Faction Skis, along with parent company Full Stack Supply Co. and FW Apparel, has earned the coveted B Corp certification, which evaluates the environmental and social impact of businesses.
Lots of companies claim to follow sustainable business practices, but far fewer pass the B Corp test. Switzerland-based Faction Skis just became B Corp certified, the company announced this week, after passing a rigorous testing process.
Faction Skis received the certification from nonprofit B Lab, which began in 2006 with the idea of measuring companies’ impact. Faction’s parent company Full Stack Supply Co., and sister company FW Apparel, also received the designation.
Earning B Corporation status means companies have to meet “high standards of social and environmental performance, accountability, and transparency,” according to the B Lab website.
For Faction Skis, that meant a third-party assessment that measured its impact on workers, customers, suppliers, community, and the environment. While Faction only needed a score of 80 to receive the certification, B Lab gave them a 93.5.
“Faction’s strength lies in the power of The Collective,” says Alex Hoye, co-founder and CEO of Faction. “When we come together, we can achieve great things, both through our collective actions and through pressuring for change at the scale that humanity needs right now.”
Businesses for Building Community
Across the private sector, business leaders have begun embracing accountability.
Perhaps no example illustrates this sea of change in capitalist thinking quite like outdoor company Patagonia, which sits at the top of B Lab’s “Best For The World” lists. But Patagonia founder Yvon Chouinard went a massive step further this week, announcing that the billion-dollar company would now focus on the environment over profits.
Yet how does one measure just how accountable a company really is? That’s where B Lab comes in.
For Faction Skis, its high score reflected an emphasis on sustainable manufacturing; it produces skis in a 100% renewable energy factory in Austria.
That alone cuts product carbon emissions by nearly 50%, the company said. Also, Faction makes skis with sustainable wood cores harvested with FSC-accredited partners. The raw materials are sourced locally, and Faction implements recycled materials when possible.
Faction also calculates its total carbon footprint every year “to make informed decisions” on how to reduce it and donates to nonprofits like Protect Our Winters and 1% for the Planet. Even when the company makes its ski films, managers try to avoid using “energy-intensive” equipment and transportation.
“We view a healthy business as a vehicle to build community,” Sara Asmoarp, Faction’s Global Head of Supply Chain and ESG, said in the release.
We are proud to count ourselves among this group of pioneering businesses that are leading a global movement for an inclusive, equitable, and regenerative economy.”
To learn more about Faction’s environmental and social programs, visit its website.
