British outdoor brands Rab and Lowe Alpine share their CSR efforts in an open and honest approach.

Applying a Corporate Social Responsibility strategy means taking some serious decisions, leading to widespread change affecting how a company manages its business. Yet, sophisticated strategies won’t do the job on alone. It is hard, daily work, at all levels and all departments, which in the end results in change. Therefore, and despite already achieving some big steps forward in their environmental and social impact, British outdoor brands Rab and Lowe Alpine are applying a ‘Marginal Gains’ approach.

In 2020, Rab and Lowe Alpine became a Certified Climate Neutral company, aiming for Net Zero by 2030 – one of the first companies in the outdoor industry to do so. This means that Equip has now officially achieved the 4^th consecutive year of Climate Neutral Certification. In 2022, they achieved Fair Wear Leader Status barely two years into their membership. Equip continue to find ways to reduce their impact in every aspect of the business – through the increased use of renewable energy in their supply chain; to their global Rab Service Centres which carried out 15,416 washes and repairs in 2022; minimizing and recycling packaging; and many more.

But besides these ‘Big Wins’, Rab and Lowe Alpine also leave no stone unturned, using a ‘Marginal Gains’ mindset with product development. This means scrutinizing every aspect of every product, making continual changes which go beyond the obvious. These are Marginal Gains – attention to tiny details such as zips, sewing thread and pullers. These add up to a significant difference in the use of materials, waste minimization, CO₂ emissions and the company’s continual journey to achieve Net Zero. Significant increases in 2022 production have resulted in a rise in the company’s overall emissions, but this approach has allowed them to continue to reduce their item-level carbon emissions for the third consecutive year – by 17.6% (against a 2019 baseline) in 2022.

This approach is at the heart of Equip’s Material Facts activity. Material Facts is an industry-first which allows Rab and Lowe Alpine to share product data in a clear, honest and simple way. Already launched to retail at the end of 2022 (Read the Suston article here), Equip will roll the approach out to consumers this summer for Autumn/Winter 2023. Material Facts will be available for every apparel product and all sleeping bags, disclosing accurate recycled material content (by % weight), fluorocarbon status and production location. More criteria to be added in the future. Material Facts will be available on Rab’s website and visible through a QR code printed on every product’s hangtag, as well as provided to retailers for their own channels.

Photo: Rab/Chris McClean