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Interview: Erik Abrahamsson (Craft) - 30 Aug 2007

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Interview: Marion Alexandre (Commencal) - 29 Aug 2007

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Eurobike – let’s see how engaged the 2 wheeler’s are? - 29 Aug 2007

Well, I’m off once again to Friedrichshafen for the EUROBIKE tradeshow, August 30th thru September 2nd. For those of you that read this blog regularly, this show is in the same town as the recent OUTDOOR SHOW (because they both share the same organizer).

Anyway, the EUROBIKE is, as its name implies, Europe’s largest bicycle industry professional tradeshow (it’s North American counterpart is the INTERBIKE) and has been running for 16 years now. This year some 850 companies will be exhibiting equipment to a crowd of over 30,000 visitors, retailers, journalists and other trade related professionals from 50 countries around the world. This is THE bike rendezvous of the year to see and hear about all the new products that will be coming out this fall, winter and next spring.

The bicycle industry is generally very “industrial” in nature. Research, development and production cycles are very complex and involve a great deal of manual processes, translating to traditionally lower profit margins than those of their “textile cousins” at the Outdoor Show (though not always the case). Over the years I have noticed that this industry is not as focused on the “eco element” of their products as the textile crowd – even though they share the same terrain. I am sure we’ll see some manufacturers this year putting forward their engagements in favor of protecting the planet, but I expect most of them to be concentrated on their carbon emissions and other “eco-footprint” initiatives. I have yet to see a fully or partially recycled bicycle, bicycle parts, a “bamboo derailleur”, or coconut coated painted – though I might be mistaken – we’ll have to see.

I know that our Laneo partners like LOOK CYCLES with their new White Keo Laneo Pedal (look for an article later on), MOBIKY with their revolutionary urban biking, and SRAM with their incredible initiative called the WORLD BICYCLE RELIEF will be there proudly leading the pack and showing the path to protecting the planet while also enjoying it.

I of course hope to find more companies and will report on them as I find them. So check out this blog over the next few days. Let’s see what these guy’s have up their sleeves. If they’re going the right direction, let’s raise our hands and give them a hand of appreciation and endorsement.

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Interview: Imanol Munoz (Lorpen) - 22 Jul 2007

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Mion: When Eco-Commitment is more than just about products - 22 Jul 2007

I first met Erik Burbank of Mion Footwear™ (Co-Founder and Director Sales & Marketing) at my first tradeshow and right around the same time that I started putting together Laneo. Mion had just begun selling their first line of outdoor active footwear and what struck me most at the time was the simplicity of their whole brand, their product – a sports sandal that was actually floating in a see-through aquarium, and their ultra-simplistic booth, that really stood out from the rest of the crowd. (There are some pretty elaborate booths at sports tradeshows. Some of are more like hotel lobbies and first class lounges at airports, which for me, is pretty peculiar).

Anyway, I clearly remember that I had hardly gotten close to their booth and this big guy (Erik is about 1m95 or 6’4) comes bounding out and practically squashes my hand with a vigorous bone-shattering handshake! We very quickly understood the obvious connection there was between our two aspiring initiatives but what startled me at the time, and even today, is that “environmentally friendly” means so much more at Mion than at majority of the companies that I have been in touch with.

You basically can’t finish a sentence when talking to Erik without him commenting on what measurable aspect of manufacturing process they’re working on to improve or what new compound they’ve just discovered. Even today, as I passed by their booth, Erik shouted to me from the other side of their demo area. It seems that they just got some sort of scientific recognition on a hyper sophisticated glue that is going to make it possible for their sandal to “naturally disintegrate” if buried in soil (that’s another one of his passionate subjects). And if that’s not impressive enough, Mion created the industry’s first “EcoMetrics” label to help them make better choices and to give us (consumers) visibility into the impact of ours.

Aside form the environmental aspect of these products, Mion’s products are truly unique and don’t look like anything else on the market. They are the result of Martin Keen’s (Co-Founder and Director of R&D) desire to create innovative performance footwear that represents his two primary passions: the ocean and his sculptures. Martin invents with a combination of imagination and pragmatism. The fruit of these passions is footwear that looks completely unique and performs like nothing else you’ve ever worn.

While their job is to make shoes, Erik say’s, Mion’s mission is to help the industry evolve toward better environmental practices. “We all know that making performance shoes is not a “green” process. But we don’t have to accept that.” He’s right of course. Every choice we make as consumers and athletes has an effect on the environment. If we wish to make a difference, all we have to do is make educated purchase decisions.

As for Mion, they’ve committed to not only reduce their footprint but to move towards products that are actually good for the environment. Their aggressive goal should inspire all of us to test what’s possible.

