Our Choices

 At Loggia Gear we endeavor to minimize the environmental impact of our products as well as carefully select the materials, components, and consumables we use. We aim to provide transparency in where things are made and their eco-credentials, which we believe is a rare but important step to help customers see exactly how their gear is engineered.

Manufacturing

 We proudly make all our products in Stockholm, Sweden, and take the following steps to minimize our carbon footprint:

  • Use of materials and components that have as much recycled content as possible or have a recognized sustainable certification, whenever possible.
  • Reduce transportation by using European-made raw materials whenever possible as well as buying from a limited number of European suppliers and wholesalers. 
  • Recycle all packaging materials that we receive from suppliers.
  • Minimize and recycle our own production waste. Non-recyclable fabric offcuts are sent to renewable waste-to-energy.
  • Use of GrassGreen® recycled packaging for shipping products to our customers.

We are continuously trying to reduce our impact on this planet, and are happy if you contact us with suggestions or comments.

Fabrics

Most of the best technical fabrics for lightweight outdoor gear such as backpacks, food bags, stuff sacks etc., are made in the USA originating from the sailing world. The laminate fabrics we use are inherently waterproof and do not require any extra waterproofing chemicals. 

   Challenge® DTRS75 fabric from Challenge Outdoors, part of Challenge Sailcloth, is a woven (virgin) polyester fabric with a triple ripstop laminated to 0.75mil 100% recycled film.

Challenge RBC™ is single-ply woven recycled polyester with environmentally friendly C0 DWR on the outside, and a water-resistant PU coating on the inside. Each yard recycles about 10 plastic bottles and saves about one pound of carbon emissions, compared to standard nylon or polyester bag fabric

Challenge Outdoors fabrics are mostly woven at their facility in Thailand and laminated at their facility in China. ULTRA™ fabric is manufactured at their facility in China. Challenge Outdoors considers this region of the world to have the best infrastructure for recycling and manufacturing thus creating the biggest impact in reducing real-world carbon emissions. Challenge Outdoors maintain stock in the US and Asia to keep transportation emissions to a minimum.

Printing

The technique we use to print on fabrics is known as dye sublimation printing. We recognize that no form of printing is sustainable as all printing uses chemicals and energy. However, dye sublimation printing is one of the more environmentally-friendly forms of printing. Inks are water-based and non-toxic. Compared to digital printing, for example, dye sublimation permanently infuses the ink into the fabric structure rather than prints on the surface. This produces a more durable and longer lasting print (and product). Dye sublimation printing is suited to custom and on-demand printing and has less wastage for these applications than, say, screen printing that is tailored towards larger production runs.

Special inks and paper are required in sublimation printing. We buy our printing consumables from Epson via a supplier in Sweden, although we have not yet been able to determine the place of manufacture or environmental impact of the specific products we use.

According to their 2021/22 sustainability report, Epson Europe has been awarded a Platinum rating for overall sustainability by independent platform EcoVadis for the third consecutive year. This places Epson in the top 1% in their industry.

Thread

 Strong and high quality polyester sewing thread made by Gütermann in Germany. We are investigating sourcing recycled PET thread.

Seam Tape

UltraTNT™ PSA tape from Challenge Outdoors is a waterproof seam sealing tape with Ultra™ fiber. Constructed with two layers of polyester film with light grey Ultra™ yarn inserted in the warp and bias. The backing is a pressure sensitive, high tack, non-yellowing adhesive. We are not aware of where Challenge Outdoors manufactures UltraTNT™ fabric or UltraTNT™ PSA tape but we presume in Asia as detailed above for their other fabric production. 

Dyneema® Composite Fabric (DCF) PSA tape comprises 0.5oz DCF fabric on one side and pressure sensitive adhesive on the other side. DCF fabric is produced as detailed above.  

Buckles

 Ultra lightweight but high-strength side release buckles manufactured by YKK in Taiwan made from polyacetal (POM) plastic. This product is bluesign® approved which means it has been manufactured to strict safety and environmental requirements.

Webbing and Ribbon

 Webbing is manufactured in the EU.

Cords

 Cord on drawstring bags is manufactured in Sweden from 100% recycled polyester fiber.

 Reflective cord used for zipper pull tabs is manufactured in Austria.

Cord Locks

 Mini cord-locks are produced in China. We are in the process of sourcing European made cord-locks.

Labels

 We print and make our own logo tabs on Challenge® DTRS75 fabric to ourselves to avoid the unnecessary additional production and shipping of product labels.

Packaging Materials

 GrassGreen® cardboard packaging from Pohl-Scandia is made from 100% grass and recycled fibers, and is 100% recyclable. Grass is a rapidly renewable raw material, protects the existence of forests, lower energy consumption and reduced CO2 emissions during production, significantly lower water consumption than wood pulp production, minimal use of process chemicals in manufacturing. It uses up to 40% grass, and the remaining part consists of waste paper fiber.