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Make The Right Choice

For us, the outdoors is everything. It’s work, it’s play, it’s in our DNA. Put simply, we’d be lost without it. That’s why we want to do everything we can to look after it for generations to come. How? By minimising our impact on the environment, actively protecting the places we love, and helping everyone to enjoy the outdoors in a responsible way. We’re working towards a more circular economy that’s better for the great outdoors and everyone who enjoys exploring it, too.

 

Find out more about our mission in our sustainability report, discover the services we offer to help keep your kit out of landfill and performing for longer, and discover the Our Planet range.

The annual sustainability report for our parent group, Yonderland

Download here

Make the right choice with free, expert boot and rucksack fitting

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Recycle your unwanted kit with us and keep it out of landfill

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Extend the life of the kit you love and keep it performing for longer

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Products to care for your kit at home

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Helping you to reduce plastic waste and stay hydrated on-the-go

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An image of two - a rubbish tip and a wind turbine

“The need for a more planet-friendly business and to protect the outdoors has begun to permeate the entire company, from store staff to our warehouse teams to the way we buy products.  The urgency to change the way we work has become engrained in how we make our day-to-day decisions and that’s how real change happens. We have a long road ahead of us, but I am proud to be part of this journey!”

Melanie Gruenwald // Sustainability Lead

Our Planet-First Goals

It’s no secret that climate change and unsustainable lifestyles are devastating the environment and the outdoor places we love to explore. It’s playing havoc with the seasons, polluting wild places, damaging ecosystems and depleting natural resources. In short, it’s changing the outdoors as we know it and we need to do something about it. The task is huge, and we can’t do it alone, but we must take responsibility and do our bit to protect the outdoors.  

 

But there’s more to protecting the outdoors than meets the eye. We’re taking a multi-dimensional approach to avoid neglecting one aspect in favour of another.

 

Our planet-focused strategy takes a holistic approach to some of the key issues in the outdoor industry:

 

Planet-Friendly Products
Carbon Management
Waste Management
Caring for the Outdoors

 

On top of this, we want to actively support projects that protect the outdoors, to extend the positive impact we can have beyond just our own business to our customers, our suppliers, brands and partners. Our journey to becoming a more conscious business is a long one  - one we have only just begun – and each day will come with new challenges and a chance for us to learn and grow. The path won’t always be smooth, straight-forward, or even clear, but we promise to always try our best and be transparent every step of the way.

Our commitment to the outdoors

A red insulated jacket, one half of which is just inside insulation without the outer layer.

Prioritise conscious fashion

Establish a Repair & Care Service to make the products you already own last longer
  

Help all customers recycle their kit with us to close the loop 

  

Aim for 80% of our products to be recyclable, made from recycled materials, or from a brand with a planet-first mentality

An iceberg

Reduce our carbon footprint

Run our business on 100% renewable energy
 

Reduce our energy requirements by 30%
 

Reduce our travel carbon footprint within our business by 50%

 

Become carbon neutral

 

Help our customers to reduce their carbon footprint when enjoying the outdoors

Lots of rugs to be recycled

Wake up to waste

Repurpose or recycle all aftersale stock, so zero stock goes to landfill
 

Reduce our own waste generation by 25%
 

Achieve a 100% recycling rate for recyclable materials across our business
 

Eliminate single-use plastics in our business where better alternatives are feasible

 

Collaborate with our brands & suppliers to find innovative alternatives to single-use plastics in packaging

 

Offer a used gear recycling service in-store to help reduce textile waste

Mountains at the back and some water / lake at the front

Keep it wild

Help every employee to dedicate one working day a year to an environmental project 
 

Offer a greener pension fund to our employees
 

Planted 10,000 trees in partnership with the National Trust

Milestones

Big stones in the blue sea

Being a more conscious business doesn’t happen overnight, and the journey looks different for everyone. Though progress may be slow and victories small, we’re proud of every step we make to becoming a more responsible business. Here’s what we’ve achieved so far:

 

 

January 2009

 

Ayacucho brand is launched to support local community & business in Peru, India & Kenya

 

 

 

 

September 2017

 

Runners Need launches its Recycle my Run campaign allowing people to recycle their old running shoes

 

 

 

 

February 2018

 

Single-use plastic bags are replaced with paper bags in-store

 

 

 

 

May 2018 

 

All single-use plastic cups are banned across the business

 

 

 

 

April 2019

 

Sustainability Team is officially launched

 

 

 

 

July 2019

 

Black shrink wrap is replaced by plastic flat strips, cutting down warehouse plastic by over 90%

 

 

 

 

August 2019

 

First stock donations to our new charity partners – Jamie’s Farm, Wilderness Foundation, Leadership Challenges 

 

 

 

 

October 2019

 

 Business runs on 98% renewable energy

 

 

 

 

November 2019

 

Invoices changed to recycled paper and re-designed to use minimal ink

 

 

 

 

January 2020

 

Virgin plastic online order bags replaced by 100% recycled bags saving c. 30tns of virgin plastic a year

 

 

 

 

November 2020

 

Repair and Care service is launched, offering customers a range of kit washing and mending options

 

 

 

 

April 2021

 

Recycle My Gear service launched to help customers recycle old and unwanted kit in-store

 

A journey shared

Sewing machine thread and needle in black and white

Our brands are perhaps the only people who love the outdoors as much as we all do and, like us, they want to protect it too. We’re working closely with all our brands to help change the outdoor industry for the better and create a more planet-friendly shopping experience. Here are a few who are leading the way in creating kit that looks good and does good too.

 

 

Our brands

Shop Our Planet-Friendly Brands

Our partners

Join us on our journey

We’re trying to do our bit for the planet, but we can’t do it without you, our outdoor community. We’re in this together and we want to help you enjoy the outdoors in a more responsible way. So, here’s a little inspiration from us to help get you started.

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