Chances are that you love the outdoors - if you didn't, you
wouldn't be on this web site reading this story. Like us you watch
our society systematically burying our landscape under tons of
asphalt and concrete and sucking the earth dry and despair.
Getting out into the hills is a reassurance that despite our
efforts, we haven't killed the world yet. So we're sound and right
on, erm, right? Not when you start looking at our gear and clothing
we're not.
The bad news is that more and more outdoors kit is made from
materials which aren't sustainable using processes that, in turn,
pollute the world. Think about all those synthetic fabrics, PTFE
membranes, chemically processed boot leathers. And how about the
'rubber' on the soles of your boots? The aluminium of your tent
poles? Fleece - sounds like it comes from sheep, actually is derived
from the petro-chemical industry? How about the wicking treatments
used on base layers? Water repellant chemicals?
All those industrial processes are pumping out chemicals and by
products that threaten to swamp us in toxins, use energy and promote
global warming. What's more, like it or not, pollution regulations in developing countries are not as stringent or effective as in, say, Europe, and as more kit is made in the far east, it's arguably more of an ecological issue.
Holier
than thou...
And before we go any further, no, we're not going to be
hypocritical. We test and use kit made from artificial fibres and
manufactured using industrial processes. We don't have all the
answers and we're not telling you what you should and shouldn't buy
or use.
We're just trying to get a clearer picture of what's going on in
ecological terms and, where possible, to suggest some alternatives
and to highlight brands that are trying to do their bit to preserve
the planet. Oh, and we're not research scientists, so please bear
with us...
Fabrics
Things have changed a bit since the days of Mallory, Irvine and
tweed coats and britches. Outdoors clothing is squarely based on
synthetic fabrics - polyesters, polypropolene, Nylons and so on. In
fact we've developed entire clothing systems based on synthetic
fabrics and their ability to wick moisture, dry quickly and hold as
little moisture as possible while trapping air.
Fleece may sound nice and fluffy with its sheepy associations, the
reality though is that synthetic fabrics are derived from
petrochemicals and are by-products of the oil industry. That makes
them ecologically dubious - they're a non-renewable resource, with a
long history of devestating the areas where oil is extracted, plus
the processes involved in producing the fibres used to create
synthetics, also lead to toxic by-products. On top of that, synthetic
fabrics don't degrade, they're like plastic bags, effectively
indestructible.
Just to make things worse, the dyes used to colour synthetic
fabrics are often dyed with processes utilising heavy metals and
treated with chemicals to enhance water repellancy.
Eco
Fleece
Unfortunately fleece works and works well. The same goes for the
shell fabrics. There is at least one partial answer out there, most
prominently used by Patagonia, the US clothing company founded by
Yvon Chouinard. They manufacture fleece using recycled plastic milk
bottles with 31 of their products using this PCR (Post Consure
Recycled) fleece - see their web site for more
details.
They've also just started using PCR filament yarn to produce the
fabrics for some of their shell jackets - again reducing the amount
of virgin materials used, but without affecting performance. There's
a lot more to Patagonia in ecological terms than using recycled
materials, but more of that later.
Alternative
Fabrics
Only a very small per-centage of outdoor synthetics are made from
recycled materials, but another answer is to use natural fabrics. The
most obvious of these is wool and the most suitable wool for outdoors
use is merino, thanks to its fine fibres which make it extremely
comfortable.
Companies like Icebreaker, Smartwool and Howies all use merino
with others combining merino with synthetics to create dual-fabric
baselayers, think Odlo, Macpac and Helly Hansen. Wool's definitely
ecologically superior to synthetics, but not totally without issues.
Sheep give off huge quantities of methane, which is a greenhouse gas,
in the case of New Zealand, they're responsible for over 50 per-cent
of the country's output, but it's a relative thing.
For mid-layer use, both Howies and Icebreaker produce fleece using
merino, so if you want to make an ecological statement, they're worth
seeking out.
What about
cotton?
Cotton doesn't spring to mind as a great outdoor fabric, it tends
to hold moisture and dry slowly. But surely it's ecologically sound?
Not really, or not unless it's organic. One estimate is that a cotton
tee-shirt uses five ounces of synthetic pesticides and fertilizers to
grow. Not good.
