Yearly retired outside gear results in a landfill. For a lot of the outside stuff we use, that is inevitable—recycling gear on the finish of its life will be tough when it’s produced from many various supplies, a few of which may’t be saved from the landfill. So it was no small feat when tenting model NEMO not too long ago debuted the first-ever totally recyclable iteration of its best-selling sleeping bag, the Forte.
This new Forte is the primary product accessible in NEMO’s new Endless Promise sequence, a line of drugs reimagined to be recyclable. Its launch marks an necessary step towards the model’s dedication to chop its emissions depth in half by 2030. “Any product within the Limitless Promise sequence has a vetted pathway for restore, resell, recommerce, takeback and recycling once you actually can’t hold it on the market anymore,” says Theresa McKenney, director of sustainability at NEMO.
After all, “recyclable” doesn’t imply you possibly can simply toss your bag into the weekly bins along with your soda cans. So, what are you able to do? Learn on for a more in-depth have a look at the rethought Forte bag, the changes that make it recyclable and the way the Limitless Promise sequence is paving the way in which for a much less wasteful future.
What’s the issue with sleeping baggage?
For hundreds of years, pioneers, explorers, and native tribes used sleeping baggage constructed from wool-lined sheepskin or reindeer fur. However whereas these animal-based creations stored individuals heat, they have been heavy and hulking—which wouldn’t precisely please the fashionable camper. In 1930, people invented nylon—the primary totally artificial fiber—and tenting endlessly modified.
Right now, most sleeping bag shells are produced from nylon or polyester. These manufactured fibers are quick-drying, light-weight, and reasonably priced, all whereas remaining breathable. Nonetheless, they arrive at an environmental value, as they’re petroleum-derived, that means their manufacturing depends on the fossil-fuel business.
Artificial fibers are additionally not biodegradable. When your bag reaches the tip of its life and also you toss it within the rubbish, it heads to a landfill the place it sits … and sits … and sits some extra. It sits within the landfill indefinitely, all of the whereas emitting greenhouse methane gasses into the ambiance and leaching dyes into our water and soil.
Plastic is nice at what it does, says McKenney. However its efficiency advantages come at a price.
What’s the expertise behind the redesigned NEMO Forte?
4 years after it was based, NEMO started taking steps to minimize its environmental footprint in 2006 by eliminating a main element of plastic, PVCs (or polyvinyl chloride, some kinds of which may pose dangers to human well being and the atmosphere) from its merchandise. In 2018, the model shifted its strategy to the filling that goes in sleeping bag shells by incorporating hydrophobic down with out the usage of PFAS, dangerous “endlessly chemical compounds” discovered in lots of waterproof and “nonstick” merchandise. However these modifications weren’t sufficient—and NEMO knew it. NEMO started utilizing recycled polyester in 2009, and the design staff knew it was a step ahead to keep away from counting on virgin petroleum. However the ensuing sleeping baggage nonetheless confronted the identical end-of-life points as a result of they couldn’t be additional recycled into new ones. NEMO wanted to determine the way to create a system the place the complete product might be recycled.
“We wanted to take possession of the supplies through the use of this wealth of stuff that’s already on the market,” says McKenney.
That’s when the oldsters at NEMO started contemplating thermomechanical recycling, a course of that entails grinding and pulverizing a textile, melting it down and extruding fibers that can be utilized to make a unique product. Whereas many manufacturers use polyester derived from recycled plastic bottles (bottle-to-fiber recycling), NEMO opted for fiber-to-fiber thermomechanical recycling to remodel one textile into one other. “It embodies true circularity,” says Patrick McCluskey, chief engineer of product sustainability at NEMO.
Analysis groups at NEMO additionally realized that polyester is probably the most recycled polymer on the earth. Why? Due to its sturdiness inside the recycling course of. This was excellent news for the model, which makes use of polyester in a lot of its merchandise, from sleeping pads to camp chairs.
However there was a catch. Solely single-material textiles will be efficiently recycled. Within the twenty first century, it’s uncommon {that a} textile product is made utilizing only one materials. For instance, yoga pants are sometimes a comfy mix of polyester and elastane.
