Round Up: 4 New Green Initiatives from Alpkit, Clif, Thule and the UCI
Recently we have covered the latest initiatives from the UK based group Trash Free Trails and the steps that both Trek and Cannondale are taking to limit the plastic use in their packaging so here are four smaller announcements on new eco-initiatives that will hopefully help lessen the impact of our sport.
Alpkit:
The UK based outdoor retailer and sister brand to Sonder Bikes, Alpkit, has joined Chris King in becoming a certified B Corp.
By becoming a B Corp, Alpkit has joined a growing collective of brands that have been recognised as a "force for good." B Corps are businesses that must meet the highest standard of social and environmental performance, transparency and accountability. Unlike similar certifications, a B Corp is not just for a single product or service but for the whole business.
 | As a small, independent business we need to make money, but we don’t do it at the expense of others or at the expense of the wild places we love. We know we’re not perfect and don’t have all the answers. However, we are determined to live the change we want to see and we work every day to make things a bit better. We’re advocates of the highest ethical standards and have always chosen the most environmentally preferable method of production. |
Last year Alpkit worked together with the Ethical Consumer Magazine to become the first UK outdoor brand to publish a fully comprehensive sustainability report. For 2020 it took further steps to follow the rigorous assessments to become a B Corp.
| Whilst we’re proud of what we’ve achieved, we recognise these are just the foundations and there’s still plenty of work to be done. As a B Corp, we join an ever-growing group of companies around the world who, like us, choose to do business the right way. All B Corps work towards the same goals and together we have a much bigger impact. We will speed up progress to a circular economy and continue to reduce our environmental impact, treat animals humanely, build a better business and give back. |
Clif:
Clif Bar has signed the Ellen MacArthur Foundation Global Commitment and it has announced by 2025 it will change all of its packagings so it is reusable, recyclable, or compostable.
The Ellen MacArthur Foundation is a UK registered charity that aims to inspire a generation to re-think, re-design & build a positive future through the framework of a circular economy. Alongside the new commitment to change its packaging so it can be reused, recycled, or composted by 2025 Clif also aims to;
- Have 25% of the plastic used in its packaging made from renewable or recycled materials.
- Cut out any unneeded plastic packaging, with a goal of using 10% less.
- Drive awareness and education through the packaging. They will start this by adding the How2Recycle label which will provide clear instructions on how to dispose of it.
Their final goal will be to remove 1 million pounds of plastic waste from the environment, whether that is preventing plastic waste or by cleaning up the waste on public lands or in waterways.
| Clif Bar & Company has fueled world-class competitors and everyday athletes for more than 25 years. But that’s just part of our story. At Clif, we are committed to crafting foods with purpose, for people, and for the planet. That means striving to be as thoughtful about our packaging as we are about our organic, plant-based ingredients. Over the years we’ve eliminated, reduced and recycled. Now we’re making our boldest, most urgent commitment yet. |
Thule:
The Thule Group has recently announced that it will now be committing to a reduction in its greenhouse gas emissions after signing Science Based Targets.
Following the announcement, the business will now be monitored by external auditors as it pledges to reduce its environmental impact within the company and externally with suppliers. Science Based Targets is a joint collaboration between the CDP, the UN Global Compact, the World Resources Institute (WRI) and the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) with an overall goal to create an international reporting standard that facilitates follow-up and comparison between companies and industries.
| With the signing of Science Based Targets, we do not just set ambitious goals for this part of our sustainability work. We are also part of a context that effectively and scientifically evaluates the results of our measures. Through the signing, we will also fully include our suppliers in our own sustainability work. In other words, we are taking a clear further step in our ambition to contribute to sustainable and responsible development from a social, environmental as well as economic perspective. |
UCI:
As part of the continuing partnership between the UCI and Santini, which began in 1988, all World Champion jerseys from the 2021 Cyclo-Cross World Champs will be "eco friendly" and made from Polartec. The packaging has also been changed to be biodegradable.
| The development of the eco-friendly UCI World Champion jersey epitomises our company’s commitment to the environment. For years now, we have been choosing local zero-miles suppliers and we are using more and more eco-friendly fabrics for our technical cycling wear. Not just the jerseys but also the packaging will be environmentally-friendly from now on. All the jersey wrappings will be compostable |
| We are very pleased with the renewal and extension of this historic partnership which links our Federation with Santini, one of the UCI’s and cycling’s most faithful supporters. We would also like to commend the Italian brand’s implication in the development of eco-friendly products. This is in line with one of the priorities of the UCI, which places much emphasis on the promotion of the bicycle for a healthy environment. The UCI World Champion jersey will now be not only a symbol of sporting excellence but also of commitment to sustainable development. |
75 Comments
It's far from perfect, but our society values things like watching people race bikes (amongst other things). Those people get paid to do so and they'll keep doing so until it's no longer profitable.
