”o l, ca en ov Pr rey Jeff r eu en pr tre For the en than just a cliché another person’s treasure” is more nity.

– it’s a sustainable business opportu TEXT JONATHAN EIDSE

PHOTOS: CHRISTINE BENZ

RECYCLING

“I

was born in Switzerland to Ghanaian parents. I recall my trips to Ghana growing up, where I would wonder how Switzerland could be so clean and Ghana not,” says Jeffrey Provencal over the phone from the scorching heat of Ghana’s capitol Accra.

This question persisted and, years later, his BA bachelor’s thesis would evolve into a business plan that he realized might actually work.

“I figured all that remained was to either shut up about it, or get out there and see how far I could get.”

The goal was to create an environmentally, socially and financially sustainable enterprise that also tackled Ghana’s rampant PET waste problem.

“People here have traditionally used banana leaves as packaging that could be discarded on the ground after use – now they treat plastic the same way, only PET bottles take 450 years to disintegrate.”

Moving to Ghana

From the ivory tower of the University of Applied Science in Zurich to the waste heaps of Accra, Jeffrey Provencal faced a steep learning curve.

“I started out in the open air next to the landfill, collecting the bottles myself.”

He then enlisted a group of savvy migrants whose livelihoods were already based on scouring the landfills.

“Their expertise and efficiency proved invaluable to the project’s success, and they in turn gained health care and social security benefits as employees.”

After the PET bottles are collected, they are then sorted and machined into flakes. The flakes in turn are transported to a European client, who then reprocesses the flakes into pellets that are re-integrated into the production cycle.

“I take every opportunity to promote PET waste as something with value. I am a walking model of recycled PET bottles – my shorts, my backpack – people freak out when I explain to them that the soccer jerseys they’re wearing are made of polyester, which is just another word for PET.” Two years in and Jeffrey Provencal’s startup company Repatrn is preparing to move from the pilot phase and into production – from 20 tonnes PET to 800 tonnes. That’s roughly 63 million bottles out of the landfill and back into the circular economy. Per month.

“The dream is to scale up production until we can supply all of Ghana’s domestic PET pellet demand locally. This could then create an entire ecosystem with the subsequent manufacturing into textiles, new bottles etc.”

“This certainly has had its challenges. But between this and a regular desk job, there’s no question where I’d rather be!”

Repatrn use the expertise of the resource collectors on Accra’s landfills and make them the main source for PET bottles.

repatrn.com

suston – 11

CSR

And the

winner is …

Twice a year conservation organizations all over the world can apply for funding from EOCA. In March, six new winning projects were chosen and will receive €150 000 Euro in total.

TEXT KAREN HENSEL

E

OCA stands for the European Outdoor Conservation Association (EOCA) and was founded in 2006 as a way for the outdoor industry to help conserve wild places and ecosystems for future generations. Today, EOCA has over 130 members – nearly all the larger brands on the market as well as several of the smaller and medium sized ones. Through their financial support, EOCA has been able to fund conservation projects for over two million Euros over the years.

This not-for-profit association is managed by Tanya Bascombe and Catherine Savidge from their office in Kendal, close to the Lake District in Great Britain.

“Membership is open to any company operating within the outdoor industry. One hundred per cent of membership fees go directly into the conservation projects”, says Tanya Bascombe.

The locations of these projects are not restricted to any geographical boundaries. Up to now, EOCA has funded 84 projects in 41 different countries, Catherine Savidge explains.

“Thus far projects have included clean-up operations on a mountain peak in Kyrgyzstan, the protection of brown bears in northern Spain, and the saving of an ancient forest in Sweden from logging, and more.”

The winning projects are the result of a long and rigorous process. Non-profit organisations can apply to EOCA for grants of up to €30 000.

The projects must protect a threatened species or habitat and have a link to outdoor enthusiasts.

Also, the project must involve hands-on conservation work. Twice a year, Tanya Bascombe, Catherine Savidge and EOCA’s Board of Directors

12 – suston

together with a team of scientific advisors creates a shortlist of projects, in three different categories: nature, outdoor and alpine.

“In March and October, we then have a members vote and a public vote to decide winners in each category. The public vote is held in conjunction with a range of national magazines throughout Europe”, says Tanya Bascombe and continues: “In the last vote, in March 2017, over 52 million people were reached through this process and many thousand of votes were cast!”

Tanya Bascombe and Catherine Savidge, General Managers of EOCA.

APPLY FOR FUNDING! Are you a member of a nature conservation organization and/or want to give a helping hand to the organization’s fundraising? At the EOCA website you can find more info about how to apply for funding for projects. Funding rounds are open in July and November each year. outdoorconservation.eu, eoca.de

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FUNDED PROJECTS 2017

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1. A New Ecotourism in Thailand Category: Outdoor Project goal: To return captive elephants from tourism camps to forests, where their Mahout owners will be supported in protecting the forest and earning an income from ecotourism.

PHOTO: BOUROȘ GEORGE

PHOTO: PETER YUEN

Six new projects were chosen to receive funding from EOCA after the last voting process, in March 2017. Three projects via an online public vote in collaboration with leading outdoor and nature magazines around Europe and another three projects chosen by EOCA Members in their vote.

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3. C hittagong Hill Tracts Programme, Bangladesh Category: Nature Project goal: To protect forest and wildlife, through agreements with local communities and the provision of educational resources and markets for craft products.

4. C leaning Up River Mulde, Germany Project goal: To clean 2 km of river from rubbish and raise awareness of the issue locally.

PHOTO: CLEANING UP RIVER MOLDE

PHOTO: CHITTAGONG HILL TRACTS PROGRAMME

2. C onserve and Restore Habitats for Otters, Romania Category: Alpine Project goal: To protect otters, restore habitats and educate communities and bikers.

