Adventurous types face this choice sooner or later: where am I going to buy my outdoor clothing and what should I pay attention to? Most importantly, your gear should be waterproof, not wear out or worse: break down during an adventure. And yet there are big differences. A lot of outdoor clothing is made of synthetic materials, in sweatshops where working conditions are not the best, or how about using PFAS to make stuff water-repellent. None of that is without environmental impact. And yet there are companies doing better. Better designs, better materials and working with better (fairer!) factories. A more sustainable outdoor brand that leads the way and definitely belongs in the greener list is VAUDE. What are they doing differently?
VAUDE: ‘The garment industry is fierce, but there really is room for improvement’
In cooperation with VAUDE
If you are an outdoorsman, then you have probably bought something from an outdoor brand at one time or another. Maybe it was a windbreaker, backpack, mountain boots, tent, sleeping bag or was it ski trousers or cycling shorts? What do you know about the company behind your sports equipment? When buying your outdoor clothing and gear, you can pay attention to many points to save the environment. But do you do the same when you stand at the checkout with a new pair of zip-off trousers? And do you even know what to look out for? In collaboration with VAUDE, we go through the most important points with you, so you can make a better choice next time in that (digital) fitting room!
Ban on greenwashing, also for outdoor brands
There is a lot wrong in the textile industry, which includes a lot of outdoor clothing and gear. Making textiles and gear is polluting. It involves intensive farming and chemical processes and harms nature enormously. How something is made is often hard to find out. There is also a lot of deception, which is called greenwashing. Greenwashing means that companies attribute all kinds of sustainable properties to a product to make us feel good and entice us to buy something ‘good’, but in fact there is little sustainable about it. Pure deception, in other words. Fortunately, new European legislation is in the pipeline to better protect us against this kind of practice. Indeed, it will become punishable to use claims like ‘environmentally friendly’, ‘ecological’ or ‘green’ if you cannot substantiate it.
VAUDE is known for its transparent approach to sustainability. For more information on how VAUDE puts sustainability at the heart of its business, please see its CSR report. This report is public and is prepared according to strict standards.
Green Shape Label
To increase transparency in the textile chain, VAUDE established their own Green Shape Label back in 2010, which goes far beyond most labels. Interestingly, the Green Shape Label is the strictest standard there is in the textile industry, even Greenpeace compliments Vaude with it. So all VAUDE products meet the highest sustainability standards. Their label demands the use of good and environmentally friendly materials and fair production so that everyone in the chain - including the makers - get a good workplace, normal working hours and fair pay. But VAUDE's Green Shape Label goes a step further and that's where circular thinking comes in. VAUDE also looks at whether gear can be easily maintained and repaired. This is already considered at the design table. See, that's something many companies could learn from. Most products are still designed to eventually break down, so that we have to buy it again. VAUDE is convinced that this doesn't have to be the case and at the same time you can still be economically successful as a company. Find out more about VAUDE's Green Shape Label.
VAUDE's Green Shape Label sets high standards for the production of their outerwear.
Why VAUDE belongs in the more sustainable list
With such a sustainable and circular vision, VAUDE belongs in the greener list of thegreenlist.nl.
- VAUDE has a climate strategy and aims to halve all CO2 emissions by 2030, in line with the Paris climate agreement. They are betting on green energy. The emissions they cannot avoid will be offset through myclimate.
- There are many abuses in the textile industry, labour exploitation and child labour are common. Fortunately, there are also labels for clothing that pay attention to fair production such as Fairtrade and Fair Wear Foundation. VAUDE is a member of Fair Wear and has had Leader status since 2015, which is the best rating you can get when it comes to human rights and fair production throughout the chain.
- A lot of outdoor gear is made of synthetic materials such as polyester and polyamide. And these materials do not have a good name - hello petroleum and microplastics. No, we want to get rid of them. But hey, for a lot of everyday gear as well as outdoor and sportswear, this material is ideal. Polyester is extremely strong, elastic, waterproof, dries quickly and hardly creases at all. A mackintosh made of cotton, of course, cannot be. And so VAUDE makes these materials differently. Not from petroleum, but from old PET bottles, for example.
- Ultimately, the goal is to close the loop completely - that's circularity. That backpack or mackintosh made of PET bottles should be endlessly recyclable into something new, so that no new raw materials are needed and we relieve the earth. Unfortunately, we are not (nearly) there yet; only 1% of all collected clothes and textiles are recycled worldwide. And yet VAUDE is committed to this. At the design table, we are already thinking about how clothes can be better designed so that they can be repaired and recycled. Here, it is important that gear is made from one material and not a mix of materials (which is often the case), so at VAUDE we think about the material even down to the zips and yarn with the aim that full recycling is at least possible.
- And a responsibility towards your fans? You have one too, VAUDE thinks. Instead of jumping on trends that make you feel like you need something new every season, they prefer to give tips on how best to maintain and repair the gear you already have - there's even a repair service. And residents of Germany can even rent camping gear from VAUDE. Fingers crossed that this service also becomes available in the Netherlands....
VAUDE's headquarters and factory.
Vaude, a more sustainable outdoor brand
Will you soon be looking for good gear for an adventure holiday or your favourite outdoor sport? With VAUDE, you know you're not just wearing quality, but that they have thought through to the last detail on how you can enjoy outdoor experiences without overloading the planet and others. At VAUDE, sustainability runs like a green thread through everything they do.
Want to know more? Read more sustainable stories about VAUDE.
More sustainable tips from thegreenlist.nl
- Also see: this is the best way to maintain your hiking boots!
- Also see: wildpicking walk in Amsterdam.
Sources: europarl.europa.eu. Photo credits: VAUDE.