Organic cotton on the other hand, as used by Patagonia and Howies,
is grown without the use of harmful chemicals. Unfortunately, it's
use in the UK is pretty limited, however there is one form of cotton
that has some usefulness and that's ventile, a closely woven, soft,
windproof cotton fabric that works well in cold, dry, windy
environments. Unfortunately it doesn't function quite so well in wet
conditions when it tends to soak out and dry slowly like, well,
cotton really.
If you are off somewhere where Ventile might be appropriate, the
polar regions for example, check out West
Winds for some ideas or Howies
for less technical incarnations.
There are other alternative too - Hemp is big in the States, but
relatively unknown here but a tough, natural fabric.
How about those
membranes?
WL Gore who make Gore-Tex stress
on their site that they are environmentally aware and looking for
ways to reduce the amount of water and electricity used in their
factories as well as avoiding 'questionable materials' in their
manufacturing processes.
Gore-Tex is a PTFE membrane using the same stuff as Teflon in
non-stick pans and a plastic fluoropolymer which is part of the vinyl
family, it says here, so basically again a petrochemical product.
Boots and
more boots...
What could be more natural than leather? Obviously it's made from
cow hide and even better, a lot of hide is a by-product of the meat
industry, so cow's aren't dying primarily to make your walking boots.
That's a good thing. Less positively, some of the modern tanning
processes used to produce boot leather and turn the raw hide into a
water repellant and durable material are less than environmentally
friendly.
We're talking chrome-based products and other metal salts which
are harmful to the environment and hard to dispose of cleanly. The
good news is that there are other processes using silica which are
far more environmentally friendly, but the vast majority of tanneries
still use harmful chemicals for tanning and produce other pollutants
into the bargain. Not good.
On top of the leather, there's the lace hooks and fittings.
Ideally they'd be pure, uncoated brass, but many are chemically
treated now, often with zinc, to reduce corrosion. Then there are the
synthetic materials used as stiffeners and padding.
Finally, the sole units of modern boots are made from
synthetically produced rubber rather than the natural stuff that
comes out of trees with chemical additives to promote durability,
grip and other desirable qualities. Choice? Not really.
Packs
Most of the modern pack is made of synthetic, petro-chemically
derived materials from the material of the main sack, through nylon
webbing, to the foam padding added to increase comfort. Again there's
minimal environmental soundness here. The odd manufacturer uses
canvas still, but rarely. Modern buckles are, again, plastics.
Aftermarket
Treatments
DWR replacements tend to be fluorochemicals, but your main
decision is whether to use an aerosol or a more environmentally
friendly water-based treatment. Feel bad about using yet more
chemicals? At least maintaining your gear gives it a longer life time
before you need to replace it and it goes off to the incinerator to
be converted into toxins...
Camping It
Up
Most of the ecological disadvantages of clothing and foorwear
apply equally to outdoors camping gear. Tents, these days, tend to
use synthetics and even canvas varieties - if you can source them and
put up with the weight - use non-organic fabrics.
Really it's about damage limitation, so arguably using a
minimalist tarp with as few poles as possible is the way to go. As
far as cooking goes, you're left with the choice between non-reusable
gas cylinders and burning a variety of fossil fuels - petrol,
paraffin and the like, the stuff they make your clothes from. Is it
better to burn irreplacable fossil fuels or create mountains of alloy
cannisters? The former, we reckon.
So how ecologically sound can you be?
Depressingly, the answer seems to be, not very. Sure, you can use
Merino wool base and mid-layers and in some environments, cotton -
make sure it's organic - will do the job, but as far as waterproofs
and boots go, we're pretty well left with no real alternatives.
There are two companies out there who really take the ecological
impact of their clothing seriously, Patagonia,
who also give a per-centage of their profits to ecologically-sound
causes and Howies,
the small Welsh company which uses only ecologically acceptable
materials for its products. Good for them.
Otherwise it's a somewhat sobering picture. Sure, we're no worse
than most other industries, but shouldn't we be better? And shouldn't
we as consumers at least have the option of choosing to be
ecologically aware?
Chris Townsend 
