We know you care about the choices you make - so do we.
And we know you take time to think through that choice - so do we.
There are always easier and perhaps less expensive choices, but the easy road doesn’t let you travel to where you want to end up, to your destination of choice.
If your choice is to celebrate family and friends by green gifting, you have travelled the right road when choosing a down and feather product.
You are on the same road as we are. A destination choice that is right for our globe.
If 2020 has taught us anything, it has taught us that our collective choices matter.
Also travelling this road, as their name suggests, is Long Trail Sustainability. ltsexperts.com
They are experts in Product Stewardship.
In 2019, they conducted a Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) on the environmental footprint of Down versus Polyester fill material.
Life cycle assessment (LCA) evaluation is a powerful methodology to evaluate the environmental impacts of a product or a service over time.
Our industry is also travelling on this same road.
The Down Association of Canada is a member of the IDFB (The International Down and Feather Bureau), who is our global trade association of the down and feather industry. They worked with Long Trail Sustainability to map out this road.
Our industry wanted to understand the environmental impacts, identify opportunities to reduce them, as well as comparing our natural fill to a manmade processed fill like polyester.
The study found that down fill material is measurably environmentally preferable to polyester fill in the 5 impact areas analyzed.
The 5 areas analyzed were: Human Health, Ecosystems, Resources, Climate Change and Cumulative Energy Demand. Use this link to read the full report: Life Cycle Assessment
Results indicated that down fill material has between 85% - 97% lower environmental impact in every category. Polyester fill has 18 times higher climate change impacts than down.
The ethics behind striving to lessen our collective impact on the planet travels a long and windy road.
But when we succeed in our end goal of reducing the environmental footprint, then the journey and rewards are worth it.
Our members all think so too!
Use this link to find one of our certified manufacturers near you.