FEATURE
Sustainability and ethics are no longer luxuries One of the most persistent assumptions surrounding sustainability is that doing the right thing inevitably costs more. While that may once have been true, Smith believes ‘the idea that you have to pay extra for sustainability is becoming an excuse’.
Smith has been in the outdoor industry his whole career and has visited countless factories in both the UK and Asia over the years. He explains that manufacturing hubs across Asia have invested heavily in automation, process optimisation and renewable energy infrastructure in the last two decades. Productivity gains have helped offset rising labour costs while simultaneously improving working conditions. It is therefore becoming easier to find factories in Asia with good working conditions and sustainable processes. Secondly, Alpkit considers that avoiding jumping onto
marketing trends often ends up being more sustainable as well as more cost-efficient. He uses the example of treating tent fabrics with flame-retardant chemicals and using this as a marketing feature. The brand considered joining the trend, but after finding that not one case of death by fire in a tent had been recorded in the UK in recent history, it concluded that the environmental and health concerns associated with the chemicals outweighed their practical benefits for most users. Avoiding them limits chemical use while also lowering production costs. Although recycled materials can still carry a cost
premium, Smith believes the gap is narrowing rapidly as recycling infrastructure is improving. Additionally, costs and environmental concerns associated with using raw materials are growing, and so Smith sees using recycled materials as the only way forward.
Determining what matters most The sustainability agenda has become increasingly complex, encompassing everything from carbon emissions and biodiversity to diversity, inclusion and mental wellbeing. Businesses often struggle to determine where their efforts will have the greatest impact. Smith advocates a relatively simple environmental
approach centred on three priorities: working with suppliers and partners whose values align with your own; maximising the use of recycled materials; and powering operations through renewable energy wherever possible. Recycled materials are particularly significant because
raw material production often accounts for a substantial proportion of a product’s environmental footprint. Whether the material is aluminium, steel or polyester, increasing recycled content typically delivers immediate reductions in resource consumption and emissions. Beyond this, seeking coherence throughout the whole
manufacturing and shipping process is key. For example, Smith questions the legitimacy of brands putting forward
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the use of recycled materials in their products while choosing air freight over the lower emissions cargo option. Although Smith believes sustainability must ultimately be driven by company values, he is not dismissive of formal frameworks. Alpkit has previously been a Certified B Corporation and plans to regain this status after losing it during administration. Alpkit doesn’t see the B Corporation certification as an end goal or a perfect framework, but it uses it as a decision-making tool. One of the challenges facing businesses is determining which sustainability initiatives should take priority. Is it more important to increase recycled content, improve workforce diversity, or support female-owned suppliers? Few businesses have the resources to tackle everything at once. Frameworks such as B Corporation certification help
create structure around those decisions. By assigning weight to different environmental, social and governance initiatives, they encourage businesses to assess trade- offs and benchmark their progress against recognised standards. More importantly, they help prevent sustainability from becoming a narrow environmental exercise by bringing issues such as employee wellbeing, governance, diversity
August 2026 | 17
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