We create durable, high-quality products that are made to equip generations of users for any adventure outside. To do this, our teams get outside with members in the dirt, wind, and rain to put our designs to the test. That’s how we know our gear works for you and can be passed down for a generation—or two. And everything we make is Climate Neutral® certified.
Our calling goes beyond simply making products. From designing gear to last generations to making bikes to bring joy to every rider on every ride, each product is the embodiment of our values and love for being outside.
Need a little help or inspiration to get out there? We’ve got you covered. Our in-store experts are always happy to help, whether you need a bike tire fixed or advice to prepare for an upcoming adventure.
Shop the REI Co-op collection of women's clothing, men's clothing, backpacks, and camp chairs, mountain bikes, gravel bikes, electric bikes, hybrid bikes and kids' bikes, plus deals on REI Co-op gear—and be reminded that life outdoors is fundamental to a life well lived.
Materials Sustainability
REI is committed to sourcing more sustainable materials. We work hard to align our business practices with our stakeholders’ expectations and industry best practices. It’s not an easy task. We create many complex products that utilize a variety of materials and components. These supply chains are often intricate and dynamic in nature.
We use our influence to drive positive impact across the industry. REI brand products prioritize best-in-class materials:
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Recycled materials: Recycled materials lessen our need to extract new, raw materials and typically have a reduced carbon footprint relative to their virgin counterparts. We seek to use certified-recycled materials when they are available and meet the performance requirements of our products.
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Cotton: We prioritize organically grown cotton because organic farmers follow best practices that promote ecological health. We offer a wide assortment of products that contain organically grown cotton.
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Lyocell and modal: Protecting our forests is important to REI and our members. We prioritize products that come from responsibly managed forests. For cellulosic fibers made from trees, such as lyocell and modal, we work only with suppliers that formally commit to protecting ancient or endangered forests and supporting long-term forest conservation.
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Down and feathers: We source down from birds that are treated according to leading animal welfare standards. This means enabling them to live healthy lives, express innate behaviors, and live free from pain, fear, or distress. To honor this commitment, we have adopted the Responsible Down Standard for 100% of our virgin down and feathers.
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Wool: We are committed to sourcing virgin wool from farms where sheep are treated according to leading animal welfare standards, and where land is responsibly managed. We prefer wool certified to the Responsible Wool Standard (RWS), a certification that provides additional assurance that farmers follow best practices for animal husbandry and sustainable land management.
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Leather: We do not endorse cattle farming in the Amazon biome, a region that has undergone significant deforestation. While REI Co-op does not source full-leather hides, when we do use leather, we prioritize suppliers rated by the Leather Working Group, which promotes responsible environmental stewardship practices in tanneries.
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Materials we don't use: REI Co-op does not use certain materials because of animal welfare concerns, environmental harm, the existence of preferred alternatives, or the absence of traceability mechanisms. This includes materials like alpaca fiber, angora, bamboo rayon, mohair, exotic leathers and fur, and dry-clean only fabrics.
Chemicals Management
REI works closely with peer brands, the Outdoor Industry Association, and leading academic institutes to research, understand, reduce, and eliminate chemicals of concern in the manufacturing of our products.
Our approach begins with input-stream management, which ensures that chemicals are selected with due diligence before entering the manufacturing process. Our program also supports implementation of chemicals management best practices for safe chemical storage, handling, use, and treatment of waste.
The following tools serve as key building blocks for our Chemicals Management Program:
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bluesign® is the world's leading system for managing the environmental and human health impacts of textile manufacturing. Rather than solely focusing on testing finished items, the bluesign® system eliminates or tightly controls hazardous chemicals at each step of the production process. The system also addresses energy efficiency, water use, worker health and safety, and air and water emissions throughout the supply chain.
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The REI Restricted Substances List (RSL) is based on the bluesign® system and is intended to meet or exceed global regulatory requirements. Chemical testing to REI’s RSL requirements is used to help ensure products, particularly those containing non-bluesign® materials, are safe for our members.
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In partnership with the Outdoor Industry Association (OIA) and leading outdoor brands, REI participated in the creation of the OIA Chemicals Management Guide & Training for Manufacturers. This guide is a compilation of resources that support the outdoor industry in aligning around a common set of chemicals management practices and help our supplier partners adopt robust systems for managing chemicals throughout production.
The Higg Index
The Higg Index is a suite of sustainability tools developed by the Sustainable Apparel Coalition (SAC). REI helped found the SAC, which now includes hundreds of companies that have committed to making a positive impact on the people, environment, and communities associated with manufacturing their products.
The SAC provides brands and manufacturers with a standardized platform for understanding and managing product sustainability. Each of the Higg Index tools—called “modules”—are used to assess aspects of the product lifecycle, including raw materials, manufacturing, brand practices, and product use. The modules provide different lenses for understanding the effects of our business and for setting improvement targets.