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6. E MAP – Elephant Monitoring and Anti-Poaching, Kenya Project goal: To combat elephant poaching and conflict through extensive monitoring with community members.

PHOTO: TSAVO CONSERVATION GROUP

PHOTO: ELEANOR BENTALL

5. R estoring the Peatland of the Flow Country, Scotland Project goal: To remove a commercial plantation of trees to restore a blanket bog.

VIS

IT

US

AT

OUT

DO

OR

WALK CAREFULLY ON MOTHER NATURE

We are the Swedish Shoemaker. A family company rich in heritage and knowledge about shoes. We have been making shoes since 1945 counting four straight generations. We focus on making great shoes in natural materials.

We love quality. We love good design. We love the way our shoes get better with age. We strongly believe in genuine craftsmanship combined with modern technology. This is how we are turning our old shoemaking traditions into new. Making our history our future. There is a lifetime experience in every pair we make.

We aim to minimise the ecological footprint, by creating long lasting sustainable shoes. Sustainability, doesn’t just come from the materials used but also from the quality, design and great fit.

To us, shoes are not just something to put on your feet. They are what grounds you to earth – and what could be better than shoes that are eco-friendly and made with respect for Mother Nature?

Since 2008 we have over 50 models certified with the EU Eco-label. It certifies that a product is among the most environmentally-friendly in its class and differentiates it on the global market.

In addition, the ecolabel showcases the commitment our company has taken to sustainable production and contributes to achieving a circular economy.

A5-

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Let Europe go outdoors To help people around Europe make the move to a more active, outdoor life, the European Outdoor Group (EOG) has launched the campaign “It’s great out there”. The campaign hashtag has already been used over three million times.

TEXT GABRIEL ARTHUR

the facts speak an unmistakable truth. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), one in three 11-years-olds in Europe are overweight or obese. One reason is that the kids are less and less physically active. Among adults the pattern is the same. Obesity in Europe doubled between 1980 and 2008.

What can be done to help Europeans lead a more active and healthy lifestyle? The question is discussed by EU decision makers. As one way, the European Week of Sport was launched in September of 2015 at the behest of the EU Commission. The aim was to promote and organize events over the course of a week throughout Europe, letting people try everything from basketball to yoga. “Outdoor” was one of four main categories and it featured cross-country running, rock climbing and more.

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According to a report from the EU Commission, The European Week of Sport was a huge success with over 7,000 events held all over Europe.

And most of the events fell under the category “Outdoor”.

The report also concluded that many people wanted these types of events to be held all year round and not just for one week a year.

A new industry initiative

The success of The European Week of Sport – and for the outdoor category – came at the right time for a new initiative from the outdoor industry. The idea was hatched a few months earlier in conjunction with the OutDoor trade show in Friedrichshafen. More and more outdoor brands were organizing events aimed at the general public. Would it be possible to form a kind of umbrella organi-

TAG YOUR POSTS

A flow of social media posts tagged #itsgreatoutthere are shown on the campaign website.

zation to promote these events – and to promote participation in outdoor activities in general? After the fair, The European Outdoor Group (EOG) began to draw up plans for an organization with the working name “It’s great out there”.

In January 2016, the EOG recruited Arne Strate as head of marketing & communications. Part of his job was to further develop these ideas together with an existing working group, and to strengthen the relation to the EU officials.

“The EU Commission’s representatives were surprised by the high level of interest in outdoor activities. The sports world, with its clubs, national federations and sports companies, has enormous resources to bring to bear for attracting people. Outdoor activities are not usually organized by groups or associations, but rather at an individual level. And yet ‘outdoor’ was the most popular category at The European Week of Sport,” says Arne Strate.

“We wanted to highlight all the great events that companies in the outdoor industry arranged all year round. And we also wanted to inspire! Our hashtag has already been used over three million times on social media platforms.

“We also wanted to become a louder voice in Brussels in our contacts with the EU. A lobbying group, if you will, that can push for measures ranging from the planning of local traffic to make it easier to get out into the outdoors, to helping outdoor organizations apply for grants.”

It is no secret that an economical interest is involved: “Of course, our industry would benefit from more Europeans getting into outdoor activities.

But that’s still a long way from now. Primarily ‘It’s great out there’ is a way to accept social responsibility for an industry that grew big because of outdoor enthusiasm, and to lead by good example,” says Arne Strate.

Lobbying and local initiatives

In 2016, at the request of the EOG, Arne Strate and the working group looked into a number of possibilities. Brands such as Berghaus, Aku, Keen and others put together activities under the theme “It’s great out there” and received an excellent response from the participants. The website and social media campaign were relaunched. And, last but not least, the EOG applied to start a non-profit association based in Brussels, Belgium, backed by 20 or so brand name companies.

IT’S GREAT OUT THERE A non-profit organization based in Brussels, with the aim of promoting outdoor participation around Europe. Officially started in 2017, with 23 founding members, 4 regular members and 3 industry associations. itsgreatoutthere.com

EUROPEAN WEEK OF SPORT 2017

This EU-initiative to promote sport, outdoor and physical activities around Europe was launched in 2015. Last year, the number of events and participants doubled compared to 2015, reaching over 15,000 events with 10 million active participants.

In 2017, the European Week of Sport takes place from 23 – 30 of September, at EU, national, regional and local level. The week is structured around four focus areas: Education environment, Workplace, Outdoors, Sport Clubs and Fitness Centres. ec.europa.eu/ sport/week

SOURCING

“ Responsible sourcing is an investment” If audits and codes of conduct don’t do the job – is there a better approach to suppliers? Yes, says Dr. Anna Harvey, an expert on responsible sourcing.