For development and efficiency, this isn’t an issue. However two polymers can’t be simply separated into totally different waste streams, making recycling unimaginable for blended supplies.
NEMO went again to the drafting board, redesigning the best-selling artificial sleeping bag, the Forte, from only one materials: polyester. (The zipper slider is the one function not constructed from polyester. These items will likely be eliminated and recycled individually.)
This wasn’t a simple course of. A typical sleeping bag could embrace anyplace from 10 to15 totally different polymers. NEMO cycled via 15 totally different sleeping bag designs earlier than deciding on the ultimate product. The model even needed to discover new suppliers and create its personal {hardware}.
“Each element of the supplies going into the product must be scrutinized, all the way down to the ending remedies utilized to the materials and each piece of trim and label that’s included,” explains McCluskey. “Plenty of the supplies on the earlier Forte sleeping bag wanted to get replaced or up to date to allow recycling, so we would have liked to search out new materials, parts, cords and webbing.”
The model efficiently labored out the kinks, ultimately partnering with US-based Unifi, a textile producer specializing in recycled supplies, for his or her thermomechanical recycling.
“Working via all these small particulars allowed us to take the recycling of the Forte Limitless Promise from idea to actuality,” says McCluskey.
Now, NEMO has a sleeping bag that may be totally recycled when the time comes.
How do you recycle your Limitless Promise merchandise?
The solutions to your questions on recycling your NEMO Forte are proper contained in the bag itself. And are there options to recycling in case your bag nonetheless has a couple of tenting journeys left in it? Once more, the within of your NEMO Forte has the reply.
While you unzip your new Endless Promise Forte you’ll discover a QR code: That is your password for any future transactions. In the event you use the bag for years and end up with a couple of tears or rips, no massive deal. Scan that code for directions to get in contact with the NEMO repair program, so you will get your sleeping bag mounted and again outdoors.
In the future it’s possible you’ll resolve you’d like a brand new sleeping bag, however your Forte has some life left in it. NEMO has a plan for that, too. NEMO prospects can return their gently used gear for potential resale via a partnership with Trove. (Or you possibly can commerce it in via REI Co-op’s ReSupply program.) Not solely will your gear go on to a brand new dwelling the place it is going to proceed to be liked, however you’ll additionally get a NEMO reward card for the exchanged worth. Simply scan that very same QR code to discover ways to commerce in your sleeping bag.
“Limitless Promise affords companies which have the mandatory ranges structured in for preserving the product in use for so long as attainable,” says Rachel McQueen, an affiliate professor who makes a speciality of textile science and sustainability on the College of Alberta. “Resale retains the product in use as the identical product it was initially designed to be.”
Finally, the Forte sleeping bag gained’t have any repairs or resale worth left; that’s when it’s time to recycle it. Once more, use your QR code to start out the method, letting NEMO know you’re able to recycle the ‘bag. NEMO will ship you a free return delivery label so you possibly can pack up your sleeping bag, give it a kiss goodbye and ship it again to the model. Upon receipt, NEMO will guarantee all parts go to the correct location for recycling. As a thanks for doing all of your half to maintain waste out of landfills, NEMO will ship you a $20 reward card.
“It’s an incentive to make it worthwhile for the buyer to return the product again to the corporate, so the corporate can take again management of finish of-life,” says McQueen. “As a result of as soon as a model sells an merchandise, they’ll’t assure that it will likely be recycled at its end-of-life except they handle that a part of the lifecycle as nicely.”
This simple, QR code system is intentional. NEMO is aware of the recycling course of wanted to be easy and structured for it to be efficient. The model additionally is aware of that recycling needs to be the final resort; the purpose is to maintain its sleeping baggage in use for so long as attainable.
“The Limitless Promise line is an enormous deal. It’s at all times nice to search out manufacturers like them which are creating any such textile product with their lifecycle administration system in-built,” says McQueen.
NEMO plans so as to add to its Limitless Promise line in 2024 with the discharge of the Vantage and Resolve day packs, in addition to three sleeping baggage: the redesigned Disco and Riff Spoon-shape baggage and the brand new Coda mummy-shaped bag.