A better challenge to throw out there might be something like: hey politicians in my country, no more face to face meetings when a zoom or phone call would suffice.
Regarding tearoffs however there is a very viable alternaitve in the form of rolloffs and thusly there is no excuse for the continued allowance of tearoffs in professional MTB.
I was actually shocked to see pro riders tossing their tear offs into the countryside at the 2019 Fort William DHWC. I wrote to the orgnaisers saying that broadcasting this behaviour sets a bad example and how could they allow something like this. They wrote back basically saying "well the UCI allows it so...."
If kids (or adults) see pro riders using tear offs at world cup level then they're going to think it's ok to use them as well. Where is the clean up team for the ones you see lying around your trails?
Tearoffs should be completely phased out of the sport of MTB, end of story.
Alpkit and Thule's commitments are pretty significant as well. B Corp status requires a major investment in both time and money and the Science Based Targets are going to require a lot of work.
It is all swings and roundabouts, there is "sustainable" materials that companies can implement immediately but then there's no infrastructure to deal with that material once consumed in the majority of places.
Furthermore, i don't know about Clif and i agree 2025 is a long way away but a lot of brands will be in preexisting contracts for packaging etc. and may not be able to change tomorrow.
The whole concept of "sustainability" is just a mindset or a perception if you like. By this I mean nothing is perfect and its just what we think is best. For example, everyone thinks paper is a genius material that is the answer to all woes. While it is the easiest to recycle and it will compost (after a few months) it uses significantly more energy and water to produce than a plastic equivalent. Not justifying plastic either, merely pointing out that there is no perfect solution to this "sustainability" issue. In fact a lot paper food packaging has plastic laminated too it, it just "looks" ok, like your starbucks cup.
Back to your point, yes 2025 is a long way away but if they are using this time to productively develop something that is legitimately "sustainable" then its better than a brand making a fast change to a product that looks "sustainable".
side note - i have put "sustainable" in inverted commas because i believe there is no such thing as true sustainability. The materials on the earth where provided to be used, just need to make sure we do so responsibly. Keep reusing that travel mug guys.
I can't speak to their existing commitments for packaging, maybe that's a factor, but I feel that a company that generates upwards of a billion dollars in revenue (quick google, no citation but call it a ballpark number) probably has some negotiating power there.
There is no good solution involving plastic. It doesn't get recycled. It takes a shit ton of energy to produce, so that's not something that can be used as a "pro". They can educate all they want about recycling but the facts point to it ending up in the ocean or at best a landfill, never breaking down.
www.oecd.org/environment/waste/policy-highlights-improving-plastics-management.pdf
I appreciate that you're working in sustainable packaging for fashion, that's another huge problem and kudos to you for being involved! Sounds like I'm preaching to the choir here and you're just trying to provide some context so again thanks for that.
Clif is a company that prides themselves on sourcing organic ingredients and pushing a sustainable angle, so it just feels like they should be doing more here if they want to be a leader in the space. You & I can talk about alternative options til the cows come home, but my point is that it should be their job to provide better solutions in a more timely manner given the problems at hand and their contribution to those problems. They have the resources to do it, so why not ask/expect more from them?
In particular I agree that plastic is the biggest issue, namely because there isn't the infrastructure for it to be recycled effectively. For example, most of plastic that is "recycled" in the UK is shipped off to the far east to countries who don't even recycle their own waste.
I agree Clif should do more especially in regards to where they position themselves in the market.
The last major consideration which I forgot to mention is the packing of the product. At the moment they likely have a machine which wraps the product in plastic film which likely packs thousands of products an hour. Say they switched to a paper wrapper or a little box, it would likely require a complete change of packing machinery which would be massive financial requirements which is also why they may space it out over several years. If they outsource the manufacturing of their product to others this becomes even more tricky.
