While we are already recycling a significant amount, our efforts have not been consistently applied across our business. One reason is that municipal and commercial recycling programs differ around the country. It may come as a surprise, but in some areas, these services are not available to commercial users like retail stores.

In 2006 we started overcoming this obstacle by working with a third-party recycling company, Smurfit-Stone, to identify and implement recycling opportunities for base commodities - cardboard, paper, glass, plastic, aluminum. We now have systems at almost all locations and are working to make the process less costly and more efficient as well as continuing to find acceptable recycling solutions for any outliers.

We've established systems to eliminate known material hazards from the landfill. For example, our Information Systems division has recovered and properly recycled over 13,000 pounds of obsolete or broken computer equipment with a certified e-waste manager.

We also implemented a pilot recycling program to keep small batteries and compact florescent light bulbs out of the trash at our 22 California stores—a program we intend to roll out to all REI stores in 2007.