TEXT GABRIEL ARTHUR

The outdoor industry has been growing for several years, but is still small in comparison to the multinational companies within the sports and fashion segments. However, when dealing with suppliers, smaller companies have several advantages, believes Dr. Anna Harvey, consultant in the field of responsible sourcing solutions. Over the years, she has worked with multinational giants like Nike, Walmart and Marks & Spencer as well as smaller companies. ”Large companies like Nike and HM have had to deal with criticism from the media and NGOs for the past twenty years, about issues like working conditions and more. Over the years, they have already tried a variety of strategies to improve their supply chain. The small or medium-sized company that starts the journey later can take advantage and learn from what’s been done before,” says Anna Harvey.

The approach taken in the past has been to “police” the supply chain and make demands on what is required.

“This approach isn’t making enough change.

It is time for brands to work more in partnership with suppliers. This means starting by focusing on opportunity that responsible sourcing brings, rather than just assessment and data collection.”

Share the vision

According to Anna Harvey, the best way to engage suppliers is to advertise a win-win approach.

Seeking to exemplify the business opportunities for more sustainable business and highlighting the potential financial rewards will engage the suppliers to think differently about environmental and social issues, and to invest in their own futures.

One way to involve the suppliers more is to communicate the bigger picture. Anna Harvey explains: “If the supplier understands – and feels part of – the vision and strategy of the client, it is much 18 – suston

easier to explain the individual steps that need to be taken and why. Taking on board their perspectives and challenges will really help to build trusting relationships.

Another method that the big companies have tried and the smaller companies can follow, is collaboration around responsible sourcing with their peers. The outdoor industry in general has many long-term relationships between brands and suppliers, which is a benefit when it comes to problem solving and development around sustainability.

But the smaller size can sometimes make it harder to get through. Where a brand has minimal leverage, due to a small proportion of production, it is hard to gain that much needed respect. Suppliers will work more with brands with whom they have stronger commercial relationships.

“Many companies within sports and fashion have joined forces in recent years. Pooling resources and parking commercial interests to one side, enables greater change at a much faster pace.”

There are many good examples of how groups of brands – often with their suppliers – collaborate around responsible sourcing, for instance AIM-Progress in the FMCG sector (fast-moving consumer goods).

Communication is a key

Also important to understand, is that suppliers and factories in international supply chains are not necessarily intrinsically bad. They don’t, for example, employ forced or child labor to gain a competitive edge – it is much more complex than that, says Anna Harvey.

“Cultural differences are obvious and what is acceptable is sometimes not the same as we may expect. Tackling challenges like forced and child labor needs a combination of education around ‘what is acceptable’ and ‘what is not’ alongside a deep dive in the or root causes of the situation.

Why do children need to work? Why are they not

Onsite visit in Dye House at Fulltide factory in Tawian.

Antje von Dewitz, CEO at Vaude together with Jim Chang, Vice President at Fulltide Co. Ltd.

at school? Can their parents survive financially if their children do not work?”

“Taking a more holistic approach, thinking about why there is a need for these suppliers to employ in such a way and tackling the issue at the root, can lead to a more prosperous future for all, in the longer term.”

ANNA HARVEY Anna Harvey started her career as a textile engineer, with a PhD in Green Chemistry of Textiles. She has built a deep understanding of environmental and social issues in the complex world of supply chains. She has been directly employed by companies such as Nike and Marks & Spencer and spent most recent years as a consultant working with over 200 brands, charities and industry associations, assisting them to make change. In 2015, she founded the consulting firm 3shifts, based in London, which focuses on responsible sourcing.

Vaude goes upstream Step by step, Vaude is setting sustainability goals together with suppliers in the upstream stages. for the end consumer, it might be hard to realize how many stages an outdoor product has passed on its way to the retailer.

A functional shell jacket, for instance, can consist of 50 components made by a wide variety of companies that deliver them to the manufacturer. Like many brands, Vaude has implemented high environmental and social standards at their main production facilities. However, since 2015, the company from Tettnang, in Southern Germany is taking this process further up in the supply chain in Asia, to spinning mills, weaving mills and dyeing works, etc.

The suppliers that choose to take part work together with Vaude’s team and external experts on environmental management and social standards.

“The project has been well received by a large proportion of our material suppliers. Up to today, 80 percent by volume of the primary and lining materials that we process are already included in the project. The goal is to roll out the project over the next few years for all material suppliers,” says Vaude’s CEO Antje von Dewitz.

Want to know more? At the OutDoor fair, Vaude’s project leader Bettina Roth will have a daily project presentation at the Greenroom Voice booth. suston – 19

RETAILER

“ We’ve been green before green was cool” For nearly ten years, Tessa Wulff Lothian has worked as store manager for Naturkompaniet in Stockholm. And she has witnessed a quantum leap in customer awareness of product sustainability. “where is it made? who makes it? How’s it made? What’s it made of? We get asked questions today that weren’t on anybody’s mind a decade ago. Along with this development – and often at the forefront of it – are the brands and suppliers that are pushing the boundaries of responsibility, forcing the competitors to follow suit.

While some brands may go overboard with tags and leaflets that list all the product’s certifications, we try not to offer a chemistry lesson to our customers or bamboozle them with facts. Sustainability needs to be part of a package together with a product’s quality and attractiveness. Fortunately, many forward-thinking brands seem to have no problem uniting all three aspects, and the brands that don’t are increasingly seen by customers as low quality, disposable wear.

We at Naturkompaniet have also taken our responsibility seriously. We’ve been green before green was cool, and the development in customer awareness has only served to strengthen our market position. It’s survival of the fittest for us, and brands that aren’t ardently pursuing sustainability won’t make it past our doorstep. Our customers know this and they know exactly where to go.

