Our Environmental Policy
Our policy is quite simple. We aim to make the best quality outdoor equipment possible whilst causing the environment as little harm as possible. We very rarely use the term ‘Environmentally friendly’. We’re not an environmentally friendly company - that's not a realistic description of any company manufacturing products, no matter how good their intentions. But we can reduce the damage we do by starting out on a good footing and actively looking for things we can improve. As a result we consider ourselves to be one of a handful of "environmentally responsible" businesses. We take responsibility for the harm we do, and avoid it as much as possible. Our policy below talks through our practices.
Fabrics and Materials
We’re constantly looking into our fabrics. Our first priority is for a fabric to perform to the standards expected of it. There’s no point producing a material with a low carbon footprint if it’s only going to last a couple of years. To decide on a material we need to look at the problems involved with using it.
Education
We feel a huge part of the problem in the environmental crisis is a lack of education. Only recently have some schools started to teach students about ways in which they can help sustain the environment. The majority of the population, who have missed out on that early education, have to then choose to educate themselves. Although we set out to make good quality outdoor products, we soon realised that as a company we are in the public eye. With our marketing and online presence we can actually educate our consumers.
In-house manufacturing
We are the makers of our own products. As we’re not reliant on overseas manufacturing we’re able to stick to only producing what we need to. When you buy one of our packs, it’s getting shipped out straight from the place it was made and often packaged by the person who made it. We always try to source our materials from as close to home as possible.
If it breaks we'll fix it
Whilst all our packs come with a lifetime guarantee, we recognise, that our products are being used day in and day out, and sometimes accidents happen. Whether you’ve smashed up a buckle when closing your car boot, or put a crampon through your rucksack, we’re committed to making sure your product isn’t replaced. That’s why we offer free repairs on all products within their first two years of ownership.
Packaging
We avoid unnecessary packaging and think carefully about the materials we send our products in. Our packs are delivered to customers in compostable mailing bags made from sugarcane, whilst we send most documents via email, to avoid unnecessary printing. We also encourage our supplier’s to avoid single-use plastics in the deliveries they send to us.
Workshop Waste and emissions
We ensure we recycle as much waste as possible in our workshop and we’re constantly coming up with new ways to reuse rather than throw away. The pallets that our machines and fabric rolls arrive on have been used to make work surfaces, whilst milk bottles and tubs have been used to store buckles, cord locks and other rucksack components in. We have upgraded all of our sewing machines with energy efficient servo motors, which reduces their energy consumption by over 70% we use a 100% renewable energy supplier.
