At the start of 2020, Endura launched the Million Trees project and has shared aims to become net carbon negative by 2024 by making changes to the way that it operates across the business, while committing to planting trees at scale in order to lock up the CO2 that its activities produce. Carbon offsetting, as it’s known, is the fastest, most cost-effective and powerful way for an organization like Endura to begin to make an impact.
Endura has now revealed the One Million Trees initiative is ahead of target and its planting partners in Africa have now planted more than 2 million trees in an area of degraded mangrove forest in Maputo Bay, Mozambique.
This project is the key element to Endura’s commitment to plant 1 million trees in the 10 years, while also benefiting local communities and providing stable employment in one of the poorest countries in the world.
Closer to home, Endura has planted 85,000 trees in Scotland, creating new woodland near Drymen in Stirlingshire on poor quality pastureland with minimal agricultural value. With the help of sustainable forestry experts, it has selected a mix of native species, such as birch, that are suited to the ground condition and climate of the site. The new woodland will be managed carefully to boost biodiversity and is protected against commercial forestry.
By planting trees and aggressively reducing its CO2 emissions, Endura will first net out its current footprint, before becoming CO2 negative in 2024. By committing to a long-term strategy, the cumulative effects of their initiatives will see Endura’s historic CO2 emissions being locked away by 2027.
Endura exists to make cycling apparel and accessories. While it engineers its products to last, garment manufacturing at scale can be damaging to the environment and the people that make it in several ways. The chemicals used in the dying of fabrics and some of the materials and fabric treatments can be especially nasty. Endura has been PFC-free since 2018 and doesn’t use PTFE in its waterproofs – a chemical that’s often used in waterproof membranes.
A number of the brand’s products now carry the MADEKIND label that certifies it as having been made in a way that eliminates harmful substances from the supply chain; ensuring that products are safe for workers, the environment, and you, the riders.
Endura’s 5,000 square meter facility uses electricity and natural gas to power and heat its offices, factory, and warehouse spaces and its calculations showed the biggest reductions in emissions would come from switching to renewable sources of electricity generation and it has now switched its providers to make that happen.
Endura’s’ factories deliver a lot of its apparel in individual plastic bags to protect the garments when in transit to stores, ensuring they’re not damaged if the outer box is damaged. However, Endura knows that this isn’t popular with many people and so it has taken steps to reduce waste. To help prevent these bags being sent to landfills, Endura encourages its partner bike shops to return LDPE bags for the brand to chemically recycle.
Ninety-nine percent of Endura’s consumer store packaging is recyclable, and the company has been removing all laminate and gloss finishes from its packaging and tags to ensure they are more easily recyclable since 2015 and are developing alternative solutions to the bags.
