The document summarizes an impact study conducted by Ohio University students on the environmental practices of 32 outdoor gear companies. It describes the methods used, which included sending emails to companies asking about their environmental impacts and analyzing the responses. Trends found among responses included efforts related to manufacturing processes, energy efficiency, and partnerships with environmental organizations. The limitations of the study and possibilities for future research are also discussed.
1. Ohio University Gear Impact Study Mathew L. Austin Janene Giuseffi Gracie Sorbello REC 601 13 Mar 2009 G
2. Introduction Wanted to combine the gear we “know” and how it impacts the environment Background Current environmental practices related to the environment and manufacturing Patagonia KEEN Others G
3. Project Goal Evolving process Focus on primary data Manufacturer’s transparency Willingness to share/communicate Do companies back up claims of environmentalism? If so, how? M
4. Methods 32 Companies selected Source: Outside Magazine 2009 Winter “Essentials” Companies include: Adidas, Alpina, Asics, Atomic, BackCountryAccess, Big Agnes, Black Diamond, Brooks, Cloudveil, Craft, Easton, Fischer, Gnu, Granite Gear, Ibex, Kayland, Kombi, Madshus, Millet, Mountain Hardwear, Movement, Nike, Oakley, Outdoor Research, Pearl Izumi, Petzel, Rab, Rossignol, Saucony, Sugoi, Suunto, The North Face G
5. Methods ohiouimpactstudy@gmail.com To Whom It May Concern, I am a grad student in Recreation Studies at Ohio University and am attempting to gain some information about the top outdoor gear companies as part of the O.U. Impact Study. We are investigating the impacts that outdoor gear companies have on the environment; we would like to know if, and how, [insert company name] keeps stock of the effects it has on the environment through the various aspects such as production, materials usage, energy consumption, etc. We are hoping to get this information as soon as possible, and look forward to further correspondence. Thanks, Gracie Sorbello Ohio University School of Recreation and Sport Sciences G
6. Methods Content Analysis Company Profile: product line, history, mission, other pertinent information Easily Accessible Information: information pertaining to the company’s environmental actions Communication History: outline of out contact with the company G
10. Sample Responses Oakley: “Thank you for your interest in Oakley. Please mail your request with a description of the requested documents/info, school name, questionnaire, and a brief summery pertaining to how the said documents/info would be used. Although all requests are reviewed, depending on the circumstances not all receive a response. You can mail your request to: Oakley Attn: Marketing Department [address] Sincerely, Allen ” J
11. Samples Responses Outdoor Research: “Thanks for your interest in Outdoor Research. At this point we are active members of the Outdoor Industry Association Eco Working Group. As part of the group we are committed to finding solutions that will lead to positive and measurable societal change and will significantly improve our environmental footprint. The overall mission of the EWG is to take a leadership role to develop environmental impact evaluation tools, programs, education and communication to stakeholders and consumers that will direct product life cycle and informed purchasing decisions. You can learn more about the EWG here www.outdoorindustry.org/eco. J
12. Atomic 1/26, Dr. Georg Bauer, Director of R&D, in Austria contacted us . Outlined factory location, efforts to recycle manufacturing waste, use renewable energy in the manufacturing process, and their efforts to reduce carbon footprints. 1/29 We replied, asking for more details. 2/6 Georg replied, apologizing for lateness, and suggested we schedule a phone call. 2/17- 45 minute phone call. Lots of details on environmental efforts and awareness of environmental impacts. 2/17- PowerPoint presentation was shared. M
13. Action Plan Education/awareness > specific “grades” or recommendations Sharing & disseminating information Let consumers make their own informed choices So…. Website Summary and specific data Links to further personal investigation G
14. Limitations Sample size Lack of time & resources Mode of communication & information gathering Inconsistency of 3 separate voices in second tier response Interpretation of info by 3 people (content analysis) M
15. Discussion 3 general trends Manufacturing Raw materials, recycling, processes, waste Energy efficiency reduction in carbon & GHG emissions Alternative energy Partnerships Collaboration or donation to environmental advocacy groups J
16. General Trends Manufacturing Big Agnes: diverted over 500,000 16-oz. plastic bottles that were headed for a landfill & recycled them into their Re-Routt collection of camping materials Fischer: reduced overall solvent use by incorporating a water-soluble varnish for their skis J
