We created these products with one goal:
To keep them out of the landfill.
Each item in the Endless Promise collection is painstakingly engineered for total recyclability.
That way, once this gear has accompanied you on its lifetime of adventures, it can easily become something new.
This is just one step in our effort to take full responsibility for what we make, from beginning to end.
Because with Endless Promise, there doesn't have to be an end.
Recyclability Is the Toughest Piece of the Puzzle
Unfortunately, you can’t just toss old sleeping bags or backpacks into the recycling bin along with your empty cans and bottles.
We knew the key to making a successful recyclable product was making an easily recyclable product, and that meant a mono-polymer approach was needed.
Mono-polymer design means creating a product that’s nearly entirely made from a single material family. (Currently, the easiest consumer goods material to recycle is polyester, so that's where we set our sights.)
While basic outdoor gear might typically use anywhere from a half-dozen to a dozen different materials, we have to simplify our Endless Promise designs down to just a few.
We knew the key to making a successful recyclable product was making an easily recyclable product, and that meant a mono-polymer approach was needed.
Mono-polymer design means creating a product that’s nearly entirely made from a single material family. (Currently, the easiest consumer goods material to recycle is polyester, so that's where we set our sights.)
While basic outdoor gear might typically use anywhere from a half-dozen to a dozen different materials, we have to simplify our Endless Promise designs down to just a few.
For our inaugural EP product, the Forte™ Endless Promise® synthetic sleeping bag, we cycled through more than 15 different designs and prototypes before we reached the product that's available today. And that was just the beginning.
Our newest EP down sleeping bags then required cracking the code of how to recycle organic insulation. Los Angeles–based Allied Feather & Down is our key partner in this endeavor; they've mastered the art of extracting, cleaning, and reviving down for use in a future item.
Our newest EP down sleeping bags then required cracking the code of how to recycle organic insulation. Los Angeles–based Allied Feather & Down is our key partner in this endeavor; they've mastered the art of extracting, cleaning, and reviving down for use in a future item.
Once the down is removed, the remaining polyester material from these bags can then be passed to Ambercycle, an advanced chemical recycler (also in L.A.) that we're excited to work with.
Ambercycle has innovated a method for breaking things down to a molecular level in order to produce a stronger, infinitely recyclable new material.
Through these partnerships, and the support of Endless Promise® customers, we hope to one day produce new products made from our old ones.
Ambercycle has innovated a method for breaking things down to a molecular level in order to produce a stronger, infinitely recyclable new material.
Through these partnerships, and the support of Endless Promise® customers, we hope to one day produce new products made from our old ones.
The Elements of an Endless Promise® Product
Endless Promise® in the Press
Popular Science
The 50 Greatest Innovations of 2023
REI's Good Gear
How NEMO Made its Top-Selling Sleeping Bag Fully Recyclable
Gear Junkie