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Go-Lite: on the Planet - 22 Jul 2007

I think a lot of people (probably more so in Europe) have forgotten about a great USA brand that is once again pushing the headlines – GoLite. This company, based in beautiful Boulder (Colorado) has some very aggressive objectives in its “GoLite on the Planet” campaign that I recommend you visit on their website. What caught my eye amongst other things was their goal to be carbon neutral by 2010 – which is pretty impressive for a company that size!

While I was talking with Mark Flannagan (European General Manager), who has a remarkable talent for story telling, he kept repeating their deep down engagements for minimizing their footprint and it felt really good to hear all the examples he had. What really came across was that each employee was personally engaged to do his or her part to change course.

GoLite also subscribes to the concept of the “triple bottom line” where a company is judged not only by its financial results but by its impact on its community and the environment.

Some of things that I came away with from our conversation:
1) they encourage a lifestyle shift to a “less is more” approach
2) they use all non-solvent, water-based fabric membranes in their apparel
3) they do not use PVCs in their apparel line
4) products are packaged using soy-based inks and recycled paper and materials.

At the show they had a number of eco-friendly products but we specifically looked at the DriMove Performance layers, made from 100% recycled polyester waffle knit and Cocona panels. Cocona is made from discarded coconut shells whose meat and juice have been sourced for produce. Activated carbon from the shells is bonded to polyester, creating a fabric that has superior moisture management, absorbs odors without chemicals and blocks harmful UV rays from the sun.

I think GoLite is far more than a collection of products. It has a mindset, a mission, and an ideal that influences every design, concept and idea. I like its philosophy to do much more with much less and about being unburdened by the superfluous, over-engineered, or obsolete.

Now if only we could only convince more companies to start working with this mindset…

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Lundhags: why invent Bamboo ? - 22 Jul 2007

While some manufacturers strive to “invent” new materials to develop products with, others “find” them by turning to Mother Nature. After all, she has been producing substances with remarkable qualities a lot longer than any of us have been around.

Lundhags, a 75 year-old Swedish company that originally specialized in outdoor shoes and boots (and which has recently broadened it’s product line to textiles, backpacks and sleeping bags amongst other things) has just introduced me to a wonderful new product – Bamboo shirts.

What I first liked about this product, besides the obvious eco-factor, was that the shirts don’t look and feel like “all the other stuff”. When you try them on, they feel like nothing you’ve ever touched before. Lundhags is also declining Bamboo in other products in their line-up and Sven Sixtensson (Marketing & Communications Director) told me that they’ve even been able to use this plant byproduct to some extent in sleeping bags, backpacks and drybags.

After coming to the Outdoor Sports show 3 years in a row now – I can tell you – it’s not easy to differentiate apparel products between manufacturers. There is an overwhelming supply of options – but very little distinction between any of them.

Beyond the usage of eco-materials, which I personally push for, I think it’s imperative that companies pay more attention to the distinctiveness of their products, especially in the sustainable market. Lundhags, which has a heritage some brands would pay a fortune for, has done a really good job of keeping to its authentic style while pursing their company mission.

The lesson to be learned here?

If a company located in a country covered in snow for a great part of the year is able to find success with an eco material grown in the tropics located half a world away – imagine the possibilities that lie out there!

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Interview: Dona Arvat (TSL Sports) - 21 Jul 2007

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Interview: Laurent Bouvet (Millet) - 21 Jul 2007

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Nikwax: Small things make a BIG difference - 21 Jul 2007

It often happens that you find some super new product only when you ask the right people. Here I was at the Lundhags booth talking with Sven Sixtensson (their Marketing & Communications Director) and telling them about our great partners in eco-accessories (Magic Potion & Wet Women Surf Wax) when he say’s; “What about Nikwax?”

Well I never heard of this company so off I went to find their booth in search of a product while it is often overlooked, would have the most incredible impact on the planet if we all used it.

You see Nikwax makes cleaning and waterproofing products for clothes and shoes. You know, the stuff you spray on your outdoor gear once in a while to keep them water impermeable.

Well Instead of the chemical based junk they sell you down at the local hardware store, Nikwax is all water based and contains no propellant gases, no toxins and no fluorocarbons.

Now if I understood correctly, according to Katie Callis (Marketing & Communications Director), Nikwax products can renew your gear and reduce the impact on the earth’s resources. Plus, without going into scientific detail, this stuff is very concentrated so you don’t have to use a lot of it and Nikwax treatments can withstand several washings, whereas competing products must be re-applied after each wash.

Plus they have other neat stuff like a cleaning solution that restores synthetics original values, which as we have all experienced at some point in outdoor life, become sticky and stinky. I was also blown away by a “map spray” that once dries, you can write on it but it will never get wet again – no more worrying about pulling out that map when it’s raining.

