Designers: Nemo Equipment, Inc., Dover, New Hampshire, USA
Manufacturer: Nemo Equipment, Inc., Dover, New Hampshire, USA
Polybags are the default option for protecting individual products from the manufacturer to retailer to consumer. Typically made from petroleum and HDPE plastic, polybags take 500+ years to decompose while releasing toxic substances into the soil and infiltrating our marine environments.
It is estimated that 100,000 marine animals are killed by plastic bags annually. Historically, NEMO’s tent pole sets were shipped in polybags, but beginning with its new 2021 tent models, all pole sets will ship in a simple, reusable fabric pole bag instead of a single-use polybag.
The initiative came about while NEMO was analyzing its shipping and packaging systems. The team had removed all polybags that tents were shipped in but noticed that tent poles were being shipped in a fabric bag within a polybag. Working together with their pole manufacturer, DAC, the two designed and sourced a single bag solution that would originate at DAC, something that DAC could also offer to its other partners in the future, helping more brands eliminate polybags from the waste stream.
The fabric pole bag replaces not only the polybag, but the conventional polyester drawstring bag NEMO tent poles were traditionally stored in. The Repreve® recycled, undyed, uncoated fabric bag with recycled thread uses less energy and water to produce. There is no webbing, cord, or plastic hardware, minimizing materials and creating a straightforward solution. In switching to this 100% recycled bag, the company repurposes 1.3 plastic bottles per bag and use 0 liters of water for dyeing.
The 100K represents NEMO’s goal of eliminating 100,000 polybags with this fabric bag by 2023. NEMO has been working to educate itself on impactful, scientifically proven actions we can take to make a difference in climate change and sustainability.
The company surveyed manufacturing partners and developed standards of practice; analyzed shipments and eliminated unnecessary packaging and created more efficient packing systems; promoted the adoption of the HIGG Index throughout our supply chain; are a founding member of the Climate Action Corps; the founder and CEO of the company chairs the OIA Sustainable Business Innovation committee; and the team has a Global Distribution and Sustainability Manager on staff to coordinate the efforts company-wide.
This work has led us to develop this solution to polybags with the pole manufacturing partner, as well as integrating BLUESIGN, post-consumer recycled (PCR), and repurposed materials into the product line. The company continues to challenge ourselves and look forward to similar solutions in the future.