As the Higg Index has grown, so has our use of the modules. We use the tools to assess our own practices and engage strategic brand partners, and suppliers for REI Co-op products. In addition, we use the Higg Index Material Sustainability Index to assess the environmental impacts associated with the materials we use for our REI Co-op brand products. This enables us to make informed decisions and select materials that have a reduced impact on the climate and environment. Looking ahead, REI intends to continue expanding the use of the Higg Index tools across our business.
Responsible Sourcing and Fair Labor
We believe everyone should have a working environment that is inclusive, safe, fair, and nondiscriminatory. Our goal is to extend REI values into the supply chain by supporting the people behind our products and working with suppliers to implement industry-leading practices.
Our list of factory partners is publicly accessible and identifies the locations around the world where we source gear and apparel. Depending on the country, relying solely on local laws and enforcement may not be sufficient for meeting our expectations. For that reason, REI introduced its Factory Code of Conduct in 1993. The current code establishes standards of workplace conduct for the factories that manufacture products we sell.
To advance the principles outlined in the code, we collaborate on supplier approval, social and environmental auditing, and supplier training. REI is selective about our factories, seeking out the most capable and responsible partners. Additionally, each year we audit the majority of the factories in our supply chain using the Social & Labor Convergence Program’s Converged Assessment Framework (CAF) and the Higg Index Facility Environmental Module (FEM), leading social and environmental assessment tools that are being widely adopted across various industries.
Audit data and findings are uploaded to a shared industry database, the Fair Factories Clearinghouse. REI then works with suppliers to identify the root cause of any finding that doesn't align with our standards to inform their development of a corrective action plan. REI maintains regular engagement with our suppliers throughout the corrective action plan implementation process to ensure that commitments made are followed through.
REI tracks our progress and that of our factory partners on an ongoing basis. In 2022, we were pleased to see that the average performance of our factory partners on the FEM environmental assessment improved in the majority of impact areas, which include energy and water usage, air and wastewater emissions, and waste management. In 2022 more than twice the number of REI suppliers completed the SLCP social assessment and had their results verified by a third-party than did in 2021.
For information about our work to prevent human trafficking and forced labor in supply chains, we encourage you to review the REI disclosures for the California Transparency in Supply Chains Act of 2010.
Global Partnerships
Implementing best practices in a global supply chain cannot be accomplished alone. REI has developed partnerships with associations, including the Social-Labor Convergence Project, International Labour Organization Better Work Programme, Fair Trade USA, and Fair Factories Clearinghouse. As an active member in these organizations, we build trust with suppliers and brands to work together to address systemic causes of fair labor violations.
The Social Labour Convergence Program
The Social & Labour Convergence Program (SLCP) convenes almost 300 signatories representing a diverse group of brands, manufacturers, and labor rights groups in a collective effort to change the way work and improve labor conditions. As one of the first signatories, REI plays an active role in developing an industrywide protocol and verification process to objectively collect social and labor data. This data is then used to identify opportunities for improvement and track progress for the people behind our products.
REI continues to expand its use of the SLCP Converged Assessment Framework (CAF) in the supply chain for REI Co-op brand and Co-op Cycles. In 2022, REI fully transitioned away from our own audit and instead utilized more scalable solutions, such as the SLCP tool and collaborative supplier engagement via multi-stakeholder initiatives. We believe this collaborative approach is more effective than each brand engaging suppliers independently, as it better supports the scaled implementation of best practices across the industry.
International Labour Organization Better Work Programme
The Better Work Programme is a unique partnership between the International Labour Organization (ILO) and the International Finance Corporation to improve labor standards and competitiveness in global supply chains. The ILO Better Work staff partner with factories to implement best practices in labor management. Their model ensures an ongoing, coordinated dialogue between factory employees and owners. REI strongly encourages participation for qualifying factories that create the REI Co-op products. We also partner with the ILO team to continuously strengthen the collaborative approach to ensure employee well-being.
A nonprofit known for its leading work in agriculture, Fair Trade USA has expanded those practices into apparel and home goods products. Fair Trade Certified™ products are made according to rigorous social and environmental standards, and the people who produce them earn a Fair Trade premium for certified products. A growing number of REI Co-op brand products are certified to the Fair Trade Factory standard, and we are proud to carry certified products from other leading brand partners.
Through Fair Trade committees, manufacturing employees decide how to best use the Fair Trade Premium contributions from REI Co-op to address their individual and collective needs. In 2022, REI Co-op brand contributed more than $500,000 in manufacturer employee premiums, bringing our cumulative total to over $1.5 million since 2016.
This nonprofit was launched in 2004 with support from the U.S. State Department to create sustainable, cost-effective monitoring systems for workplaces around the world. At the time, there was no comprehensive industry tool for managing or sharing labor audit information. REI uses the Fair Factories Clearinghouse (FFC) database as our primary system for maintaining reliable information on the REI Co-op brand supply chain, including factory audits, remediation plans and multibrand collaborations with shared suppliers. We contribute to the technical advisory group to continuously strengthen the FFC platform.