Eco Index - Environmental Assessment Tool for Outdoor Products

Due to its expertise in industry standards development and large group facilitation including the Electronic Product Environmental Assessment Tool (EPEAT), Zero Waste Alliance was selected by the Outdoor Industry Association (OIA) and the European Outdoor Group (EOG) to manage and facilitate the ongoing process of developing an Eco Index for the industry.

The beta version of this index is now being piloted by outdoor industry companies and beyond. The Zero Waste Alliance offers training and support services on all aspects of the Eco-Index to help organizations quickly and efficiently understand and implement an internal system that will make your company an industry leader.

More Information about our support services...

What is the Eco Index?

The Outdoor Industry Eco Index is an environmental assessment tool that includes criteria and metrics regarding environmental aspects of corporate practices, processes as they relate to products.

The Eco Working Group (EWG) was launched in January 2007 with the intent of developing industry standards and tools to measure the environmental “footprint” of outdoor products. With nearly 150 management-level participants from over 80 organizations around the world, this collaboration is unprecedented in outdoor industry history in its size and commitment level.

The EWG intends for the index to enhance transparency within the supply chain and facilitate communication with suppliers. The current focus of the index is to be an internal facing tool and not a consumer-facing label. However, this focus will likely be revisited in future years.

Download the brochure

Why?

Stakeholder member companies and their consumers and customers are increasingly concerned about the environmental impacts of the products produced by the outdoor industry. Howevere, there is currently no clear, shared, industry-wide way to evaluate and/or compare products from an environmental perspective.

How will it work?

The Eco Index will be used by companies to incorporate environmental considerations into product design and to manage their supply chains in a way that supports their environmental goals. The Eco Index contains criteria grouped into three separate components (environmental guidelines, scoring of environmental performance indicators, and environmental footprint metrics). These three components were developed in a tiered manner – starting with development of guidelines, then identifying areas of highest priority and developing metrics and finally scoring for the areas of highest priority. The intent is that three components can be used together or separately, depending on the needs and desires of the company.

Who is Involved?

ZWA facilitated the development of the Eco Index with a wide range of stakeholders including: members of the Outdoor Industry Association, European Outdoor Group, non- government organizations (NGOs), academia, government and internal and external industry representatives.

What Are the Benefits?

The Eco Index will help companies incorporate environmental considerations into product designs and to manage their supply chains in a way that supports their environmental goals and provide more environmentally preferableproducts to their customers.

For additional information visit the Eco Index Beta website.

top of page



Eco-Index Home About the Index Implementation Support		Due to its expertise in industry standards development and large group facilitation including the Electronic Product Environmental Assessment Tool (EPEAT), Zero Waste Alliance was selected by the Outdoor Industry Association (OIA) and the European Outdoor Group (EOG) to manage and facilitate the ongoing process of developing an Eco Index for the industry. The beta version of this index is now being piloted by outdoor industry companies and beyond. The Zero Waste Alliance offers training and support services on all aspects of the Eco-Index to help organizations quickly and efficiently understand and implement an internal system that will make your company an industry leader. More Information about our support services... What is the Eco Index? The Outdoor Industry Eco Index is an environmental assessment tool that includes criteria and metrics regarding environmental aspects of corporate practices, processes as they relate to products. The Eco Working Group (EWG) was launched in January 2007 with the intent of developing industry standards and tools to measure the environmental “footprint” of outdoor products. With nearly 150 management-level participants from over 80 organizations around the world, this collaboration is unprecedented in outdoor industry history in its size and commitment level. The EWG intends for the index to enhance transparency within the supply chain and facilitate communication with suppliers. The current focus of the index is to be an internal facing tool and not a consumer-facing label. However, this focus will likely be revisited in future years. Download the brochure Why? Stakeholder member companies and their consumers and customers are increasingly concerned about the environmental impacts of the products produced by the outdoor industry. Howevere, there is currently no clear, shared, industry-wide way to evaluate and/or compare products from an environmental perspective. How will it work? The Eco Index will be used by companies to incorporate environmental considerations into product design and to manage their supply chains in a way that supports their environmental goals. The Eco Index contains criteria grouped into three separate components (environmental guidelines, scoring of environmental performance indicators, and environmental footprint metrics). These three components were developed in a tiered manner – starting with development of guidelines, then identifying areas of highest priority and developing metrics and finally scoring for the areas of highest priority. The intent is that three components can be used together or separately, depending on the needs and desires of the company. Who is Involved? ZWA facilitated the development of the Eco Index with a wide range of stakeholders including: members of the Outdoor Industry Association, European Outdoor Group, non- government organizations (NGOs), academia, government and internal and external industry representatives. What Are the Benefits? The Eco Index will help companies incorporate environmental considerations into product designs and to manage their supply chains in a way that supports their environmental goals and provide more environmentally preferableproducts to their customers. For additional information visit the Eco Index Beta website. top of page

		Copyright © 2003-2010 Zero Waste Alliance. All rights reserved.