Circular Experience - Give products a longer life
The most important step in reducing environmental impact is to leave the old ‘take, make and dispose thinking’ and move towards a circular business model. This means, for example, extending the life of our products, focussing on long-lasting design, using natural, renewable materials, and upcycling and recycling as often as possible. In addition, we’re introducing further circular initiatives in our sustainable business strategy. As part of the drive to go circular, we’re starting three new programmes at our Salewa Store Bozen/Bolzano:
- Repair Service: Salewa apparel, equipment and footwear is built to last. Our expert repair service uses original parts and materials to keep your gear going even longer.
- Second Life: Our Second Life programme offers used, reconditioned and repaired high-quality Salewa clothing, footwear and equipment – refurbished in the Dolomites.
Take care - Act sustainabily
Our garments are part of our adventures and experiences. Taking care of them will help them perform better and last longer. Salewa wants to support this. We design our all products for them to be used for as long as possible. This then reduces their impact and contributes to a more sustainable approach.
An important aspect of how to best take care of your clothes/products also includes your choice of detergents , washing machine maintenance and how you wash and dry your gear.
Laundry has an important impact on the environment in terms of energy consumption and the chemicals used in detergents, which are ultimately released into waste water.
How to take care of your garments
Salewa Care Instructions
General advice for all types of products:
- Always read the care instructions on the label.
- Fill your washing machine to capacity to use less energy. Moreover, this means the fabrics protect each other during the spin cycle.
- Empty all pockets, close all zippers and Velcro straps, loosen any drawcords.
- Treat stains and heavy dirt first (use neutral laundry soap, there’s no need to use bleach or chemicals).
- Wash similar colours/products together. There is no need to use colour catchers.
- Use only the required amount of detergent. Avoid using more than you need to.
- Wash at lower temperatures whenever possible – it’s better both for your clothes and energy consumption.
- Make sure all detergent is rinsed out and that there is no residue left on your garments.
- Air drying is best. Tumble dryers are generally not great for the majority of fabrics.
- Dry your clothes inside out to prevent the colour fading if exposed to direct sunlight. In general, it’s better for fabrics to dry in the shade.
- How clean is your washing machine? Clean it to remove detergent residues and clean the filters etc.
- Use guppy bags for synthetic or high synthetic content garments to trap microplastics and avoid release into waste water.
- And remember, it’s best not to dry things over a fire or heater. Fabrics can melt or burn even at a considerable distance.