I don’t believe that this is simply a trend – quite the opposite. I believe that sustainability is on its way to becoming the topic of conversation. Nor do I think that as a company we can simply relax and be content with what we’ve achieved. We should never settle for second best, and must always seek to raise the bar just a little bit higher.”

MEET THE RETAILER: TESSA WULF LOTHIAN Store Manager at Naturkompaniet in Sickla in Stockholm. Naturkompaniet is Sweden’s largest retailer chain, with 32 stores and a webshop. naturkompaniet.se

PHOTO: KLAS SJÖBERG

Text: Jonathan Eidse

SPONSORED CONTENT PARTNER: AKU

Giulio Piccin, Product and Sustainability Manager.

To the very core The Italian shoe manufacturer AKU has done an Environmental Product Declaration on one of its bestselling shoes, the Bellamont Plus. Giulio Piccin, Product and Sustainability Manager at AKU, tells more about the process and the results.

What is an Environmental Product Declaration?

It is a report on the environmental impact of a certain product. While other certificates only take a look at the carbon emissions, the Environmental Product Declaration takes into account five different fields of interest: the greenhouse effect, acidification, reduction of the ozone layer, photochemical smog and eutrophication. Thus, it provides a large variety of components.

Of course, we do not conduct such a report only on our own. After gathering all the data, an external auditor comes to the production site and reviews the process.

Why was this project important for AKU?

It is the most credible way to get a clear picture of the product impact. The survey is conducted in a scientific way and that was what we were looking for – to get scientific information on our work and our environmental footprint.

What did you hope to find out?

AKU wants to produce its shoes in a

responsible manner. Before the Environmental Product Declaration we could only estimate our footprint on this world, so our first goal was to get authentic numbers.

Of course, we did not really know what to expect, since no shoe manufacturer has ever gone through this process.

What were the biggest challenges?

The enormous amount of data. The product to be reviewed is divided into three parts: Upstream – the impact of all materials entering the factory; Core – everything that happens in our factory and; Downstream – everything that is related to it afterwards, including distribution and the lifespan of the product.

Those are a lot of details. We needed to know every single impact of the smallest material involved, including the packaging of the thread that we use to stitch the leather.

How do you get this data?

Most of the data is related to raw material composition, packaging, the production site and transportation. We

had to involve all of our suppliers to get detailed info.

We get the leather used in all Plusproducts from the famous DANI-tannery and work together with them on a supply chain project. The businesses involved include: Corichem, the company that provides the chemicals for the tannery, DANI and AKU. All three companies are doing an Environmental Product Declaration. This way we have clear and detailed information of the leather supply chain and we can define plans to effectively reduce our footprint across the process.

What are the results for the Bellamont Plus?

We discovered the areas that needed to be improved and that was our most important goal. For example, we found out that a lot of our impact comes from the leather, which is “upstream”. DANI already finalized their Environmental Product Declaration and their result was that a lot of their impact comes from the breeding of the cows, which is also considered “upstream”. suston – 21

PARTNER: BERGANS SPONSORED CONTENT

WHAT IS NATURAL CAPITAL ACCOUNTING? Natural Capital Accounting (NCA) is a method to calculate environmental benefits in monetary value. It converts the use of the natural resources (of materials, during production, distribution, use and end of life) into a value, which reflects the societal cost of the environmental impacts of the product.

NCA helps to find out the most efficient ways of minimizing the ecological footprint of a product, and providing clear guidelines for product design and material choices.

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SPONSORED CONTENT PARTNER: BERGANS

Materials make a difference Recycled materials can reduce a product’s environmental impact by up to 95 percent, according to a new study from Bergans of Norway and Trucost.

A

designer’s choice of material plays a major role in a product’s impact on the environment – but just how big? In the beginning of 2016, Bergans decided to compare some of its standard products to those with an environmental profile, in order to provide a basis for future decisions. For help, Bergans turned to the UK consultancy firm Trucost, which has helped several of the world’s largest companies analyze their ecological footprints ”from the cradle to the grave”. ”It was a long process to choose the right products to analyze because so much documentation and data are required to make fair comparisons. We also wanted to weigh in the user phase, which meant that more questions would arise,” says Christoph Centmayer, Sustainability Manager at Bergans.

In the end, all variables were finally in place and Trucost consultants could perform the analysis. A wool jacket made of new merino wool was compared with the Symre jacket, which consists of 45 percent recycled wool, with the rest made from synthetic fiber. The softshell pants Brekketind, with 74 percent recycled polyester, was analyzed together with pants made from ”virgin polyester”.

A t-shirt made from organic cotton was compared with the Gullholmen shirt, with its 85 percent recycled polyester.

In the autumn of 2016 Trucost presented its results for Bergans at the head office in Hokksund, just west of Oslo.

Although Bergan’s sustainability team

expected the recycled materials to have major advantages, they had not realized how big the benefits actually were.

“The jacket made from recycled wool had 95 percent less environmental impact. According to Trucost, the crucial difference was that newly produced merino wool entails so much methane from the sheep. Therefore, a “natural” material such as merino wool may have environmental costs that you may not think of in the first place. On the other hand, wool garments require less washing than artificial fiber garments,” says Centmayer.

The result was the same with cotton.

Organic cotton has major environmental benefits compared with traditional cotton materials. However, the water supply is still so high that a T-shirt made from organic cotton uses about three swimming pools more water compared to that of the Gullholmen shirt made from recycled polyester.

What conclusions did Bergan’s design and sustainability team draw from the results? ”Our view that recycled materials have very big environmental benefits has been strengthened. At the same time, it is important to see how complex these issues are if you really want to do things thoroughly,” says Centmayer and continues: ”It has also been helpful to see how much of the environmental impact exists in the user phase. By informing our customers about how they use, wash and repair in the best way, the ecological footprints become smaller. A product that lasts very long is still the most sustainable option.”

