Beyond Recycling — The New 5 Rs of Sustainability

Rethink: Instead of sticking with the status quo, innovate to improve processes and reduce impact. Often, simple solutions are found by tweaking one or two factors, which will have far-reaching impacts down the line—they just require a little bit of reflection and a new approach to thinking about the same process.

In 2023, we introduced a new line of sails made of recycled materials. Our EcoSeries cruising sails are manufactured from diverted trash and plastic, recycled fibers, and use lamination processes that are kinder to the environment without sacrificing performance or longevity. For our drawstring, spinnaker duffle, and tube sailbags, we use a recyclable material made of single-ply woven recycled polyester with environmentally friendly C0 DWR on the outside and a water-resistant PU coating on the inside. We have also developed recycled and recyclable plastic packaging and paper packing tape to reduce packaging waste, as we move sails and materials from manufacturing to lofts to our customers. Rethinking the materials we use to create and package our products has led to a lower emissions cost and less waste.

Repair:  When something becomes broken or torn, rather than replacing the entire item with something new, a more environmentally efficient — and often also cost-efficient — option is a repair. It reduces the demand for new products and lengthens the lifecycle as well.

Our sails are built to last, and we offer recuts and repairs to keep your sails performing at their peak for longer. In doing so, we are reducing the overall consumption of raw materials to produce sails, reducing the demand for new materials and the overall bill for our customers.

Reduce: The simplest way to minimize overall impact is, of course, to reduce the amount of raw materials being used and waste being produced.

We have optimized our manufacturing process to reduce waste and minimize scraps and excess materials, especially ones that can't be recycled. For example, when possible, scraps are saved for sail patches and cuts are made more intentionally to reduce waste. To make sails last longer and maintain their shape and performance, we offer winter service, storage, and repairs, reducing the frequency of needing to build new sails. We also guide customers on proper storage and sail maintenance, ensuring that fewer of our sails end up in landfills.

In our Lofts, we're reducing waste and consumption with energy-efficient light bulbs, using sleep or stand-by mode on equipment, changing air conditioning filters regularly, and using recycling bins. In our corporate offices, we are moving away from printing digital resources for regattas, events, and even sales, opting for digital options to reduce the use of paper products. At our manufacturing facility, we've reduced our fuel consumption and reliance on the local power grid by switching to solar power.

Reuse: Virgin materials refer to a material that is being used for something for the first time. Virgin material is often also the most expensive, in terms of cost, time, and energy. Instead, by reusing virgin material to make a new product, that secondary product's manufacturing calls for fewer resources. We define "reuse" as using the product in a way that is different from its originally intended use, with minor adaptations.

Many of our Lofts have established long-term partnerships with businesses that repurpose old sailcloth into bags and accessories. One of our lofts in Europe partners with local farmers to utilize spent sailcloth to help shade crops and animals.

Eventually, sails and sail material will reach the end of their useful life as sails—whether they're stretched, UV damaged, or torn beyond reasonable repair. Once the sails are no longer suitable to fly, they can be reused as something else—they can be recut and used on a different boat or sewn into dodgers and other onboard fabric projects. In our lofts, we also reuse our packaging by repurposing cardboard boxes and using plastic sail bags as trash bin liners.

Recycle: Previously thought of as the best option for reducing environmental impact, recycling materials has fallen down to the bottom of this list over time. While it's vital, a 2023 National Geographic study concluded that only 32% of waste is actually recycled. Nevertheless, when we do have waste materials, we look for opportunities to recycle those materials into something else useful, keeping them out of the landfill longer (or, hopefully, altogether!). Recycling, by definition, is processing the original product in a way to extract some — or all — of the materials and fibers for a different use.

We are working with companies to develop ways to recycle different types of sail materials. In the US, we are utilizing the Recycle My Sunbrella program. It allows us to recycle old acrylic fabric, which serves as UV protection for cruising sails. We also recycle any packaging that cannot be reused and encourage each of our lofts to have options for recycling plastic, paper, aluminum, and glass whenever needed.