Nikwax is exactly the type of product we all need to pay more attention to about because of the negative repetitious factor of using standard chemical based goods to maintain our equipment. It’s not a sexy or cool product, and you can’t “see” anything so there’s no social factor – but it is one small thing we can all do to make a BIG difference.

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Patagonia: The lighthouse effect - 21 Jul 2007

Twice a year for the past 3 years at Tradeshows such as this, I meet for an hour with Hervé Chabert, Patagonia’s European General Manager. We even manage to run into each other at different eco-events around Europe as he does quite a lot of speaking at conferences on Planet and Climate related issues.

When I first dreamt up Laneo a few years ago, the very first brand I thought about was Patagonia. When you create something, you need some form of perspective. A starting point essentially, and ultimately a direction. To put it visually, Laneo was setting out to sea and Patagonia was the only “lighthouse” we could see at the time.

On Patagonia’s website resides the following statement for all to read:

“Everything we do pollutes or taxes the Earth in some way. It’s a sad and inescapable fact. But there are things we can do as individuals and businesses to lighten our impact on the environment, such as buying and throwing away less, reusing products whenever possible, and recycling everything we can.”

“We realize that our efforts are far from perfect, but we’re trying and making headway. We currently use the following e-fibers – environmentally friendlier fibers – in a number of our products. They include recycled and recyclable polyester, organic cotton, hemp, organic wool and chlorine-free wool.”

To me, that’s pretty darn good and I think they’ve proved themselves over and over to be leaders, not followers in environmental protection.

Today Hervé and I talked about eco-certification processes and the manufacturing chain. As always, our discussion was rich and enlightening. Eventually our talk turned to Patagonia’s recycling program called, “Common Threads Garment Recycling” a program where you turn in your old Capilene based clothing and Patagonia makes new clothing out of it.

Of course, there have been other customer oriented recycling programs around the world in the past, but most have died off. With the recent rise in ecological awareness, there are some new ones sprouting up today, but because of lacking customer support many of them are facing a very hard uphill battle.

This is where Laneo is positioning itself to play a major role. I want us to help these companies run their recycling programs (amongst other things) by providing them with access to a broad based interactive community, eco-intelligent logistics and customer feedback initiatives.

Way too much of what is made these days ends up in the trash and one of Laneo’s many goals is to change that. Just as Patagonia was the lighthouse that guided Laneo’s quest out to sea. Laneo hopes to one day be the lighthouse that guides outdoor sport manufacturers in their quest for material reclamation initiatives.

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Source Vagabond: An inspiring story - 21 Jul 2007

Every once in a while I meet someone who really sweeps me off me feet. Well today I met Yoki Gill, Founder & President of Source Vagabond. I have been in touch with other executives at his company over the past 2 year’s, (notably Eran Alony who’s also a really great guy) and each time I sit down with them in their tradeshow booth, I feel like I’m home. They even serve you natural herbal tea and home made organic cookies from Israel!

Source Vagabond makes an array of outdoor sandals and portable drinking systems. But what is really inspiring is that these people “live their values” and don’t just use them as marketing schemes. Their whole story sounds like something you’d find in a dusty old book shop in some far off imaginative world. It is that rare.

Business? While I was there waiting for my meeting, I witnessed, unobserved, a Sales Rep seriously writing down a distributors negative feedback comments on a new product and exchanging with him, his own personal improvement ideas! Remember, most of the time, Rep’s only listen to their “own” words and “nothing” is ever wrong with their products.

People? Well, you can tell when the person in front of you really is what they say they are. Everyone at Source Vagabond looks like they’ve just returned from a 2 week trek across Patagonia – there’s no faking it here.

Back to Yoki Gill, our conversation was based essentially on words like harmony, respect, and education. Harmony, because he has been successful at maintaining a very balanced lifestyle (it shows) at his workplace. He even has some nice stories about the effect it has had on his own employee’s families. Respect, because as he told me, “you never possess that value, you have to earn it everyday”. Education, because doing something on your own is not enough to make a durable difference (for example, preserving the Planet). Is is only when you teach and exchange that the “good” lasts. What’s unique about Source Vagabong is that these are not “clever words” on a company brochure. These are the words and truths the people of Source Vagabond live by.

I won’t dwell on the products because they speak for themselves but there is one object I saw for the first time at this show. Yoki has developed and launched an absolutely fabulous new item that will be for sale soon and that I really hope Laneo can help spread around the world. The object is for collecting and transporting plastic bottles you find tossed away in nature. Alone, it is a very simple loop that you attach to your belt or knapsack and it has a stunningly easy method to grab on to plastic water bottles. It’s surprisingly cool and an incredible statement of who you are as an individual. What’s even more moving is the story behind it, what it is made of and who makes it. This encounter was one of my favorites at the show because they live and breath the same values as we do at Laneo. To find out the details take a minute and their website to read more > Source Vagabond.

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