A jacket with 45% recycled wool compared to a woollen jacket made of 100% virgin wool:

95 % LOWER ENVIRONMENTAL

IMPACT

A pair of softshell pants with 74% recycled polyester compared to pants made of virgin polyester:

65 % LOWER ENVIRONMENTAL

IMPACT

A t-shirt made of 85% recycled polyester compared to one made of organic cotton:

77 % LOWER ENVIRONMENTAL

IMPACT

suston – 23

PARTNER: LUNDHAGS SPONSORED CONTENT

Slow down to last longer It is not only materials and design solutions that should be sustainable. Lundhags believes that the entire business should work with a long–term perspective.

L

undhags was one of the first outdoor companies in Scandinavia to begin working with sustainability issues. However, the need to systematize sustainability work gradually expanded to make it measurable and even more effective. One and a half years ago, the company decided to review the entire business from a sustainability perspective. Before the OutDoor Fair, a number of puzzle pieces have fallen into place, ranging from sourcing to design.

At the same time, Lundhags is about to launch its full year collection at the same time, starting at OutDoor. ”We want to create an opportunity for curiosity and development to an even greater extent. Many competitors take the fashion industry approach and present new products four times a year.

We are heading in the opposite direction, to not push out new products that are not fully developed. Now, we have more time for research and development,” says Anders Blomster, Marketing Manager and responsible for these issues at Lundhags, together with Sara Wiksten, Production and Purchasing Manager.

“From now on, before each summer, we will be presenting the full-year 24 – suston

collection. This also allows retailers, together with their customers, to better plan the next year. And, in the end, fewer products will need to be discounted, for example,” continues Blomster.

Updated material This long-term perspective has characterized the company since shoemaker Jonas Lundhags founded it, in 1932, in the Swedish mountain region of Jämtland.

The hiking boots he made could last for generations if they were properly cared for. And if they did break down, they could be repaired in the shoemaking workshop - a tradition that Lundhags carries with them to this day.

Working long-term with sustainability has been a goal for a long time, explains Sara Wiksten. ”We were early in using organic cotton, phasing out fluorocarbons and prioritizing environmentally certified materials.

However, it is easy to get stuck in quick initiatives and slowly lose oversight when the pace is very high.” ”One and a half years ago, we decided to investigate which changes would have the greatest positive effect. This led us to focus on our main material, our own LPC fabric, which is a mixture of cotton and polyester, known as polycotton.”

Lundhags has now chosen to completely switch to a mix of organic cotton and recycled polyester.

“In the 2018 collection that we are presenting at the OutDoor fair, all polycotton garments have this mix. Furthermore, all of our trekking backpacks also have this environmentally adapted material.

Our smaller daypacks use a bluesign certified fabric,” says Wiksten.

Repairable and durable Another important step is the design phase. Lundhags’ extensive experience in repairing boots is also beneficial for clothes and backpacks.

“Although repairability is an important parameter, it is best if the product does not break at all. For example, we choose the most durable zippers and metal buckles instead of plastic on the backpacks. Even threads, pull-tabs and other details should also be of the highest quality.”

One aspect of working long-term has also been to involve suppliers more in the discussion. ”We are a company with relatively few suppliers and with long partnerships.

In order to develop the materials, the cooperation with our fabric suppliers has been crucial.”

PHOTOS: ERIK OLSSON

THE NORWEGIAN

ECO-MOUNTAIN

Norway’s national mountain Stetind is not only known for its hard climbing routes. The 1,392-meter-high cliff is also a symbol for Norwegian nature preservation. Suston’s Editor-in-Chief Gabriel Arthur visits the mountain that the ”eco-philosophers” climbed fifty years ago.

TEXT GABRIEL ARTHUR PHOTO HENRIK WITT

W

hat is Magnus yelling, on the other side of the snowy cliff? I cannot see him. The hard wind transforms the words into a long, drawn out sound. The rope continues to slip away from me and now, there are only a few meters left until its end. Two colorful slings attach me to Stetind’s dark granite. I find a good grip for my crampons and turn my shoulder toward the mountain to brace myself against the wind. I do not look down. Just below me, the cliff drops away and there are five hundred meters of air to the ground below. Or was it seven hundred?

I feel weak and tired, and it is not because we have been up since half past three, struggling up the ice-caked mountain in the wind, hour by hour, step by step.

The fatigue is due to Stetind’s sheer sides.

It was not until, 1910 that Stetind was first summited, after several failed attempts. Philosophy professor, mountaineer and environmentalist Arne Næss managed to make the first winter ascent, as late as 1963.

Climbing the 1 392-meter high peak was not really the initial purpose of the trip that photographer Henrik Witt and I wanted to do during the Easter break of 2016. The goal was to visit the impressive mountain and try to understand what caused the Norwegian environmental movement to be born here fifty years earlier, in the summer of 1966.

However, I’ve always been bad at assessing risks 28 – suston

and one thing led to another. So now, here I stand, pushing myself up the mountain through a difficult, steep passage that mountain guide Magnus Strand had not foreseen.

We have not even arrived at the most difficult section and I am completely drained of energy. The weather has cleared up temporarily, but across the fjords to the west, the clouds are sliding our way again. I have already realized that I will not reach the top, but how do I explain it to Magnus? A new wordless voice is heard in the wind and the rope between us is now completely taught. ”What would Arne Næss have done?” I think to myself. He looks so happy and satisfied in all of the pictures. Was he ever afraid? Did he ever give up?

