Muhlenberg students wear some flashy brands, and in this article, I’ll be discussing the sustainability and eco-friendliness of four of the biggest ones I see here on campus: Fjallraven Kanken backpacks, Doc Marten boots, Hydroflask water bottles, and Canada Goose Jackets.  I’ll also be rating each brand on its eco-friendliness. The traits I see as eco-friendly or sustainable are: being totally vegan, being made of recycled material, recycling their own material, having regulations on things like dyes, greenhouse gases, and other dangerous chemicals and things of that sort. If companies don’t have these things and in fact create waste, do not regulate chemicals and dyes and use animal products in their production, then they will be getting a lower score.

Fjallraven Kanken backpack: 

I would rate this product high in the eco-friendly category. These backpacks are cruelty-free and vegan. The company itself produces clothing, and does use wool and down (so not the whole company is vegan), but the backpack itself is made of vinyl. Moreover, one of their newer products, the Re-Kanken, is a backpack made of 100% recycled plastic water bottles. Fjallraven is also committed to using alternatives to fluorocarbon impregnation, a common practice used in producing vinyl/hardshell backpacks because it creates a material that takes a long time to degrade in nature and has been linked to causing cancer. 

Rating: 9/10

Doc Martens:

Before I begin, I have to point out that these boots are in fact made of leather. So, the fact that the main part of the shoe comes directly from an animal immediately makes me see this brand as more environmentally harmful than friendly. Not only this, but Doctor Martens is also quite secretive about where and how it acquires the leather it uses to make their shoes. 

Besides this, this company has failed to regulate things like greenhouse gases and energy use. They have also failed to reduce their use of hazardous chemicals in their production process, and overall does barely anything to even try to be sustainable. The only good thing here is that they use recyclable shipping material. Woohoo.

Rating: 1/10

Hydroflask: 

Hydro flasks have definitely been growing in popularity for the last few years, but the whole VSCO girl thing really made everyone know about them. Not just this, but the idea of a reusable water bottle has been around for centuries, so the Hydroflask is not doing anything revolutionary. However, Hydro flasks are made out of 100% recyclable stainless steel, and just their existence reduces the use of plastic water bottles.

Rating: 9/10

Canada Goose Jacket:

I’m gonna keep it real: the production of these jackets includes major animal abuse and cruelty, and I would not recommend anyone purchase one. Based on this fact alone, Canada Goose jackets are not sustainable, because instead of using material that can regenerate or be grown, the jacket uses products from animals. 

The hoods of the Canada Goose jacket are made of real coyote fur. How do they obtain this? Hunters kill the coyote by shooting it in the head. But, that’s not it. The other animal is in the company’s name — the jackets are also stuffed with real goose feathers. And … you guessed it, hunters also kill the geese to obtain the feathers. 

Rating: 0/10

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