2017 SUSTAINABILITY REPORT

Transcription

1 2017 SUSTAINABILITY REPORT At RepYourWater, we believe in conserving resources for future generations, and doing everything we can to protect the fish and wild game we pursue, which is why we donate 3% of our annual sales to our nonprofit conservation partners. As we evolve, we are are also redefining what it means for our company to be sustainable by minimizing the environmental impact of our operations and products because we understand that our natural resources are finite and want to mitigate any risks associated with the demands of a growing population and our contribution to climate change. We simply want to be able to live by our mantra of Fish. Explore. Conserve. for many years to come by providing top quality apparel that inspires our customers to do the same all while supporting our nonprofit conservation partners and minimizing our environmental impact. Join us!

2 A Message from our Co-Founders We are both Colorado natives who grew up hiking, camping, fishing and exploring the beautiful mountains of the West. We started RepYourWater as a way to marry our passion for art, fly fishing, hunting and the outdoors. We soon realized that because of our love for these wild animals and beautiful places that we had a responsibility to give back to regional conservation nonprofits who are working to protect what we love. In addition to giving back, we also want to ensure that we are doing our part by minimizing RepYourWater s environmental footprint. We are deeply concerned about the impact climate change is having on our hunting lands and fisheries, which is why we are releasing our first sustainability report so that we can communicate with our customers about what we are doing to mitigate the risks associate with climate change. We love all the wild and beautiful places that fishing and hunting takes us, and we believe it is our responsibility to ensure that future generations will have the same opportunity to fish, explore and conserve. We measure the success of our business not by how much we can profit, but by how much we can give back and we would like to thank all of our customers for your continued support. We hope you continue to follow us on our sustainability journey as we work towards achieving our 2020 Sustainability Goals. Tight lines, Corinne & Garrison Doctor

3 Who We Are Today RepYourWater was an idea in the making long before Garrison and Corinne Doctor set the wheels in motion in Their two families combined have been in Colorado for over 200 years fishing, camping, hiking, hunting, river-running and adventuring. Though they each came into the picture much later in this long history, the values of appreciating the wild were long since instilled. RepYourWater grew out of these values and our small team of fanatical anglers and hunters is committed to providing exceptional customer service, always. OUR MISSION: RepYourWater is dedicated to providing uniquely designed, top quality gear for anglers and hunters while increasing support of local conservation and inspiring exploration. CONSERVATION: We donate at least 3% of every sale to conservation. Through partnerships with many nonprofits, we are doing our part to be sure that the natural world around us and the activities that it provides for us as sportsmen and women will be here for years to come. THE TEAM: Garrison Doctor - Co-Founder, Designer Corinne Doctor - Co-Founder Sam Williamson - Operations Manager Kerry Todd - Fullfilment Associate

4 Making a Difference for Future Anglers & Hunters Climate change is the greatest threat our planet faces today, which is why we are working to reduce our carbon footprint. As human population grows, so does our need to conserve resources and minimize waste, which is why we are diverting our waste from the landfill. Supporting our nonprofit conservation partners is part of our mission, which is why we proudly give back to them through volunteer hours and donations because they are working hard to protect our public lands and fisheries. How We Measure Our Environmental & Social Impact 48% GHG Emissions Reduction from REC s Offset 95% Waste Diverted from Landfill* $54K Donated to 17 Nonprofit Conservation Partners 65 Volunteer Hours to CO Trout Unlimited *95.11% Waste Diverted from landffill for 9 out of 12 months during Began tracking in April 2017, so Q1 data missing. As we continue to grow as a company, and are a business that is dependent on a healthy environment, we made the decision to begin looking into the social and environmental impact we were having to make sure we leading by example. We decided to take a deeper dive into our exactly how much we were giving back and looking into our own operations to see if we could grow while keeping our values intact.