Then, I forget Arne Næss, remove the protection, try to find a placement for my crampons and ice axe – and focus on survival.

Two movements are born

The 1960s was a breakthrough for both the rock climbing and the environmental movement, in Norway as well as many other western countries.

The idea that nature must be protected and preserved was not new. Yellowstone National Park, the world’s first national park, was founded in 1872. In 1902, Sweden became the first country in Europe to establish national parks, with nine of them. However, in the early 1960s, researchers, journalists and nature lovers began to wonder if this kind of nature preservation was enough.

Modern society began to be questioned. Some

examples: in 1960, the world-renowned diver and filmmaker Jacques Cousteau succeeded in stopping France’s plans to dump radioactive waste into the Mediterranean. The following year, the World Wildlife Foundation (WWF) was founded.

Then, in 1962, came the report and later book commonly referred to as the start of the international environmental movement, ”Silent Spring” by the American biologist and science journalist Rachel Carson. Inside, she told us how DDT and other pesticides used in agriculture led to the birds being wiped out – a discovery that caused a great commotion.

Rock climbing had previously been a pastime for the upper middle class. Yet, in the 1950s and especially the 1960s, a small underground movement was born at the foot of Yosemite’s rocks in California. A growing group of young ”dropouts” abandoned the well-organized middle class life in favor of vertical climbing adventures. ”Big Wall Climbing” was born when they started scaling several hundred-meter-high cliffs, which no one had previously thought possible.

Over the course of two weeks, in July 1966, these two narrow streams - the new nature preservation movement and the new climbing movement - met at Stetind in Tysfjord’s sparsely populated municipality in northern Norway.

Arne and his disciples

As a youth, Arne Næss had been involved in establishing rock climbing in Norway. At 24 years old,

in 1936, he and his then wife Else Hertzberg were the first team to climb Stetind via the South Pillar, at that time Norway’s most difficult climbing route. Three years later, Arne Næss became Norway’s only professor of philosophy at Oslo University. The combination of being Norway’s top climber and philosopher – and that he was a great humorist – made him something of a Norwegian national celebrity.

In the spring of 1966, a small group of young climbers from Trondheim, with engineer Nils Faarlund in the lead, heard about the big wall climbing in Yosemite. Nils Faarlund had also received state-of-the-art safety equipment, manufactured

by American climber Yvon Chouinard (today known as the founder of Patagonia.)

When Arne Næss held a lecture in Trondheim, Nils Faarlund succeeded in persuading him to accompany him to Stetind, in attempting to climb the ”impossible” west face, fully comparable to the walls of Yosemite. Another mountain-climbing philosopher, Sigmund Kvaløy, was also in the group of six men and two women who, at the beginning of July, made a base camp at the foot of Stetind’s west wall.

The first winter ascent of Stetind was made by Arne Næss and a comrade in 1963. The peak is still mostly climbed summertime.

The birth of Eco-philosophy

What followed was two weeks that have become mythical among environmentally conscious and philosophic outdoor lovers – a group that, in all honesty, is not so large, but which has begun to grow in recent years. suston – 29

Philosopher and alpinist Arne NĂŚss on Stetind in the summer of 1966.

Photo by Jon Voll who was also part of the expedition.

30 – suston

The gang completed two tough new routes that opened up Stetind’s west wall from the mountain’s foot to the top, ”Vestveggen”, which today is considered one of Stetind’s finest lines, and ”Kongelos direkte”. However, most important was what happened between the climbing, while resting and talking around the campfire.

The young climbers were troubled by two questions. They came from Trondheim University of Technology. How could they explain to people why they spent so much time on life-threatening climbing routes, instead of being in the center of modern Norway?

Second was that during their hikes in the mountains, they saw how new roads and hydroelectric power construction destroyed one beautiful mountain after another. Was it really right?

Arne Næss introduced them to the 17th century philosopher Baruch Spinoza, and his pantheistic thoughts about how everything and everyone belong together, about the nature of nature and how we can identify with this nature - and then experience deep, true joy. This philosophy of everything’s own element was well suited to the new subject of ecology, studied by Nils Faarlund, which showed how living organisms depend on each other and the environment around them.

From these discussions about the philosophy of life and science, new thoughts and ideas were born.

That preserving a free nature, unharmed by modern society, may not only be pleasant – maybe it is also possible to scientifically prove that it is vital to life?

And that being in nature may not only be generally pleasant and healthy - maybe it is also vital to life, on a deeper level?

The discussions laid the foundation for what was called eco-philosophy, but also ecosophy and deep ecology. The weeks at Stetind also led to this movement getting three founders. Arne Næss made the thoughts internationally famous in the academic world. Sigmund Kvaløy was involved in building Norway’s nature preservation movement, which successfully began to protest against the expansion of hydroelectric power. And Nils Faarlund left his engineering career and, in 1967, started Norway’s first open-air and mountain guide school: Norway’s Høgfjellskole in Hemsedal, which remains in operation today, with a large amount of eco-philosophy inserted into the course program.

Time for a second wave?

Today, googling the term eco-philosophy produces over twenty million hits. The term has broadened since it was introduced in Norway. Today there are several parallel definitions and ways of thinking, and the original teaching has been criticized.

However, one common thought – both then and now - is that science and philosophy together can help us to understand nature.

Thoughts that were controversial fifty years ago have received more and more followers. There is now a lot of research showing that living in nature has a beneficial effect on us, both physically and mentally. The fact that science tells us that we need to take much better care of nature now feels like ”common sense” (some presidents excluded).

A new generation of eco-philosophers has taken over, for example Julia Butterfly Hill from the United States, who lived two years in a redwood tree in the late 1990s. Concepts such as ”slow adventure”, ”slow outdoors” and ”bushcraft” are attracting more and more attention. Companies like Patagonia and Houdini say they are inspired

by Arne Næss’s thoughts.

