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Vaude is considered a pioneer among sustainable outdoor brands and has already won numerous awards – such as sustainability prizes, but also for the way it works or the commitment of CEO Antje von Dewitz. Vaude is a member of the Alliance for Sustainable Textiles, holds the Leader status of the Fair Wear Foundation and is certified according to the Common Good Economy – and introduced its own Green Shape label in 2010. With the product and material criteria behind it, Vaude sets the bar very high, and considers the entire life cycle of the products – from design and production to care, repair and recycling.
Green Shape 3.0: plus climate protection and circular economy
Species extinction, plastic waste, climate crisis: with its high environmental damage, the textile industry is part of the global environmental problem. Vaude also knows this and is therefore stepping on the gas even more to contribute to improvement and be part of the solution:
With the 2022 summer collection, Vaude is therefore integrating the burning issues of climate protection and circular economy into the Green Shape criteria in addition to the previous specifications. What does that mean exactly? That every new Vaude Green Shape product from the 2022 summer collection onwards consists of more than 50% recycled or bio-based materials. This measurably saves climate-damaging emissions and supports the development of a true circular economy. Incidentally, all continuous products must meet the new criteria by summer 2024 at the latest.
Eco-design for good repairability
In addition, the Green Shape criteria include important design choices that hardly any other brand has included in product development to date, such as repairability, material efficiency and recyclability. In the meantime, Vaude has developed a repair index, through which the reparability of all products is already considered and systematically evaluated during design and product development. A point system is used to check which adjustment screws there are in the areas of design, material selection and pre-processing to increase reparability. It also plays a role whether the repair can be carried out by everyone themselves, with the help of repair cafés, for example, or only by specialist companies such as the VAUDE repair workshop, whether spare parts are available, and how much effort is required for the repair.
Green Shape shares in the Vaude overall collection.
With the Summer 2022 collection, the share of Green Shape parts in the overall collection is decreasing. Why? Quite simply: because of the stricter criteria imposed by Green Shape 3.0 and its requirement for climate protection and circular economy. Vaude itself confirms it still faces major challenges – especially with tents, backpacks and shoes. Materials such as hard plastics, metals, foams for shoe soles, etc. are a pretty tough nut to crack from an ecological perspective. Often the understanding of the high requirements for environmental protection is still expandable at the suppliers for the products. Vaude therefore invests a lot of energy in our supply chain.
Never heard of Vaude Green Shape? Here’s a brief enlightenment:
this is Green Shape
With the Green Shape label, VAUDE offers you functional, environmentally friendly products made from sustainable materials. During production, VAUDE pays attention to fair working conditions throughout the entire supply chain. This means that with VAUDE Green Shape products, not only the main materials used, but also all production facilities meet the high ecological requirements. The criteria for assessment are strict and transparent. They are continuously reviewed and cover the entire life cycle of the product – from design and production to care, repair and recycling. In addition, all additional components such as threads, zippers and prints must meet the strict Green Shape criteria.
The criteria
Green Shape has already gone through several stages of development. At the very beginning, the Green Shape criteria only included the materials used. This was an important first step, but was soon no longer enough for VAUDE. In the meantime, the Green Shape criteria apply to the entire product life cycle, starting with the design, the totality of all materials used, the production sites, the use and care of the product, and possible recycling and/or environmentally friendly disposal.
Green Shape 2.0 is two-tiered: each Green Shape product must be made of certified and/or particularly environmentally friendly material. At the same time, the manufacturer of the material must be environmentally certified. This gives double security, especially with regard to the handling of chemicals in production.
Green Shape explicitly excludes the use of particularly critical materials and technologies: PVC, fluorocarbons, bleaches containing chlorine and hypochlorite, nanotechnology or prints containing solvents.
Every Green Shape product must be easy to maintain and clean and not require dry cleaning.
The bluesign® system is an important part of the concept. Green Shape even goes beyond the bluesign system: Green Shape products must not contain fluorocarbons, for example, whose use is still permitted in the bluesign system under strict conditions.
Unique products for your outdoor adventures
From year to year, VAUDE has more Green Shape products in its range. Especially in the clothing collection, they are increasingly successful in finding environmentally friendly materials from responsible suppliers.
However, VAUDE still faces big challenges – especially with tents, backpacks and shoes. Materials like hard plastics, metals, foams for shoe soles, etc. are a pretty tough nut to crack from an ecological point of view. Often, the understanding of their high requirements for environmental protection is still expandable among the suppliers for the products.
Green Button – government seal for responsible purchasing
VAUDE is a pioneer for sustainable products in the entire textile industry. A large proportion of the products have been awarded the new government textile seal Green Button. The seal identifies textiles that are manufactured under particularly high social and environmental standards. The strict criteria of the company’s own Green Shape sustainability label are an important basis for certification.
#ecofair #multiuse #unique
Want to learn more about sustainability? Here you will find related articles that cover the following topics:
→ Merino Wolle – The allrounder among functional materials
→ Outdoor clothing and equipment of recycled materials at Sport Conrad