Slow fashion versus the throwaway society

With the VAUDE Greenpeace Detox Commitment, we have committed ourselves to making an active contribution to a system change towards more sustainable design and consumption. Specifically, this includes:

• The promotion of Circular Design and circulatory product development to slow down and close down material and production cycles
• Analysis and evaluation of production waste
• Introduction of return systems for used VAUDE products
• Development of new models for products such as secondhand use, renting or upcycling
• Publication of detailed instructions for the sustainable use, care and repair of VAUDE products in order to extend the utilization phase as far as possible
• Raising public awareness and awareness among all stakeholders
  

Of course, this doesn't happen at the touch of a button, but we're working on it. You can help us.

Long before the entire industry was talking about the issue of recycling, we had founded the "VAUDE Ecolog Recycling Network": the first recycling system in the industry for pure polyester products, with collection and recycling. This was all the way back in 1994.

VAUDE Ecolog products were technically engineered to be easily reintroduced into the polyester fiber cycle. The "problem" was that the products lasted virtually forever... We received far too few used products back for the system to work. That is why we had to reinstate Ecolog.

We know from various studies that the amount of products collected must be large enough to compensate for transport emissions. On the other hand, it makes little sense to build up your own recycling system as a single brand – it will always remain a niche without saving significant amounts of resources. There is already an effective industry that specializes in the collection, sorting and recycling of textiles. Building networks and working together is our goal here.

Closing the VAUDE material loop in practice remains one of our most important challenges for the coming years. Criteria for VAUDE Green Shape products are also being established to ensure that the products are recyclable at the end of their product life cycle. More about this here. We are building on the experience of the VAUDE Ecolog Recycling Network.