But what was it that the eco-philosopher’s experienced on this mountain that sparked these thoughts? This is what photographer Henrik Witt and I wanted to know. And that is why I’m fighting my way around the high, icy cliffs of Stetind, fifty years after eco-philosophy was born here.

This is the scariest pitch that I have climbed since I was in my twenties. The snow bursts up around me and then rages down into the void below as I kick my crampons and swing my ice axe trying to find purchase. The ice under me is mere centimeters thick.

When I finally manage to make my way up to where Magnus’ is belaying me, I do not want to continue. We stand on a small ledge that is two to three meters wide, with an abyss on either side. In front of us the ridge towards the top begins.

What does this have to do with eco-philosophy, really? I ask myself completely exhausted. Or more easily expressed: ”What am I doing here?” ”I want to go down,” I say to Magnus.

A turning point on the mountain

Magnus comes with a proposal that is more like an order. ”We will do one more pitch. From there, you can see the rest of the ridge better and you will see that it is not that hard.”

I then make my way up the ridge at a snail’s pace like a cowardly old man, with the ice axe more like a kind of walker. We arrive at Magnus’s viewpoint. I sit down in the snow and breathe out.

The ridge ahead does not look so dangerous, but the void on either side of it does and the summit feels infinitely far away above us. At the same time, Stetind’s summit is so beautiful – standing alone, calm and proud. A whole world of mountains and fjords spreads out around us.

A sense of peace is spreading within me, and I relax for the first time since we came to Kalfjället this morning. Suddenly, the fear is gone. ”Magnus, I really want to turn around. Maybe I would make it to the top, but I would not think it was fun,” I say, looking him in the eyes. suston – 31

”Then that is what we will do,” he says, and seems to understand.

On the way back, Magnus finds an easier route, so that we do not have to traverse over the sheer cliff. A half hour later we meet Henrik, who has been waiting at Halls Förtopp. The wind is increasing and the clouds come back. Soon the summit is completely lost in the gray.

Once we make it down to the forest and fill our water bottles in a small stream, Magnus says: ”It was the right decision to turn around.” ”Yes,” I say, completely exhausted, but in a good way.

However, afterwards I wonder, what Arne Næss would have thought?

The last of the Mohicans

It is not so easy to get an answer to such a question. Arne Næss died in 2009, at 97 years old. I’m trying to get through his book Ecology, Society and Lifestyle from 1974, describing the ecosystem the he chose to call his teachings.

It appears to be written by a professor of philosophy that does not take any shortcuts. Each text portion is a kind of logically substantiated argumentation. You understand what he wants to say - it is the same reasoning that today permeates the international environmental and nature preservation movement. Yet, at the same time, there is 32 – suston

something that is not included. Why did he devote so much of his life to climbing? And where is that joy of life that he was so famous for?

To get a clearer picture, I look up the phone number of Nils Faarlund, today 80 years old and the only living member of the first generation of eco-philosophers.

I reach him when he is eating lunch at a roadside restaurant outside of Hemsedal, with his electric car parked outside. We talk for over an hour. He explains that eco-philosophy in Norway almost died in the 1980s. ”It burned up in the Norwegian oil rush.” But today he is invited to schools and various events to tell us about eco-philosophy.

I tell him about our little adventure on Stetind.

Was it okay to turn back, even though we might have been able to get to the top? Nils Faarlund has probably received similar questions many times.

Patiently, he explains what he thinks. ”Many people are so busy performing today and telling others about their accomplishments.

However, mountaineering, as I see it, is not about getting to the top. It is about getting completely into what you are doing, to be immersed in nature. To experience deep and true joy. Then you will also want to protect nature even more. If that’s what you did on Stetind - then I think you understand what climbing and eco-philosophy is all about.”

ECO-PHILOSOPHY The term was coined in Norway in the late 1960s, by a small group of philosophers and rock climbers with philosophy professor Arne Næss at the forefront. They questioned the rapid modernization of society and argued that ”free nature” had its own worth and must be preserved. They also felt that human beings must reconnect with nature in order to have a good life. The thoughts were the foundation of the Norwegian environmental movement.

Since then, the concept of eco-philosophy has been broadened and also questioned.

There is no unambiguous definition today, but one basic idea is that the division between man and nature is incorrect. In fact, eco-philosophers believe that everything and everyone belong together. Ecology can help us understand the context and philosophy can help us understand human relationships with nature, and how we can better take care of nature - and thus also ourselves.

Nils Faarlund takes a look at the South face of Stetind in 1966.

The year after he started Norway’s first mountain guide school.

Photo by the climbing partner Jon Voll.

suston – 33

Sustainability events at OutDoor 2017

Meet the experts! At every OutDoor fair, there are seminars, panel discussions and more open to everyone.

SUNDAY, 18TH OF JUNE 17:00 – 18:00 | ROOM BERLIN

Greenroom Voice HOW TO MAKE EVENTS MORE SUSTAINABLE? Companies and organizations regularly invest in all kinds of events, from sales meetings to sport events. This workshop looks at best practice examples and identifies challenges as well as opportunities.

Speaker: Anna Rodewald

MONDAY, 19TH OF JUNE 11:00 – 12:00 | ROOM PARIS

Archroma Ibérica, S.L.U. EARTHCOLORS TECHNOLOGY – GARMENTS FROM NATURE TO STORE Today, we see a new way of synthesizing dyes, combining nature with technology. And the latest technologies such as Near Field Communication (NFC), allow verification, traceability and transparency of garments.

