With the celebration of their 80th year, the co-op is making a promise to customers that gear purchased at REI will not only perform, but supports better ways of doing business–to shape what they are calling “the future of a life outdoors.”
“One of the most exciting things we’ve done in the past year was done completely behind the scenes,” said REI CEO Jerry Stritzke. “We’re collaborating with partners across industries to advance sustainable business practices, and as a result are completely changing the conversation around sustainability for the U.S. outdoor industry.”
The REI Product Sustainability Standards outline the co-op’s expectations for how brands manage key environmental, social and animal welfare impacts, building on work that REI has done over many years to advance sustainability within the co-op’s own brands. The standards were shaped by input from dozens of partner brands of various sizes and product categories, and were informed by years of participation in the Outdoor Industry Association Sustainability Working Group and other key sustainability forums.This input helped to ensure the standards are feasible, address the most relevant topics and reflect best practices.
“This effort to advance sustainability across an entire vendor base is among the most comprehensive in the U.S. retail industry,” said Adam Siegel, senior vice president of research, innovation and sustainability for the Retail Industry Leaders Association. “By going so broad with requirements for their suppliers and approaching this with such a spirit of collaboration, REI has not only moved their own operations forward, but they’ve raised the bar for the entire industry.”
The standards, as well as resources designed to help brands deepen their own sustainability efforts, will be made available to any retailer that wishes to use them. Alongside the standards, REI is debuting a list of preferred sustainability attributes, highlighting brands and products that are manufactured according to social and sustainability best practices.
Visitors to REI.com can now shop by sustainability attribute, by searching for terms like “organic cotton” to find clothing made with resource-conserving farming practices, or “fair trade,” which promotes safe, healthy working conditions and sustainable livelihoods as products are created and sold. Learn more about REI’s preferred sustainability attributes on the Co-op Journal.
“We work with more than 1,000 brands, both large and small. Some, like prAna and Patagonia, are on the leading edge in integrating sustainability into their products and supply chains. Others may have a keen interest in sustainability but lack the resources to fully implement a program,” said Matthew Thurston, REI’s director of sustainability. “We’re in a unique position to unite our brand partners around a common goal, by sharing best practices and resources that we’ve learned from both our own work and that of the brands we work with.”
“Consumers increasingly expect that the retailers they buy from have done their homework in understanding the social and environmental practices of the brands they carry,” said Amy Roberts, executive director of the Outdoor Industry Association. “The outdoor industry has been a leader in the work of sustainability and this move is an opportunity for both brands and retailers to understand and collaborate around ongoing challenges, as well as highlight areas where they’ve made significant progress.”
“We are proud to be a leader in REI’s collaboration project around sustainability and product standards,” said Rachel Lincoln, prAna director of sustainability. “Our individual goal is to advance the principles of sustainability in the global apparel industry; supporting the implementation of these standards is just a start in our partnership with REI.”
“At NEMO we believe great design adds value to the world, not just for our end users, but throughout the value chain. Working hand-in-hand with a trusted leader in sustainability like REI helps small brands like NEMO maximize our impact,” said Cam Brensinger, founder and CEO of NEMO Equipment, which was recently named REI Vendor Partner of the Year. “It’s so beneficial to use the standards that REI sets forth as a foundation and a guide to help us prioritize our activities and work more effectively with our manufacturers and their suppliers.”
Some of the new requirements, such as establishing a manufacturing code of conduct for supply chains, take effect immediately, while others that may take additional time for brands to meet have an implementation deadline of fall 2020 product lines. For example, by 2020, REI will no longer carry any sunscreens or sun-protection products made with oxybenzone–a chemical known to exacerbate bleaching in coral reefs. Each brand is also expected to have a restricted substances list, which specifies which chemical substances are banned or restricted in their products. Other expectations outline key impacts to be managed in specific product categories.
“No single brand can move the needle on sustainability alone, but by working together we have the potential to make a big impact,” said Thurston.
Today REI also published its 2017 Stewardship Report, highlighting 80 years of doing business differently on behalf of members and the outdoors. In the co-op’s 80th year, the co-op turned record sales into record impact, reinvesting nearly 70 percent of profits into outdoor communities and advocating for public lands and gender equality.
