As advocates for sustainable manufacturing, and reducing our impact on the environment as much as possible. Mountain Dog is very selective about the gear we choose, and the partners we align ourselves with.
Our good friends at Ruffwear not only manufacture excellent, high quality gear, they also strive to reduce their carbon footprint, offer fair work and wages, and use traceable, sustainable components in their gear.
Read on for an overview of their current achievements and practices.
Manufacturing Practices
Ruffwear manufacture their gear in multiple warehouses by their partners in Vietnam, Taiwan and China, whose full-time, permanent employees sew samples and assist with quality control.
While products are designed and developed in Ruffwear's head office of Bend, Oregon, the Product Development team will spend a few weeks, a couple of times a year, in Vietnam to work closely with the team in their office.
Ruffwear choose these countries due to the skillset of the employees, and the advanced manufacturing equipment used. As most of the raw materials used by Ruffwear are also produced in Asia, producing gear close to these factories helps limit material movement.
bluesign® Components
While Ruffwear aren't a bluesign® systems partner yet, they actively use bluesign® certified products and facilities to manufacture their gear where possible.
The bluesign® team work to verify and trace the origin of a partner's material, helping to ensure the component is more sustainable and safer to use. You can read more on their website - https://www.bluesign.com/en
As of 2023, bluesign® certified components make up 81% of their plastic hardware consumption in pieces, and 59% of their fabric. They are reviewing and improving upon this every year.
Their best-selling product, the Front Range Harness, even uses bluesign® approved fabric!
Joining Climate Action Corps
By joining the Outdoor Industry Association's Climate Action Corps in 2020, Ruffwear effectively shone a light on their sustainability practices.
As part of their commitment to the Climate Action Corps, Ruffwear have agreed to measure their current carbon footprint, set greenhouse gas reduction goals and share their progress every year.
In turn, the Climate Action Corps will provide resources, and assist Ruffwear with: reducing carbon offsets, reducing carbon pollution, policy agenda, renewable energy, and transparency.
With their help, Ruffwear have developed a multi-year Climate Action Plan!
Sustainable Energy
Since joining, Ruffwear's biggest achievement has been their solar panels.
At Ruffwear headquarters, the rooftop solar system currently produces 90,000kWh per year. Ruffwear quote that "The estimated carbon emissions that will be avoided by having this rooftop system is equivalent to the carbon that would be sequestered by 83.1 acres of forest per year."
What's Next for Ruffwear?
Ruffwear have set 3 major goals for the upcoming years:
- Achieve Carbon Neutrality by 2027
- Reduce their absolute scope 1 and 2 GHG emissions by 46% and scope 3 GHG emissions by 88% per dollar of gross margin by 2029 (from the benchmark of 2019)
- Be Climate Positive by 2030
We're rooting for them!