By Adam Sidney
Myles Apparel CEO
At Myles, we like to say “we’re in this for the long run.” There are a lot of meanings behind that, but a big one is this:
We’re building our company and products in a way that promotes the long-term health and livability of our natural world.
Most of our photography shows our friends and team members exercising outdoors, and that’s no coincidence. As a California brand, it’s impossible to separate our love of the outdoors from our workouts and fitness. Getting outside is a big part of how we stay healthy, both physically and emotionally. And we know it’s important to many of our customers throughout the U.S. and other countries where we’ve sent our gear. That’s why our activewear is designed to transition seamlessly from the day-to-day with our friends and family, to traveling through our cities, to enjoying the ocean, mountains, and rivers that are a short bike ride away—the natural world is at the core of everything we make and do at Myles.
Yet we’re aware that the apparel industry has a long way to go to reduce its negative impact on the environment. The stats are staggering. In the U.S. alone, 12.7 million tons of textiles are discarded each year, and 85% of that ends up in the ground, including a good portion that’s given away to second-hand stores. This doesn’t even factor in the sunk costs of creating the products—materials, shipping, packaging.
We want to be part of the solution to this problem, which is why we’re thrilled to announce our partnership with The Renewal Workshop, an innovative Portland-based company leading the way toward a zero waste apparel industry, and more recyclable textiles. They’re pioneers in making sure the clothes you’re finished wearing don’t end up in the trash, but instead are renewed, repurposed, and given new life. We call it going #ExtraMyles.
It’s counterintuitive to have products sit on a shelf unsold, or to be part of a disposable culture where it’s expected, even hoped, that they’re used for only a short time and then discarded. We need to change our mindset. That’s why we build our products to last, and we expect and hope you’ll wear them for a long time. We also know you’ll eventually want to replace them.
Our solution is to make sure we reuse and repurpose as much of your well-worn Myles gear as possible, and make sure it stays out of landfills. We stand by our quality, so we know that even after some parts of a garment may be worn, after years of use and thousands of miles traveled, most of the garment is made up of perfectly good fabric. That garment could be repaired, renewed, or the fabric could be reused to make something completely new. And that’s exactly where the folks at The Renewal Workshop are experts.
Yes, Myles is still relatively small, and we’re not perfect. But there’s no time like the present to start thinking about these issues and doing something about them. We already use recycled or organic materials when possible, offset the carbon emissions for all of our inbound shipments, and use eco-friendly packaging. We can always do more, and we will. Again, that’s why we say we’re in this for the long run.
As we grow, we’ll keep building Myles for the greenest possible future. But our research shows that the absolute most positive impact we can have is by making high-quality products that our customers wear for a long time, and then keep those garments from becoming waste.
We hope you share our passion for this cause. If you want a little extra incentive, we’re happy to give you a 10% discount on your next Myles order when you participate in the #ExtraMyles program. You can learn more about it HERE.
Stay tuned, we’re just getting started. Meanwhile, get out there and do a few #ExtraMyles for the planet today.