Speaker: Núria Estapé

13:00 – 14:00 | ROOM BERLIN

Biov8tion and University of Leeds DON’T FEED THE FISH: MICROFIBRE SHEDDING PROJECT UPDATE Sophie Mather will provide a top-line and mid-project update from lab-based research, focusing on polymers and yarns. This will be followed by an overview of a project being carried out by Mark Taylor at the University of Leeds, looking at fabrics and the development of an industry standard.

Speaker: Sophie Mather, Mark Taylor

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13:00 – 14:00 | ROOM PARIS

HeiQ Materials AG SUSTAINABLE TEXTILE PRODUCTION WITH HEIQ DYEFAST The textile industry is the second largest industrial consumer of water. This workshop introduces HeiQ Dyefast – a practical, achievable and cost-effective solution for textile manufacturers to reduce water and energy consumption for the polyester dyeing process by 30%.

Speaker: Carlo Centonze

14:00 – 15:00 | ROOM BERLIN

Haelixa SOLVING CHALLENGES THROUGH DNA-BASED TRACERS In an increasingly complex supply chain of textiles and other materials, it is becoming ever more challenging to identify their origins and supply routes. Haelixa provides DNA-based tags that are introduced within raw materials (e.g. dyes or polymers).

Speaker: Gediminas Mikutis

15:00 – 16:00 | ROOM BERLIN

Gr3n sagl CLOSING THE LOOP OF PET VALUE CHAIN De-polymerization by Microwaves.

Gr3n has invented a technology that enables chemical de-polymerization of PET (Polyethylene Terephthalate) on an industrial scale. Speaker: Maurizio Crippa

16:00 – 17:00 | ROOM BERLIN

University of Innsbruck TEST METHODS AND INTERPRETATION Textile testing is an integral part of the product design and development process and results must be appropriately interpreted and communicated. This presentation will provide simple methods and examples of how to structure research to efficiently gain data and knowledge.

Speaker: Dr. Tom Wright

17:00 – 18:00 | ROOM BERLIN

Greenroom Voice HOW TO MAKE EVENTS MORE SUSTAINABLE? Companies and organizations regularly invest in all kinds of events, from sales meetings to sport events. This workshop looks at best practice examples and identifies challenges as well as opportunities.

Speaker: Anna Rodewald

17:20 – 18:00 | OUTDOOR STAGE, ENTRANCE EAST

EOCA SUPPORTED PROJECTS BY EOCA The winning nature conservancy projects from spring 2017 will be launched by EOCA. Speaker: Tanya Bascombe, Catherine Savidge

TUESDAY, 20TH OF JUNE 07:30 – 09:00 | ROOM, BERLIN + PARIS

13:00 – 14:00 | ROOM BERLIN

University of Leeds SUPPLY CHAIN COMMUNICATION Can brands engage with suppliers to improve transparency throughout the supply chain? This seminar will explore what opportunities there are for greater alignment between brands and their suppliers that deliver value to both.

Speaker: Dr. Mark Sumner

13:00 – 14:00 | ROOM PARIS

Foresight Factory – Global Trend & Consumer Analytics Agency CONSUMER ATTITUDES AND SHOPPING BEHAVIOURS The presentation will focus on the attitudes of different consumer groups when it comes to shopping and the decision-making process.

Speaker: Nick Chiarelli, Daniel Ford

14:00 – 15:00 | ROOM BERLIN

VAUDE Sport GmbH & Co. KG EMPOWER THE SUPPLY CHAIN! CSR SUPPLIER TRAININGS In 2015, VAUDE started the project “Environmental Stewardship in the Textile Supply Chain”. You will hear more about VAUDE´s experiences with Tier 2 supplier training and challenges and opportunities for the project.

Speaker: Bettina Roth

European Outdoor Group EOG INDUSTRY BREAKFAST The new EOG Industry Breakfast will focus on three overarching, cross-cutting themes – sustainability, market research and the promotion of outdoor participation.

Speakers: Marie Noelle Keijzer (WeForest), Nick Chiarelli (Foresight Factory).

15:00 – 16:00 | ROOM BERLIN

10:00 – 11:00 | ROOM LONDON

16:00 – 17:00 | ROOM BERLIN

Helly Hansen and Karin Ekberg GmbH SAC HIGG BRAND BODULE BENCHMARKING OF 8 BRANDS We will present and discuss the results from the benchmarking of 8 outdoor brands using the SAC Higg Brand Module’s social and environmental questionnaires.

Speaker: Karin Ekberg, Antje Fehling

Südwolle COLLABORATION IN THE WOOL SUPPLY CHAIN This presentation will examine the importance of transparency and effective communication throughout the delivery of high quality, wool-based yarns.

Speaker: Verena Keller

The ZDHC Chemical Gateway SAFER CHEMICALS The ZDHC Chemical Gateway is a database of safer chemicals to help brands, suppliers and chemical producers make better sourcing decisions. This presentation will provide key information on the gateway along with a full explanation of its potential and its uses.

Speaker: Graham Storrie, Ben Wilde

Next issue: ISPO Munich The next printed issue of Suston Magazine will be published right before ISPO Munich 2018. However, you don’t have to wait until then to collect more news, know-how and inspiration about sustainability within the outdoor industry and community. On our editorial website, we will regularly post both feature stories and shorter news updates.

We welcome pioneering brands to become partners of this project.

Is your company working long-term and systematically towards sustainability? Do you have interesting news or stories that you want to communicate to the European outdoor industry? Want to know more about how Suston plans to bridge the sustainable information gap?

Just get in touch!

STAY UPDATED!

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ILLUSTRATION: NADIA NĂ–RBOM

CONTACT KAREN HENSEL

and learn more about becoming a Suston partner. karen.hensel@ norragency.com +46 8 462 0707, +49 174 371 2871