Environment And Recycling

We aim to have a have the smallest possible environmental impact in all areas of the business at Castleberg Outdoors. Everyone who works at Castleberg are like-minded in our perspective to reduce the impact of our industry and we regularly discuss ways we can reduce our own businesses’ impact.

Alongside doing things ourselves in the business to become more sustainable, in the past few years we’ve been much more active in making decisions in our supply chain that positively impact the environment and the communities that rely on the outdoor industry and so we actively favour brands and suppliers that aim to operate sustainably and ethically.

Our products, brands and sourcing policy:

Sourced ‘locally’ if possible – We actively favour brands where it’s possible to source locally. In the case of high-quality outdoor products this generally means looking for brands made in the UK or within the EU. Whilst UK manufactured outdoor brands are few and far between, they are out there and we do stock whatever quality outdoor products we can get from the UK on the basis that it will reduce the carbon footprint of any product made in the UK (or the EU) regardless of where the constituent parts are manufactured.

Designed for quality, made to last, made to repair – We actively source high quality brands and products that are designed to give our customers long-lasting performance and where spare parts can be sourced on the basis that if we can maximise the life and repairability of the product – the ethical and environmental impacts of making replacements will be reduced. Examples of this are favouring high end walking and running poles that offer a full catalogue of spare parts – to ensure that the poles can be brought back to store and replacement parts ordered (rather than being thrown away). Where possible, we look for clothing brands that offer a repairs service as standard or association with local repairs specialists. Where products develop a fault or break down, our policy is to deal with warranty returns to the customer’s full satisfaction, but we always ask first if a repaired item is acceptable and where possible organise this.

Made ethically, made sustainably – Increasingly over the past several years we’ve positively favoured brands and products that are manufactured ethically and sustainably. It’s getting increasingly easier to select ethically made products and that are made from recycled materials with a lower environmental impact. Often it’s not possible to source locally and sometimes we actively favour products made further afield on the basis that the products are well made, use more environmentally friendly materials and are ethically made too.

Our store – what we do:

In terms of the day to day operation of the shop, we regularly review our business to make sure we make the lowest impact possible. We undertake the following measures to lessen our impact:

  • Electric heat, light and power 100% sourced from renewables (wind generation)
  • Schemes to ensure minimal energy usage such as LED lighting and minimal out of hours consumption
  • Recycling of all possible materials – 100% of cardboard and paper, 100% of recyclable metals and plastics
  • Business travel – we aim to hold online meetings where possible to save travel
  • Remaining plastics (such as packaging) are repurposed where possible into packaging materials
  • Mail order packaging. Where possible we re-use materials for packaging.
  • Composting – we compost kitchen waste where possible
  • Printing – all used printing consumables are re-cycled
  • Materials – active participant in clothing and footwear recycling and repurposing schemes