Road to Responsibility

Presenting our sustainability strategy.

By Peak Design

Today we're launching a new landing page outlining our Sustainability Strategy.

Sustainability is a funny term. It's a buzzword we hear increasingly, in reference to everything from ride-share services, to skyscrapers, to laundry detergent. Our society is putting more and more effort into building sustainably, manufacturing sustainably, and shopping sustainably. But if you asked 20 people to define sustainability, you'd get 20 different answers. One of them might be a punch in the face, which would be unfortunate but...you asked.

Sustainability means a lot of things to a lot of people. At Peak Design, we've been working on becoming a more sustainable business for the better part of our history (we were founded in 2011) yet never defined what our strategy is. Now, we've made things explicit.

In 2017, as a part of our environmental advocacy efforts, we created visual content for the Southeast Alaska Conservation Council (SEACC) to help them raise awareness of communities and ecosystems at risk of destruction from mining activity.

our sustainability recipe

We define sustainability as a balancing act between the outcomes we seek and the actions we take to get there. Acting sustainably is to respect the environment and society in which you operate, not depleting or exploiting the natural and human systems you interact with. The ultimate outcome of sustainability is that humans continue to live similar or better lives into perpetuity. In other words: we don't screw things up for the planet, and we don't screw things up for each other.

By our definition, sustainability is a lofty ideal that pertains to many dimensions of what we do. As mass-makers of consumer products we've got our work cut out for us here. So, we've further broken things down into a 4-part recipe that focuses on the most critical planetary and societal sins that companies like us commit:

Materials

We examine the materials that comprise our products and avoid (or act to find replacements for) materials that are bad for the planet.

Facilities

We help our factories reduce their environmental impact, and we work to ensure factory workers are treated and paid fairly.

Offsets

We work to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions, and we offset all the emissions that we currently emit and have ever emitted since the inception of our company.

Advocacy

We use our voice and influence to speak up for environmental and social issues we care about, and support creatives who do the same.

A team shot during a factory visit in Ho Chi Minh City. We work with our partner factories to not only ensure the safety, treatment, and fair pay of their workers, but to also help them implement policies and processes to limit their environmental impact.

come along for the ride

Sustainability is a long road.

Our ride thus far has been inspiring, rewarding, and quite bumpy. We've learned a lot, screwed up some, made great progress, and have a long, long way to go. We hope our Sustainability Strategy—which lays out what we have found to be key resources and best practices—will help other companies follow suit. We don’t want our commitment to social and environmental responsibility to differentiate us from our competitors; we want it to be the norm. The well-being of people and our planet depend on it.

play-by-play

To give a little context, here's a quick high-level rundown on where we’ve come from and what we’ve done:

2010

Peak Design is born with launch of the Capture Clip on Kickstarter

2011-2015

Peak Design continues growing both in employees and products
Moves production to China & Vietnam
Runs successful Kickstarter campaigns each year to introduce new products
Although a proponent of environmental protection and social justice, focuses on designing and launching best products

2016

Commits via team consensus to offsetting harm to the planet and directing more resources to sustainability
Joins 1% for the Planet, donating 1% of sales to environmental organizations
Joins Conservation Alliance
Hosts first annual SUMM1T
Hosts “The New Success” Panel at Summer Outdoor Retailer
Conducts third-party audits on our three Vietnam factories to assess social and environmental standing
Gives all workers in our Vietnam factories a 10% bonus
Drafts formal mission, institutionalizing our commitment to social justice and environmental sustainability
Completes the B Corp Impact Assessment and begins working toward certification

2017

Boycotts Outdoor Retailer over Utah governor’s stance on public lands and forms a small brands coalition
Launches Give a Shot, a site for connecting creatives with environmental nonprofits in need of content
Conducts third-party audit on our China factory
Develops a Code of Conduct
Invests in third-party capacity building services to support factories in meeting and maintaining Code of Conduct requirements

2018

Produces short film, Grizzly Country, with Ben Moon on legendary eco-warrior, Doug Peacock
Sponsors filmmakers and photographers documenting conservation issues
Conducts next round of third-party audits on our Vietnam factories
Becomes a Bluesign system partner
Travels to Washington D.C. to lobby representatives on land conservation
Becomes an Outdoor Industry Association Sustainability Working Group Leadership Member
Develops and tests materials against a Restricted Substances List
Measures and offsets scope1-3 emissions since inception of company

That last point deserves a call out because it's a doozy. This year, we measured ALL emissions associated with our business - from resource extraction, to manufacturing, to distribution - and we invested in certified carbon offsets for the full amount, officially becoming a carbon neutral company. We think all businesses should do the same and are launching a new organization in 2019 to make that happen. More on that soon.