Outdoor Industry Association Announces Member Benefits to Support Sustainable Business Innovation

February 3, 2017

Discounted partnerships with bluesign, The Renewal Workshop and the Sustainable Apparel Coalition add short- and long-term business savings for responsible supply chain management

BOULDER, Colo. — Outdoor Industry Association (OIA), the trade association and catalyst for meaningful change for the outdoor industry, is proud to announce an enhanced suite of member benefits related to sustainable business. These benefits underline OIA’s commitment to responsible supply chain management and sustainability as a whole—one of the organization’s three pillars. The sustainable business partner benefits provide valuable tools to OIA members to help better manage their supply chains. While savings are realized through the discounts, the greatest value will result from fully utilizing these programs.

bluesign

OIA and bluesign technologies have launched a partnership that helps companies improve the environmental footprint of their products. More specifically, the action is directed at dramatically improving the chemical integrity of product and supply chains. bluesign technologies is offering OIA members a 15 percent discount on an annual system partnership.  In exchange for the discounted rate, brands commit to making tangible improvements to their programs and, therefore, products.

“With our roots in the outdoor industry, bluesign technologies is thrilled to be entering this partnership with OIA and its members,” said Jill Dumain, CEO of bluesign technologies. “The partnership is intended to accelerate the positive impact for brands and give them real tools to make good decisions about chemical management in their supply chains. The holistic approach of bluesign allows brands to be confident in the integrity of the inputs used in their products.” 

The Renewal Workshop

The Renewal Workshop is a new kind of apparel company that makes discarded clothing and textiles into something new. Their proprietary Renewal System takes discarded apparel and textiles and turns them into renewed apparel, upcycling materials or feedstock for recycling. Data is collected on everything that flows through the system and is shared with partners to help them improve the production and design of future products. Renewed Apparel is sold direct-to-consumer at renewalworkshop.com and in selected stores or back to the brand. The Renewal Workshop is giving OIA members 20 percent off the annual partnership fee for the first year.

“The outdoor industry has always been a leader in sustainability practices for apparel and equipment. The partnership between The Renewal Workshop and OIA is a natural next step in moving sustainability innovation forward ever further,” said Nicole Bassett, co-founder of The Renewal Workshop. “Partner companies will be taking an even bolder stance and intentionally managing the products they make throughout their complete lifecycle. This partnership will significantly accelerate the recovery and resale efforts, ensuring a healthier planet for us to play on and to pass to the next generation of outdoor enthusiasts.” 

Sustainable Apparel Coalition(SAC) / Higg Index Access

The Sustainable Apparel Coalition is offering OIA Sustainability Working Group members a 50 percent discount on Higg Index public access model rates and 10 percent off for most general OIA members. The Higg Index is an indicator-based assessment tool for apparel and footwear products at the brand, product and facility levels. Its aim is to create a standard industry approach to measuring and evaluating sustainability impacts across the supply chain, helping organizations gauge performance and driving behavior for improvement.

“OIA welcomes the next phase of its long-term partnership with the Sustainable Apparel Coalition, driving development of the Higg Index sustainability platform and impact reduction through its widespread adoption. Building upon the Higg Index’s roots in the outdoor industry (the tool evolved in significant part from the outdoor industry’s Eco Index initiative, developed by the OIA Sustainability Working Group from 2007-2010), OIA is committed to achieving broad Higg Index use across the industry, with more than 115 outdoor companies using the tool as of early 2017,” said Beth Jensen, senior director of Sustainable Business Innovation. “We look forward to our continued partnership with SAC, helping make adoption and integration of the Higg Index tool as easy as possible for OIA member companies and further strengthening our collective global efforts.”

Additionally, sustainable packaging provider, Oregon International Airfreight Global,

and sustainable printing paper provider, Monadnock Paper Mills, are also offering significantly discounted services to OIA members. Visit OIA’s member discount and savings page for complete information and FAQ sheets on these programs. These partnerships are just part of the overall value of OIA membership.

Together we are a force for sustainability.

Outdoor Industry Association

Based in Boulder, Colo., with offices in Washington, D.C., Outdoor Industry Association (OIA) is the leading trade association for the outdoor industry and the title sponsor of Outdoor Retailer. OIA unites and serves over 1200 manufacturer, supplier, sales representative and retailer members through its focus on trade and recreation policy, sustainable business innovation and outdoor participation. For more information, visit outdoorindustry.org or call 303.444.3353.