Suppliers Team Up for Sustainability

We’ve seen some good initiatives lately in the promo industry of suppliers and distributors on their own working for responsible sourcing, but that’s nothing like the team play going on now in the adjacent outdoor industry. Four popular drinkware brands have come together in a first-of-its-kind effort to identify opportunities and actions that will reduce carbon emissions across the drinkware supply chain. Dubbed the Drinkware CoLab, the project supports the Outdoor Industry Association’s (OIA) goal to make the outdoor industry the world’s first climate-positive industry by 2030. Klean Kanteen, MiiR, Stanley, and YETI are participating in the Drinkware CoLab as part of OIA’s Climate Action Corps, a climate-positive initiative that goes beyond net-zero emissions to create a positive overall carbon emission benefit.

This is impressive — four leading brands and OIA’s Climate Action Corps coming together to drive changes that will reduce the environmental impact of the manufacturing process. This is, of course, something drinkware suppliers working to minimize their footprint in promo know already as one of the largest components of the environmental impact of their food and beverage containers. The primary goals of the OIA are not only to move industry suppliers to 100% renewable electricity, but also to develop science-aligned emissions reduction targets for supplier facilities. Can you imagine suppliers working together for that kind of common goal in our industry? Perhaps not now, but we can all hope that something that raises all the boats might come along soon. I look forward to sharing that announcement!

Of course, this type of release allows the suppliers to get out their best spin on the messaging:

“It has been such a pleasure getting to work with other drinkware brands in a truly collaborative way,” said Devon Richardson, Giving and Sustainability Manager at MiiR. “The threats of climate change are real, impending, and affecting our most vulnerable populations. The only way we can make meaningful change is together, and we are so grateful to be a part of this cohort.”

“Stanley is proud to join forces with these esteemed drinkware brands to reduce the collective environmental footprint of our products,” said Terence Reilly, Global President of Stanley. “Collaborations like these – combined with deep engagement with our suppliers – are critical to ensure that our shared emissions reduction goals are in reach and that we continuously improve the sustainability of every bottle we design.”

What gets in the way of more of this kind of thing happening? It’s pretty much always the same thing getting in the way of progress, beyond of course the natural suspicions suppliers in promo have always had of one another, and that’s funding.

Looking at potential parallels to get something like this started in our industry, one of the trade associations would need to take the lead. The Outdoor Industry Association has facilitated all aspects of the Drinkware CoLab and provided project management for the brands. The cost of the Climate Action CoLab is being shared by the participating brands, suppliers, and third-party funding OIA received for this specific project. A sustainability consulting agency has been hired to identify and oversee areas of improvement, emission goals, and progress. The agency will assess each of the facilities and work to develop decarbonization roadmaps. These strategies will outline the changes each supplier can undertake to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions by increasing energy efficiency, developing renewable energy procurement, implementing management systems, and more. Could this work in our adjacent industry? My guess is that our drinkware and food container suppliers would find this intrusive, at least based on my previous work with suppliers for Quality Certification Alliance. But the results would be worth it if suppliers would just take the leap. It would be a market differentiator, for sure.

The suggestion from the Action Corps is that this initiative is only one to model from. “This project is enabling our drinkware brands to work together to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in their supply chains with increased efficiency,” said Sarah Rykal, senior manager of the OIA Climate Action Corps. “Many supply chain problems are too grand for any individual company to address single-handedly. We see these types of collaborations as a key puzzle piece in reaching the Corps’ climate goals, as well as each brand’s individual goals, and we ultimately plan to use this project as a model for future CoLabs to follow.” It would seem this kind of teamwork would be just what the doctor ordered for our smaller suppliers to come together on.

“The Drinkware CoLab truly embodies the concept of strength in numbers, and Klean Kanteen is proud to link arms with fellow drinkware leaders on climate action,” said Jeff Cresswell, co-owner of Klean Kanteen. “This project will allow us to make meaningful progress together in a way that none of us could accomplish on our own, and it exemplifies a core tenet of the outdoor industry and its sustainability work: together we are a force.”

“We love the outdoors and want to keep the wild, wild for generations to come,” said Hannah Mara, Vice President, Product Management at YETI. “We hope to see this type of collaboration expand across the industry so we can continue making an impact.”

Climate change and the challenges it presents is one of the most crucial issues both the outdoor industry and promotional products industry face today. OIA, like promo trade organizations should be, is in a unique position to rally the industry behind this cause so that no one company has to shoulder the burden of facing the startup expense alone. Collaborations of this kind could greatly impact the overall work being done in the outdoors industry to reach a climate-positive industry by 2030. Could our industry say the same sometime in the near future?