Cotopaxi outdoor gear

Manufacturing the highest quality men’s and women’s outdoor apparel and gear, Cotopaxi has built a brand around their ‘Gear for Good’ ethics that alleviates poverty, moves people to do good, and inspires adventure.

The Gear

Cotopaxi does gear – they do backpacks, tents, jackets, shirts, and a tonne more apparel and product, and they guarantee these products for 61 years (the average lifespan of a person living in a developing country). Those products are also manufactured in supply chains and facilities that are above standard for fair and sustainable working conditions and work towards the greater good of the community and their employees.

Why?

Cotopaxi believes in making a positive impact – they also believe that “The old standard is, well, getting old.” ‘Gear for Good’ is the foundation in which the brand operates and aims to spread this positive change. They believe in making an impact, and that impact will be made through purchasing power. When buying the high-quality gear and apparel that Cotopaxi sustainablly supplies, you’re funding their many impactful initiatives in developing nations.

The Cause

Cotopaxi is a Benefit Corporation (B-Corp) that designs and sells products that help people around the world. Additionally, they have targeted social impact efforts in global poverty alleviation and giving grants to advance health, education, and livelihoods in developing nations.

Education (especially among girls) creates higher socio-economic development, less poverty, and more opportunity for everyone. In the last year, Cotopaxi has supported this through initiatives such as:

• Responding to the crisis in the Middle East and Europe with education programming for youth so they can continue to learn during the conflict.
• Supporting educational outcomes in conflict-affected regions of South America.
• Enabling access to quality education for out-of-school girls living in poverty across remote regions of India, reducing underage marriage and increasing transition rates to higher learning.

These education efforts, combined with their health and livelihood work is a driving force behind the ‘Gear for Good’ model and eradicating poverty. These efforts and more can be read in their impact reports.

More information and links to purchase Cotopaxi can be found in the icons at the top of this post.

All photography is photo credit (PC) Cotopaxi