Canadian outdoor retailer Mountain Equipment Co. has set sweeping new emissions targets for its supply chain, part of what the company is calling a stronger, science-based plan to help address the climate crisis.
MEC said its goal is to slash emissions by 55 per cent by 2030 and 90 per cent by 2050.
The targets apply to both direct operations, like MEC stores and buildings, and its supply chain, from the manufacturing of its in-house brand products to the vendor gear and clothing it carries, the company said.
鈥淚t鈥檚 easy in the environmental movement to have jazz hands,鈥� said Adam Ketcheson, MEC鈥檚 chief commercial officer, referring to actions that may help the environment but don鈥檛 significantly reduce a company鈥檚 carbon footprint.
鈥淲hat we are really trying to focus on right now is doing things that are measured and have the greatest impact.鈥�
MEC has deep roots in Canada鈥檚 environmental movement. The outdoor recreation brand was one of the first retailers in the country to eliminate single-use shopping bags from its stores and pull plastic bottles with certain chemicals from its shelves. It also previously committed to a green building program, and only uses 100 per cent organic cotton in its MEC-branded apparel.
鈥淚t鈥檚 nice to remove plastic and reduce the size of your cardboard boxes and have LEED-certified buildings,鈥� Ketcheson said.
鈥淎ll of those things are good and important. But when we did the hard work to really look at the impacts of the business, the place where we can do the most good is really around product and supply chain.鈥�
One of the areas that MEC is focusing on is its private-label brand, a logo with a stylized green mountain with two peaks.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a significant part of our footprint and one that we have the most control over,鈥� Ketcheson said. 鈥淲e have visibility to the entire supply chain.鈥�
The company aims to use more recycled materials, which have a much smaller carbon footprint than new materials, he said.
MEC is also focused on consolidating its mills and factories to reduce the shipping required to make a product, Ketcheson said.
鈥淚n the past, we sourced materials from all over the world,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e may have found a great recycled nylon in Taiwan but if we have to ship it all the way to El Salvador 鈥� we may have just undone the good.
鈥淲e need to consider the ripple effects of choosing that fabric on the total supply chain and carbon footprint. We鈥檙e trying to avoid putting something on a boat or, even worse, on a plane.鈥�
MEC is also planning to encourage suppliers to set similar goals and source products with a smaller carbon footprint.
While big brands such as North Face, Patagonia and Prana often 鈥渟hare the same ethos鈥� as MEC and have a high level of transparency within their supply chain, Ketcheson said it can be harder for smaller brands 鈥渂ecause it鈥檚 very expensive.鈥�
鈥淲e audit aggressively our factories and mills and supply chain because we鈥檝e made a choice to do that 鈥� but it鈥檚 not cheap,鈥� he said.
MEC has set its targets to do more to fight climate change, Ketcheson said.
鈥淔or too long the onus has been on the consumer,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e鈥檙e talking about it publicly because this is such a huge challenge for the world. We鈥檙e going to try to be as transparent as we can 鈥� our the hope is it will be infectious across the industry.鈥�
鈥擝rett Bundale, The Canadian Press
READ MORE:
