Annual Impact Reports in Outdoor Gear, Explained
How annual impact reports enhance brands’ transparency and accountability
ByMultiple Authors
May 05, 2025
Table of contents
An annual impact report is a detailed document that outlines a brand’s efforts and progress toward sustainability initiatives, which can range from emissions reductions to responsible material use to ethical supply chains. (While we refer to reports like this as “impact reports,” some brands call them “sustainability,” “corporate responsibility,” or “environmental, social, governance” reports.) Ideally, an impact report offers a transparent and thorough look at a brand’s successes and challenges through clear and concrete data. While Better Trail focuses mainly on sustainability data as we work to rate brands’ sustainability efforts, impact reports also often include information about social initiatives, worker welfare, and business updates.
A brand’s carbon footprint refers to the total greenhouse gas emissions from both direct sources, such as energy use, and indirect sources like shipping and manufacturing. Most brands that track their carbon footprint measure and report on their annual emissions of carbon dioxide equivalent. That’s the standardized metric for global warming potential, which includes methane and other greenhouse gas emissions. Emissions reporting is a key topic in an annual impact report and a critical sustainability indicator. Brands that are committed to decreasing their environmental impact often track their emissions using guidance or programs such as the Higg Index, Greenhouse Gas Protocol, or The Change Climate Project.
While tracking emissions and reporting data is a good start, to make a real difference, companies must set reduction goals, measure their impact, and report on progress. Additionally, they should align their emissions reduction efforts with the Paris Climate Agreement, which aims to keep global temperatures well below 2 degrees Celsius compared to pre-industrial levels. Companies can align their reduction goals with the Paris Agreement by verifying their goals with programs like the Science Based Targets Initiative, which helps brands undergo an evaluation to ensure their goals are robust enough to effectively contribute to preventing catastrophic warming.
REI’s latest Planet Report is an excellent example of how brands can make complex carbon footprint data relatively easy to digest. It includes five years of emissions data, which REI tracks using Higg Index tools. The report provides thorough data analysis, a breakdown of 2023 emissions sources, and clear language about how REI has reduced its emissions over the past several years. It also outlines the brand’s five-year plan for further reductions. For more, read our article The Higg Index, Explained.
Shifting from a linear “take, make, waste” economy to a more circular model is one of a brand's most important sustainability actions. We see more and more companies adopting a circular approach by implementing resale, repair, and recycling programs that can extend the life cycle of outdoor gear. In Nemo’s 2023 impact report, for instance, the brand details its efforts to achieve a more circular supply chain by making products that are recycled, repairable, resellable, and recyclable. To do this, Nemo created a recycled and recyclable fabric and partnered with a chemical recycling company to ensure that products can be recycled instead of thrown out. For more, check out our article Circularity in Outdoor Gear, Explained.
A thorough annual impact report has a dedicated materials section that specifically highlights how a brand is incorporating sustainable components into its gear. These can include recycled, Bluesign-approved, and responsible materials, which are those certified to the Responsible Down Standard, the Responsible Wool Standard, and the Leather Working Group.
Some brands go above and beyond. Rab, for example, has taken transparency a step further with its Material Facts program. The brand provides a nutrition label-like table of a product’s sustainability features, from the fluorocarbon content in the zippers, trim, and down to the recycled content of each particular fabric type. The label also includes the percentage of renewable energy used to make each product. In Rab’s 2023 sustainability report, the company outlines its methodology, hoping to drive an industry-wide shift toward better transparency.
When we spoke to Adam Chamberlain, Rab’s U.S. Manager, he described the process of creating Material Facts as a “massive undertaking,” emphasizing that it was made possible only through Rab’s strong relationships with suppliers and its commitment to tracing materials, tracking their origins, and understanding the composition of each product. While Rab’s Material Facts labeling goes further than most companies, this is the kind of nitty-gritty information typically only available in a brand’s impact report. For more, check out our article Responsible Materials in Outdoor Gear, Explained.
A thorough annual impact report has at least one section (and sometimes multiple portions) on how a company is tackling waste reduction in its packaging, excess materials, and wastewater. Mammut’s 2023 Responsibility Report describes steps the brand has taken to reduce waste, such as using 100% recycled and recyclable packaging and eliminating plastic wherever possible. As part of the European Outdoor Group’s Single Use Plastic Project, Mammut works with over 30 brands to reduce single-use plastic in packaging. Mammut also discusses its use of solution-dyed materials, which significantly decrease water use and chemically contaminated wastewater outputs.
Mammut’s report also details the CO2 emissions generated by production waste. Additionally, Mammut outlines its programs to recycle and repurpose leftover materials, including creating 32,000 new apparel pieces from fabric scraps in 2023 alone. It also made just shy of 7,000 climbing ropes from leftover rope nylon. Lastly, Mammut details specific product lines intentionally redesigned to reduce waste, such as the Dream series sleeping bags, which achieved a 33% reduction in fabric use.
REI’s Planet Report offers another example of good documentation of waste reduction efforts, such as eliminating shopping bags (both plastic and paper) for in-store purchases. It also outlines REI’s new recycling programs, like partnering with Trex to recycle bike foam and plastic film into plastic lumber and encouraging e-bike battery recycling through Call2Recycle. The best part? The report includes six years of waste management data and clear definitions and explanations for all figures.
The relationship between businesses and the planet goes far beyond greenhouse gas emissions and recycled materials. Columbia’s 2023 impact report offers a model for how brands could consider a broader array of issues when addressing their environmental impact, including chemical use and management, animal welfare, transportation, facility operations, and microplastics. The report covers the company’s chemical management policy, its Restricted Substances List (informed by Bluesign), responsible sourcing standards for leather, wool, and down, and the installation of EV charging stations at corporate headquarters to promote less carbon-intensive transportation. Companies that are committed to sustainability often use a comprehensive approach to addressing their environmental goals rather than focusing on one area for improvement.
Impact reports often highlight the partnerships brands form with community-driven programs aligning with the company’s mission. Take Fjallraven for example. Its 2023 sustainability report highlighted the brand’s partnership with the New Zealand Merino Wool Company, which sources the ZQRx Wool that Fjallraven uses in its products, as well as the Arctic Fox Initiative, a program started by Fjallraven that funds projects in wildlife conservation and outdoor recreation. Further funding for the Arctic Fox Initiative came through the Rainbow Fund, a program that organizes workshops for Fjallraven employees centered around diversity, inclusion, and prejudice.
A credible impact report also documents a brand's shortcomings in its sustainability initiatives. Progress isn’t linear, and we appreciate when brands are candid about the challenges they face. Rab Equipment’s 2024 sustainability report, for instance, highlights the fact that Rab missed its target to phase out PFAS by Autumn/Winter 2024 due to stock levels of legacy fabrics and material partner timelines. Rab confirmed with Better Trail that the brand is back on track to phase out PFAS by early 2025. This level of public honesty builds trust, increases clarity, and, frankly, keeps things real.
To sum it up, a well-designed annual impact report includes measurable data about a brand’s sustainability initiatives and progress toward its goals. Impact reports come in many forms, ranging from minimalist, text-dominant documents to beautifully designed multimedia web pages. Aesthetics aside, effective reports include information and data about a brand's efforts in these categories: carbon footprint tracking, circularity (recycling, reuse, or resale initiatives), responsible materials, partnerships or programs, and minimizing other environmental impacts. A thorough report reflects a company's transparency and accountability, helping us steer clear of greenwashing. The information in these reports also allows us to cross-reference information with third parties such as the Science Based Target Initiative (SBTi), Bluesign System Partnerships, or The Change Climate Project.
At Better Trail, publishing a thorough annual impact report is part of the sustainability rating equation for every product and brand we review. If a brand meets all of the standards discussed above, it gets full points for the annual impact report sustainability criterion. And, though it may be evident from the name, we also require these reports to be published annually. We give partial points for brands that have an impact report, but it may be lacking some information or it isn’t produced annually. We often see this when a report is produced by the parent company or the brand does not have enough resources to produce an annual report.
Creating a comprehensive impact report requires substantial time, money, and human resources. Moreover, compiling all the information into an impact report is a marathon of data collection, analysis, and communication. To start, you need to be tracking data about carbon emissions, materials, and partnerships in the first place. Then, someone has to analyze the data and compile it into a readable format.
Debbie Read, Head of Corporate Communications and Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) at Equip Outdoor Technologies (Rab and Lowe Alpine), said her company’s annual impact report takes around six months to complete, from planning to launch, and involves multiple stakeholders. According to Read, another challenge in creating these reports is simplifying complex topics to make information accessible to multiple audiences, including industry partners, retailers, consumers, employees, media, and more. In sum, even brands with internal sustainability teams often invest significant resources in the process, which is why some smaller outdoor brands may not have one. It’s not necessarily because they aren’t doing the work (although, in some cases, they may not be); but because they don’t have the capacity and resources to produce a report.
But here’s the thing: While most brands lean towards resource-intensive impact reports with lots of graphics, there are other ways to communicate the information. Norrona’s 2023 report is text-focused and lacks the fancy graphics and pictures found in other reports, but it’s still quite effective at communicating its sustainability initiatives and progress. Even industry titans like Patagonia sometimes take a different approach. Patagonia weaves sustainability data into its brand website instead of producing standalone reports, embedding short films about topics like recyclability and PFAS alongside its products for sale and in its website's "Our Footprint" section. While this is an innovative and creative approach, it can also be tricky to access older data for comparison.
Ultimately, an impact report’s effectiveness lies in its transparency and in the data itself: Whether the report is a polished booklet or a minimalist PDF, what matters most is that brands are taking action on their sustainability goals and sharing their progress.
Impact reports may not be a requirement in the outdoor industry—yet—but they’re one of the best tools for greater accountability for sustainability practices, offering brands a platform to highlight what they’re doing, own what they’re not, and inspire action across the board. Should every brand have one? In a perfect world, absolutely. But expecting all brands—especially small companies—to publish formal impact reports isn’t realistic. That said, we’d love to see more brands take steps towards greater transparency and accountability. Even a simple rundown of a brand’s sustainability efforts and goals on its website can go a long way. At the end of the day, the more brands are willing to share their progress, the more we push the industry toward meaningful change.
Education
The Higg Index, Explained
Education
Bluesign, Explained
Education
PFAS in Outdoor Gear, Explained
Sustainability
About Our Sustainability Ratings
Sustainability
Patagonia: Sustainability Spotlight
