REI Stewardship - Our Environment

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REI's Stewardship Aspiration

Our products and services help our members and customers experience the outdoors. However, we recognize that our business impacts the planet.

By being thoughtful in our operations, we can reduce our impacts on the planet. But we have a higher aspiration — use the power of innovation and collaboration with our industry peers to create positive change.

Strategic Focus

In order to be more effective in our efforts, we've identified five environmental priorities that have the most impact on our operations and in which we wish to inspire broader change: greenhouse gas emissions and energy use, green building, paper sourcing, reducing waste and recycling, and product stewardship.

Green building

Green buildings help us achieve the rest of our environmental and community goals. ItGreen buildings emphasize water conservation, energy efficiency and indoor air quality. When done well, the buildings are more comfortable and healthier to be in, have lower impacts on the environment and can have reduced operating costs.

In the construction of new REI buildings, we consider the U.S. Green Building Council's Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED®) point system as a measure in meeting our green building goals. Further, through our store prototype initiative we are testing design and green building concepts to help make decisions in the future. Our first prototype store is located in Boulder, Colo., and our second such store will be located in Round Rock, Texas.

EcoSensitive Gear and Apparel

How green is green? Product environmental claims are a complex and significant issue. In 2007, we introduced our ecoSensitive label to help identify branded products made from a high percentage of recycled, rapidly renewable and/or organic fibers. We clearly communicate the pros and cons of these fabric choices to our customers. With other outdoor brands and supply chain partners, we are also collaborating in an industry-wide initiative to establish clear and consistent information about "eco-friendly" and "green" products.

REI is Accountable

REI's stewardship report highlights our social and environmental efforts, including progress and opportunities against measurable goals. Our first stewardship report in 2006 established baseline metrics for efforts from community and employee engagement to greenhouse gas emissions. In our 2007 report, we are able to show progress on many fronts, as well as identify areas where we have work to do.