REI Releases Second Stewardship Report, Shows Progress, Obstacles

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KENT, Wash. -- REI, the 70-year-old outdoor gear cooperative, released its second annual CSR report, which suggested that the company is making progress on improving its environmental and social impact, although there is still significant room for improvement.

The company's 2007 Stewardship Report, posted online at rei.com/stewardship, offers a detailed look at how everything from employee commuting to product manufacturing affects its triple bottom line.

The results are, as expected from an environmental audit of any company of its size, a mixed bag. REI's overall greenhouse gas emissions grew just over 8 percent last year, the bulk of which were due to the company's eco-travel program, REI Adventures. But compared to growth in sales, which were up 14 percent over last year, the numbers suggest that REI has made progress in reducing the amount of greenhouse gases released per dollar of revenue.

After the adventure travel program, the two biggest sources of REI's GHG emissions are employee commuting and electricity use, both of which the company has taken steps to reduce, according to Kevin Hagen, the company's head of corporate social responsibility.

REI's employee commuting numbers for the 2007 report show a decrease in emissions, but as the report explains, that is due to less accurate accounting methods last year, and emissions grew slightly on a year to year basis. But REI has worked on ways to increase commuting and alternative transportation to offices and stores, and has gotten single-vehicle occupancy at its headquarters down to 58 percent.

Reducing energy use at its retail stores is another key element of the company's overall strategy. Although energy use at REI grew by nearly 10 percent over 2006, REI is working on a range of ways to continue growth while maintaining or even reducing overall energy use. One step is to build new facilities aimed at LEED certification, like its Bedford, Pa., distribution center and its flagship retail stores in Boulder, Colo., and Round Rock, Texas.

REI is also developing a detailed electricity-consumption roadmap for each of its stores over the next 3-5 years that will allow the company to build 6-10 new buildings each year with no net energy growth.

Other notable elements of the report include new goals for REI's ecoSensitive product line. Launched last August, ecoSensitive-labeled products are made with renewable, recycled or organic materials, and with the release of this report, REI announced it will continue to raise the bar for what constitutes ecoSensitive products.

The full 2007 Stewardship report is available online at REI.com/stewardship.

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