5 Environmental Impact We knew we could improve the environmental performance of our operations, and we also wanted to begin our sustainability journey with what we could control. We started by trying to measure energy, water and waste from our headquarters to create a baseline to measure our progress. In an effort to be transparent with our customers, the reason we did not measure our water usage is because we share our water bill with three other businesses that lease from the same building. Ultimately, we decided that our water footprint from our headquarters was small enough due to the fact that we have four employees, but chose to do our part and install aerators on our bathroom and kitchen faucets to conserve water. Below is how we are measuring our energy and waste: Energy: We are measuring our environmental impact by reducing our carbon footprint through offsetting our greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions with renewable energy credits (RECs). In 2017 we reduced the carbon footprint from our headquarters by 48% by purrchasing RECs. Below is our 2016 (GHG) Emissions Baseline and 2017 GHG Emissions Total measured in metric tons of CO2 equivalent (mtco2e): 2016: 7.49 mtco2e 2017: 3.87 mtco2e What does this really mean? We know climate change is caused by burning fossil fuels that emit greenhouse gas emissions (GHG). Metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent (mtco2e) is a metric used to compare different GHG s compared with their global warming potential. So, 7.49 mtco2e is the equivalent of the carbon sequestered from 8.8 acres of U.S. forests in one year. Compare that with our 2017 total of 3.87 mtco2e which is the equivalent of the carbon sequestered from 4.6 acres of U.S. forests in one year. Ultimately, what this means is we have cut our GHG emissions by 48% and saving fish from the negative impacts of climate change! Waste: We are also measuring our environmental impact by diverting waste from landfills. In 2017 we diverted over 95% of our waste from the landfill by recycling! Below is our total waste measured in pounds: 2017 Waste Recycled: 3, lbs 2017 Waste to Landfill: lbs 2017 Waste Total: 3, lbs Why is this important? Whenever waste is sent to a landfill it has the potential to contaminate our waterways, which threatens our ecosystems and public health. If we hadn t reused, recycled and composted, would have sent 3,676 lbs of trash to the landfill. Instead, we recylced and composted +95% of our waste, which can be made into new products and healthy soil! We know that we have a responsibility to protect what we love, which is why we decided to reuse what we can, recycle everything and compost our food waste to keep our waterways clean and healthy!

6 Social Impact Giving back is the foundation that RepYourWater was built upon, and we measure our social impact by donating 3% of our annual sales to our nonprofit conservation partners and number of employee volunteer hours. In 2017 we donated $54K to our conservation partners and volunteered 65 hours to Colorado Trout Unlimited. We are grateful that we are able to help organizations working to protect what we love! We, in the outdoor and more specifically fishing industry, know that without clean water, we have no business. - Corinne Doctor (Pictured above is RepYourWater s Corinne and Garrison taking action and letting Colorado politicians know that they support the Clean Water Rule!) Take Action We know that if we want to conintue to fish, explore and conserve that we also have to take action at the policy level. We created a Calls to Action page on our website. Through this page our customers can stay up-to-date with specific action steps such as petitions, pledges or letters to legislators that our conservation partners have created. Just because we are addressing serious issues like climate change and important environmental policy issues like the Clean Water Rule, doesn t mean we can t have fun while we are doint it! We love giving back, taking action and doing our part to make a positive impact! (Pircutred right: The RepYourWater crew dressing up as their favorite causes/ personalities and hitting the river on Halloween!)

7 How We Give Back Since our inception in 2011 we made conservation a key component of our business. Just as our designs started in Colorado, so did our conservation partners. We teamed up with Colorado Trout Unlimited within a few weeks of selling our first hats and the list of products and conservation partners has grown from there. We now donate 3% of every purchase of our gear to our conservation partners. In addition to Colorado Trout Unlimited, RepYourWater donates 3% of sales of corresponding designs to: the Trout Unlimited chapters of Canada, Wyoming, Colorado, Pennsylvania, Southeastern Conservation Project, New Mexico and Connecticut; Backcountry Hunters and Anglers Chapters in Utah, Alaska and Montana; the Wild Steelhead Coalition, New Mexico Wildlife Federation, Delta Waterfowl Idaho Wildlife Federation, Boundary Waters Trust, the Billfish Foundation, The Bonefish and Tarpon Trust, Beyond the Pond and the Great Lakes Regional Center of NWF.

8 Where We Are Headed: 2020 Sustainability Goals We know that as human population grows, so does our demand for resources and we want to do everything we can to conserve natural resources so that we can follow our passion for hunting, fishing and an active outdoor lifestyle. We want to make sure that RepYourWater is going beyond financially supporting our nonprofit conservation partners, we also want to lead by example by doing our part to conserve energy and reduce our greenhouse gas emissions that contribute to climate change, as well as reducing the amount of waste we send to the landfill. It is very important to have measurable and attainable sustainability goals so that we can transparently share our environmental and social impact with our customers. RepYourWater is thrilled to share our 2020 Sustainability Goals with you: Environmental Sustainability Goals Zero GHG Emissions: Offset 100% Greenhouse Gas emissions from HQ Zero Waste: Divert 95% of our waste from landfill Social Impact Goals Donate $250,000 to our nonprofit conservation partners Volunteer 200 hours to local conservation nonprofits As we look beyond 2020, RepYourWater will begin measuring the environmental and social impact of our supply chain and products, but made a decision to begin our sustainability journey by measuring what impact we can make immediately. We are proud of the progress we have made as a company thus far and look forward to improving our environmental and social performance so that we can continue to provide our customers with top quality gear that makes a positive impact!