From 2020 onwards, Endura commit to planting one million trees annually to help reduce the quantity of carbon in the atmosphere.
Livingston, Scotland, 22nd January 2020 -- As a company that operates on a global level, Endura are critically aware of their environmental impact and are working on a number of fronts to reduce their footprint. The textile industry is increasingly under the spotlight for its global carbon emissions that are second only to oil – fast fashion has become a dirty term. Endura's kit, on the other hand, is built to last. Nevertheless, the company recognises that there's a lot of work to be done, both across the company and the wider industry. While they have been taking steps towards change - their kit has been PFC-free since 2018, they offer a repair service, and 1% of their net profit goes to good causes - there are much bigger challenges.
"The reality of our brand's environmental impact lies in three main areas," explains Pamela Barclay, Endura's co-founder and Brand Director. "The dying of fabrics, the energy required to run factories, and product end of life." While Endura can, and does, control dyestuff by choosing ethical mills, they cannot influence the energy infrastructure in China, nor can they single-handedly resolve the end of life issue. Research is underway at Endura – who, while still privately run, are now part of Pentland Group – to prove a chemical recycling process that can operate at scale and shift the mindset of the industry – and even the government. But these challenges are about infrastructure which will take years to change and, as the company's founder and Managing Director Jim McFarlane points out, we do not have the luxury of time. "The one thing we must focus on now is the climate emergency," he says. "Once the ice caps have melted you're not going to refreeze them any time soon – that's the reason for our Million Trees initiative."
Endura are proud to be partnered with the Pentland Centre for Sustainability in Business at Lancaster University. The resounding message from them is that of all the environmental challenges the planet faces there is one that is way above the others and that is the Global Climate Emergency and keeping global warming below 1.5C. Research shows that forest restoration is one of the best solutions to de-carbonise the atmosphere we have available today, but as trees take decades to mature, and the need is pressing, the time to act is now. From 2020 onwards, Endura commit to planting one million trees annually to help reduce the quantity of carbon in the atmosphere.
Trees are not all equal; they need to be the right type of tree and planted in the right environment. Forests in boreal regions typically cover much smaller areas than those in the tropics, so for their first project Endura have chosen to restore mangroves in the Maputo Bay region of Mozambique. The region was once covered by huge mangrove forests and estuaries, but these have been decimated by human activity over recent decades. Endura will work with local communities to restore, replant and protect these vital forest systems, providing important habitats for threatened species of birds and mammals as well as providing local employment. In addition, Endura are also working on a project closer to home to plant native species of trees in their Scottish homeland. "It's one world, so we'll plant trees wherever we can do it quickly, cheaply, and wherever they'll be protected." says Barclay. While the One Million Trees initiative is a big step in the right direction, there's no sense of complacency at Endura. "We continue to work hard to drive authentic sustainability across the whole product offering and the business," Barclay explains, "but our brand has a long way to go."
For Endura, it's about doing the right thing. "We would hate to look back and think we could have done something and we didn't –" Barclay pauses for thought – "that's really, I suppose, what's driving these efforts. It's not tinkering around the edges. It's not a gimmick. It's not a jacket made out of fishing rope. We need to focus on the real things that will make a difference. If we don't stop climate change, we won't have a world to clean up."
Read Endura's stories article here to find out more about Endura's One Million Tree Initiative and the other initiatives that Endura are currently working on.
