In a warming world filled with single-use products and rapidly growing landfills, outdoor gear companies have an elevated responsibility to help fix the issues of resource waste and over consumption. The need for outdoor gear to be repaired, reused, and resold has eclipsed the modern consumer’s desire to replace it when the shiniest upgrade comes along. With that in mind, the way forward for many environmentally-conscious brands is no longer a linear take-make-waste system, but a circular one, in which used and unwanted products can be taken back by brands and given a second life.
According to the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, a charity committed to creating a circular economy, millions of tons of clothes are produced, worn, and thrown away every year. A closed-loop cycle, or circular economy, transforms that waste-producing method of production into a renewable process that not only recycles products at the end of their life, but ensures they are designed to be reused again and again from the very beginning (with some repairs, if necessary).
When brands adopt a closed-loop cycle, they can effectively recycle, reuse, and resell old gear by making it into a new product or repairing it. It might seem ironic that for years, so many outdoor brands created gear that negatively impacted the planet, but thanks to vocal consumers who care and new resources that make it possible, this concept sometimes known as “recommerce” is taking hold in the outdoor industry.
And it doesn’t just benefit brands—a circular gear economy brings high-quality, albeit used, gear to customers who might not otherwise be able to afford it, creating accessibility, and in some cases those who turn in their old stuff can earn store credit to use toward an upgrade of their own. It’s a win for everyone involved. (Taking a step further, iniatives like The Gear Fund Collective have luanched to get gently used gear into the hands of LGBTQ+, BIPOC, and other groups traditionally underserved by the outdoor industry.)
Some brands are just beginning to experiment with closed-loop cycles, while others are further along, but the effort and energy is undoubtedly in motion. Want to buy your outdoor gear and clothing from the most sustainable brands out there? This list of nine outdoor brands that are putting the planet over profit is a good place to start.
