Outdoor Insight

Outdoor firms are currently addressing the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, which aim to help achieve a better and more sustainable future for all by the year 2030. There are 17 goals which can be found at UN.org. We asked brands how they are approaching this challenge. "We have found alignment in several areas… it creates a sense of urgency to get to a practice of goal setting that includes numeric performance targets." Danielle Cresswell, Klean Kanteen "We have increased production at Fair Trade Certified factories." Tom Williamson, Aventura and Ecoths "We're currently working on food, energy, land use, zero waste and empowering women and girls." Kate Paine, Nemo Equipment "We implemented a carbon balancing policy in 2007 and balanced our entire operations retroactively back to our 1977 founding. We are also committing to all product bottles being produced of 100% recycled plastic by 2020." Heidi Allen, Nikwax "We are working hand-in-hand with our suppliers at every level not only to understand the goals, but how to implement them towards the common good. It's not just about energy and water." Trent Bush, Black Diamond STRATEGY "Ask yourself, do you really know your supply chain? Do you know where your biggest impacts and opportunities are? Impacts are deep in your supply chain. We still have a lot of work to do and knowing where your stuff is coming from." Amy Horton, OIA "For a brand to be sustainable, it needs to be a part of their baseline mission — part of the reason for being. Plain and simple. If this is part of your reason for being, then no doubt your product is going to reflect that value too. You'll bring a product that is better for the environment and humans alike." Christie Dobson, Astral "Sustainability is beyond a buzz word in our indus- try, and companies need to practice what they preach, but we all need to be reminded that things can only move so fast for both our retailers and vendors. At the end of the day, we need to give our retailers and customers great sustainable options, but we still need to try and make business as seam- less and painless as possible." Tom Williamson, Aventura and Ecoths "It means being sustainable from all angles: our business prospers, our employees prosper, our factories prosper, and our gear makes people's lives better. Our goal is to decrease our impact and increase our business value. At Nemo, sustain- ability is owned jointly and without silos between Operations, Product, and Marketing with input from Sales and Finance. This collaboration is an advantage of being a younger, smaller brand." Kate Paine, Nemo "It means taking a holistic view of all activities of a business, including questioning every step in the supply chain from where our products come from, the energy it takes to create and ship them, and most importantly, the working conditions and quality of life of the people who are making them. We need to create a culture of mindfulness that asks ques- tions and finds answers at every step in the process towards a more sustainable outcome. From a prod- uct perspective, we need to ask the same questions, and add total product lifecycle into the equation, striving for durability and longevity of our products as the primary goal, with a clear process to recycle the raw components when the usable life is over." Trent Bush, Black Diamond "Sustainability for a brand is about prospering from people and planet resources in a way that leaves plenty for others to prosper, too, both now and in the future. There's a fairly logical approach to take when sustainability is part of a brand's definition for creating value. It's applying due diligence with respect to the social and environ- mental issues that intersect with the brand at its mission, values, and each of its unique business operations. Due diligence includes exploring risks and opportunities around these issues for the brand and its stakeholders (for example, employ- ees, community, customers), prioritizing and measuring performance through sustainability indicators, and managing against quantifiable targets that move the brand toward a sustainable business model." Danielle Cresswell, Klean Kanteen l WONDERING ABOUT SDGS? A Design Team Meeting at Nemo outdoorinsightmag.com 34 • Outdoor Insight • June 2019 WHAT IT MEANS TO BE SUSTAINABLE IN 2019

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