Sustainability


GoLite is committed to building a sustainable business. Sustainability is imbedded in every aspect of how we operate through an integrated set of guidelines, policies, and corporate and individual goals, all bound together by our mission, vision, and values.  Our definition of sustainability includes respect for everyone involved in our supply chain from fabric mill employee to you our valued customer or partner; it includes strong financial performance; and minimizing and offsetting the inevitable environmental impacts of producing products.

Our long term objective is to mitigate 100% of our environmental footprint and to be a model corporation in how we treat our people, communities and environment. We are following a comprehensive, metrics-based path to sustainability.  We are not interested in launching just a few “green” products or a couple of eco-fiber collections.  We are addressing 100% of our operations and 100% of our products. As we do this, we are maintaining or increasing our stringent end-use and testing requirements so that as we move forward, we are actually improving product quality and technical performance, not sacrificing them.

We strive to be a real part of the solution to the challenges facing our planet. We are making radical changes in how we do business since we want to reach a truly sustainable business model as fast as possible while continuing to make premium, high-performance products that serve the needs of outdoor athletes.

 

Our Products

After conducting a full assessment of our operations, we know that more than 60% of our overall environmental impact is embedded in the materials in our products. That’s why our core focus is shifting 100% of our materials to what we have identified as Environmentally Preferred Materials (EPMs).

While GoLite products are by nature “greener” (lighter products = less materials = less carbon, less toxics, less waste), more than 20% of the mass of materials in our current products is also made of EPMs, mainly Tier 1 recycled nylon and polyester which have up to an 80% smaller footprint than their virgin equivalents. Our 2010 product line has over 50% EPMs by mass, and our corporate goal is to use 100% EPMs by 2015.

 

Climate Impact


We are dedicated to reducing our climate impact. Although we are growing as a company, our short-term goal is to reduce our actual greenhouse gas emissions by 30% from 2008 to 2010 through targeted reduction strategies such as reducing the footprint of the materials in our products, minimizing long-haul flights, and selecting the most efficient shipping methods available. Today, 100% of our energy, business travel, and transportation of finished goods from factory through consumer are offset with NativeEnergy credits that invest in new renewable energy infrastructure in the USA, Canada and China. GoLite has been “carbon neutral” including offsets to these impacts since 2007, and in 2010 we will also offset our share of all of our partner factory and mill operations, resulting in true 100% carbon neutrality for all GoLite operations and products.

 

Corporate Practices


Our corporate practices are aligned with our values of Innovate, Sustain, and Inspire.  Some examples of this alignment are:

• We are the first to market with a comprehensive shift from virgin nylon and polyester in our Spring 2010 backpack and sleeping bag ranges to Tier 1 recycled nylon and polyester
• Where we cannot currently achieve the desired performance with recycled materials, we invest in developing lighter, stronger materials that consume fewer resources to deliver the same performance (our tent fabrics are dramatically lighter than the competition and are actually stronger than most)
• We have developed and are piloting a revolutionary electronic wholesale selling program that replaces paper sales documents with interactive electronic tools, reducing not only paper usage, but also the time it takes to present and take sales orders and process reorders
• We are committed to establishing a “Zero Waste” headquarters (over 93% of our waste is currently recycled or composted through Eco-Cycle)
• We donate hundreds of volunteer service hours in our community every year (while employees are on the clock)
• We have established long-term support of a range of environmental and educational non-profits
• We have staff benefits that reward community service
• We grant full-time employees with one year of service a paid week per year to volunteer for an environmental non-profit
• We pay our employees to use alternative transportation methods
• We support the Conservation Alliance, the American Hiking Society, and many other conservation and outdoor recreation-oriented non-profits

 

Transparency


GoLite is committed to transparency. If you are interested in learning more about GoLite’s efforts to be a sustainable business, click here to register to receive a copy of GoLite’s Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Report available in Dec. 2009.

 

The GoLite Index™

New for 2010, GoLite is introducing The GoLite Index™, a tool we are using to make our products the most sustainable we can while maintaining our stringent high-performance standards.

It is a product-level measurement tool and scorecard that addresses each product’s key social and environmental impacts, helping us make better decisions that drive our products to the most sustainable versions we can produce – and helping you make better purchasing decisions.

Every product is scored on a 0 to 5 scale – rounded to the nearest half point. It is based on best practices from within our industry and the sustainability and fair labor realms.

The GoLite IndexTM measures:

  1. Environmentally Preferred Materials
    • More than 60% of our company carbon footprint is attributable to the materials we select. We have direct control over the selection of these materials. Thus, we have the direct ability to reduce a product’s footprint as well as our overall company footprint.
  2. Responsible Production
    • For every GoLite employee, there are more than 100 other individuals at the manufacturing level that are directly impacted by our sourcing decisions. We seek to continuously improve the work environment for these people through careful selection and monitoring of our factories.
    • The transport of raw materials has an impact on the environment. We can directly influence this impact by limiting the transportation distance of the primary raw material used in each product we manufacture.
  3. Education + End-of-Life Programs
    • Significant environmental impact occurs once you purchase a product. In fact, over the life of a product, the environmental impacts of laundering a product can often be higher than the impacts of making a product. We want to help you to extend the useful life of your products and to minimize its impact through product care education, reuse/repair programs and, at end-of-life, a product take-back program.

The GoLite Index™ scores for each product plus our detailed scoring methodology will be live on GoLite’s website in January 2010. Stay tuned!