GoLite Receives Apparel Magazine’s Sustainability All-Star Award

Posted: 03/18/2010 In Category: Outdoor Manufacturer

Industry News Release Written By: Kelly Blake OutsidePR/415.254.2188 kelly@outsidepr.com

Boulder, Colorado,-- GoLite, the premier manufacturer of lightweight, high performance, sustainable apparel and equipment designed specifically for outdoor athletes, was honored this week with Apparel Magazine’s 2010 Sustainability All-Star Award. This award recognizes companies that have made significant steps toward implementing more environmentally and socially conscious practices into their businesses. GoLite was selected from a tough field of candidates because of its extensive effort to minimize its environmental impacts and manufacture its products in factories that are fair, safe, and non-discriminatory.

“GoLite is honored to receive a Sustainability All-Star Award,” said GoLite’s Product Director, Kevin Joyce. “We work hard to meet or exceed our high performance standards while consistently reducing our overall environmental impact. While it is satisfying to receive recognition for our current achievements, we still have a long way to go and will remain focused until all our goals are met.”

GoLite’s efforts have also put them in the running for multiple honors from the 2010 Ethical Corporation Awards. GoLite has been short listed as a finalist in the categories of Innovative Reporting, Authentic Communications, and Individual Leader, alongside such notable companies as Intel, Starbucks, Sony, and Nokia. All short listed companies have been recognized for industry-leading responsible business practices.

Ethical Corporation’s awards are a celebration of excellent business practices. On May 4, 2010, Ethical Corporation will announce the winners of awards in 12 different areas of corporate responsibility. Award winners will represent a who’s who of leading sustainable companies, will be worldwide in scope and will feature only the best and most impressive corporate responsibility practices in business today as assessed by a panel of internationally recognized judges.

“It is gratifying to be recognized for our efforts on the international CSR stage, and it just makes us want to work harder to reach a truly sustainable business model,” said GoLite’s Chief Sustainability Officer, Kim Coupounas.

The nominations come on the heels of the announcement of the GoLite Take Back Program and release of 2009 Sustainability Report. The Take Back Program is a testament to the company’s dedication to taking full responsibility of their products, while the Sustainability Report raises the bar for corporate transparency for small to mid-size enterprises. The report evaluates GoLite’s environmental and social practices as they follow a multi-year, metric-based path to sustainability. Within the coming years they are striving to eliminate or mitigate 100% of their environmental footprint while maintaining or increasing their stringent end-use requirements, so that product quality and technical performance continue to remain at the forefront of the industry.

GoLite has replaced virgin, petro-chemical based materials in 100% of the main backpack fabrics and travel luggage with 50% Tier 1 recycled nylon, and in all of the sleeping bag collections with 100% Tier 1 recycled polyester. The impact reduction for recycled textiles varies, but it has shown to have up to 70% (for nylon) and up to 80% (for polyester) reduction in energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions while performing on-par with their conventional alternatives.

GoLite has accomplished a variety of lofty goals set for year-end 2010 including using a majority of Environmentally Preferred Materials in their products by mass (currently at 67%), achieving 100% compliance with their factory fair labor Code of Conduct, and using zero restricted or banned substances in any product. In the coming months the company is expected to achieve a 30% absolute greenhouse gas emissions reduction through targeted emissions reductions strategies and will attain “carbon neutral” status through climate impact reduction efforts plus carbon offsets for any remaining impacts.

About GoLite
GoLite is the premier global manufacturer of lightweight, innovative and sustainable apparel and equipment designed specifically for outdoor athletes. GoLite is dedicated to transforming the outdoor athlete’s trail experience by designing and developing simple, beautiful high performance gear that lets people experience nature more with less. GoLite is committed to building a truly sustainable business, one that minimizes its environmental impacts and produces its products in factories that are fair, safe, and non-discriminatory. GoLite products are available in 23 countries worldwide. For more information visit www.golite.com.

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