Again I'm not wanting to justify for Clif, I agree they need to provide more details as to what they are wanting to achieve and perhaps need to be more bold with the aspirations. A good example is Brewdog set out to be the first carbon neutral brewery and they achieved it in record time.
Like most companies they use a variety of sweeteners to make it appear that there isn't a lot of a single sugar but I don't see corn syrup on their ingredient list. I treat these things like candy bars but they are a lot better for you than a Kit Kat.
Clif uses a shitload of added sugars to get the calorie count they want, but it's brown rice syrup if that matters.
Do Clif Bars have high fructose corn syrup?
"Each bar includes a blend of simple sugars and complex carbohydrates alongside smaller amounts of plant-based protein and “good fats” from ingredients like seeds and nuts. There's just no room for GMOs, high-fructose corn syrup, or artificial flavors."
Climate change is a far bigger issue than trailside trash. These tiny measures mean almost nothing in the grand scheme of things. We need to stop the creation of greenhouse gases. How much CO2 is produced from a UCI race? How much CO2 is produced from every vehicle with a Thule rack on it?
Tackle greenhouse gas emissions FIRST and with the most passion. Oh, and wanna cut down on solid waste? Stop buying new stuff. "Stop buying new stuff" isn't a slogan many companies will get behind though.
FYI: www.vitalmtb.com/features/Eddie-Masters-Thinks-the-UCI-Is-Suffocating-Downhill-Racing,2969
CLIFF's waste stuff buries the lead: their bars are all vegan -- for a food company, you simply can't get any more environmentally responsible than that
Sure I love some great vegan food and go for weeks sometimes without eating meat but to say being vegan is the end-all for being healthy then you just aren’t excepting some facts. Fish, chicken and lean red meat in moderation are all fine. In fact most things in moderation are fine and if you eat over amounts of lots of things it’s bad for you. They have proven tofu if eaten to much can cause issues in men and woman. Also those vegan clif bars first ingredient is basically sugar and a lot of it. High amounts of sugar are just if not more harmful than fatty meat.
You are lucky you live somewhere that you are able to be vegan. Just being vegan though isn’t good enough because if you knew all the chemical runoffs that come from farms you might not be as happy with what you’re doing to the environment. If you’re lucky enough to be able to buy all organic food then you need to stop and ask yourself how many places in the world are capable of feeding all their populations with organic vegetables, nuts and fruits. I think a lot more people in the world would love to eat healthy and be healthy but many places in the world can’t and won’t grow anything due to conditions. You can heard not grow anywhere.
There is way more deforestation that goes on for crops to be grown all over the world. In fact the biggest deforestation that’s going on is in South America in the rainforest to grow palm oil.
I’m not just saying livestock either for feeding people I’m also saying fish. Most places in the world also can fish that are unable to grow the vegetables and fruit and nuts that you are talking about to be able to sustain a healthy vegan lifestyle.
I can’t say I believe all science about phytoestrogen. Especially when just 10 years ago remember the food pyramid that scientist told us we should follow. It’s funny you don’t see anything like that anymore at schools.
I'm not vegan, but I do believe that Americans eat waaaay too much meat. There's no reason why we need that many cows & this is just in Arizona. The rest of the west, midwest, & east coast are still full of cows wasting tons of water.
If we made growing organic the norm than it would not be more expensive. We have to decide to be better. You can actually grow things in harsh environments.
Many/most of the farmers in the US don't actually want to farm (in it for the subsidies & insurance money).
They chop down every single tree on their land & seed areas that flood (where they know nothing will grow). Their crops are insured, so they still get paid for trying to farm every inch of land. The kicker, in the midwest at least (not sure how bad other areas are) are the subsidies. This means that everyone grows corn & soybeans as much as possible--bad crop rotation leading to soil with no nutrients left. Pump it full of nitrogen & order more seeds from Monsanto every season, then crop dust the sh*t out of all the surrounding properties too. The even worse thing is that so much of the harvested (by remote control) crop sits in silos to rot. THIS IS NOT SUSTAINABLE!
ep1.pinkbike.org/p5pb18366479/p5pb18366479.jpg
Actualy quite disturbing that i could place that so quickly. Grim Donut is seared in my brain. Same for us all I imagine....?