17. General Trends Energy efficiency Easton Snowshoes: offset 100% of their power usage by supporting wind energy. Atomic: moved manufacturing locations from China to Austria after a company-wide environmental impact analysis proved that the carbon footprint of gear produced in China was twice that of Austria. J
18. General Trends Partnerships Outdoor Research: member of Outdoor Industry Association Eco Working Group, an organization dedicated to changing the outdoor industry in positive environmental ways Many companies donate to LNT, Access Fund, Conservation Society and other local organizations J
19. Conclusions Company Structure Our queries were sent to various different departments within each company: Marketing (Oakley) Sales (Cloudveil) Research and Development (Atomic) Limited transparency Trade secrets Power of consumers Importance of education M
20. Future Research What are the motivations of companies to make environmentally responsible changes? More companies in sample 3rd party agency Certifying body for outdoor gear’s environmental impact M
Notas do Editor
Consumers are starting to demand conscientiousness on the part of the manufacturers, and gross sales of organic products were projected to increase 250% from 2000 to 2007 (Wright, 2005c)Patagonia- “launch” a product- run through the kind of data shared. Video????KEEN report card- link to it????Others- sample given in papers, or ask class members to share what they knowPatagonia recently joined with Toray, the world’s leading fiber and textile company who reports $12 billion in annual sales, to implement chemical recycling of nylon 6 (DiCullo, 2007). Sierra Designs recently added their “Green Effect” program, implementing five principles “of practicing and promoting a harmonious relationship between its business word and the outdoor world” (Pluss, 2007, p. 1). Chaos has brought us domestic organic wool (Wright, 2005b), Chaco has debuted a water-based urethane adhesive (Knutson, n.d.), Timberland has incorporated recycled rubber outsoles and organic cotton liners in 80% of their shoes, and SmartWool now uses hormone-free and free-range sheep (Lindsey, 2008).
1st round emails sent on Jan. 25th. If replies were received, follow up correspondence aimed at delving deeper into the information provided. If a company stated that they emphasized recycling, we sought information on content, quantity, and practices.
THIS WONT WORK, I cant get it to copy & paste right. As it is now, it will not show up properly when put on a pc. Trust me, this happened in my presentation for robins class.
Same thing, cant get pie charts to copy properly. Ugh.
Because there is no one solution for the issue of sustainability and corporate transparency, we seek to educate the public so that they can make more educated decisions, especially surrounding their purchases of gear from these 32 companies. By disseminating the information that companies readily provide and co-existent issues of transparency, we hope to promote further transparency of companies’ environmental impacts. Our goal is to disseminate the information we have gathered by building a website which will display a summary of basic trends found in our data. Explanation of the trends will come in the form of written expression and graphics such as tables and charts. Much of the information displayed on the website will mainly be content from this Power Point, along with any supplemental graphics that may prove helpful when summarizing. Links to important documents will be placed on the website so that users have full access to our data and report.
#2. The time limits placed on the study precluded the pursuit of more in-depth conversation; lack of both time and resources did not allow us to follow through on formal requests for information, such as the one proposed by Oakley. Furthermore had this been an officially sponsored study, companies may have been more willing to share information; an unclear initial goal made it difficult for us to express fully to each company how the information would ultimately be used or disseminated, also impacting the willingness of companies to share information.#3. In terms of gathering information, we found that websites do not necessarily represent accuracy in terms of a company’s stated mission and their execution of said mission. For example, Atomic’s website includes an environmental aspect in its mission but does not explain further what they are doing to fulfill this mission; however upon phone conversation, we discovered that Atomic is indeed fulfilling this mission in a variety of ways. Because most of our information was gathered through websites, it cannot be assumed that a company is not making environmental efforts simply because these efforts are not stated explicitly on the webpage.
Unintended outcomes: got some companies started thinking about this- seeing importance of looking into/knowing this info
