It’s Stylish to be Sustainable

Despite what the U.S. Supreme Court decided in its controversial Citizens United ruling of 2010, corporations are not people. They don’t have a beating heart or a conscience and they’re beholden to stockholders to pursue profit over all else. At least, that was the dominant paradigm before the early 1980s, when award-winning author John Elkington began advocating for corporate social responsibility through the think tank he founded, now known as SustainAbility.

In the mid-1990s, Elkington began measuring corporate performance through a framework known as the triple bottom line that looked beyond profits, investment returns and shareholder value. Looking at comprehensive investment results—that included environmental and social metrics—this accounting framework has since been adopted by businesses, nonprofits and governments around the globe.

The outdoor gear companies featured in this guide epitomize the ethics of socially responsible accounting, putting the Earth and its inhabitants on the same playing field as stockholder returns and business growth. We support these companies because they care about the future of this planet, and so do we. – Tyler Allen