TERRY’S STRIDES IN SUSTAINABILITY.

Contributed by Terry Sustainability Coordinator, Nina Merz.

As we round out this year’s Earth Day celebrations, you have likely been inundated with suggestions on how to reduce your carbon footprint or how to take action against climate change. This information can often be overwhelming—as the subject of climate change often is—and the prospect of working toward a sustainable future can feel daunting. One suggestion you may have seen is to avoid fast fashion, which is the rapid production of trendy, disposable clothes, often at the sacrifice of the environment. The discourse around the apparel industry and environmentalism begets the question: where does Terry fit into all this? In this blog, we hope to provide some clarity by sharing a few thoughts on sustainability, our environmental accomplishments and goals, and make a case for a strong contender in the future of sustainability: cycling.

Sustainability In Apparel: What Really Matters?

Consumption inherently has a carbon footprint. Any new product you purchase has inputs that emit some form of greenhouse gas either through production, distribution, or disposal of that product. The sustainability of a product has become a huge consideration for consumers when making purchasing decisions. Instances of greenwashing, or the act of providing intentionally misleading information about the sustainability of a product, frequent apparel advertising. Even alternative options like thrifting and renting clothing still have their environmental drawbacks. The abundance of information and environmental considerations that come with making a purchase can be overwhelming, as the subject of climate change often is. For some people, the prospect of working toward a sustainable future can feel daunting enough to cause feelings of climate anxiety or eco-guilt. With all the considerations that come with being more sustainable, our sense of agency can be obscured—what is there to do when it feels like every decision has some sort of environmental or ethical consequence?

Perhaps the best thing to do is to focus on the bigger picture. As we collectively work to build a more sustainable future, it is important to remember the most significant impacts we can make on climate change will come from systemic and cultural changes. Although it is important to consider the various environmental impacts of our individual purchasing decisions, we can still create a more sustainable culture by simply changing the way we think about purchasing clothes.

One of the best things you can do to practice sustainability while buying clothes is to purchase items built to last. Consider it an investment in carbon emissions: if all cycling apparel produces carbon emissions by one means or another, you might as well buy the items that will last you the longest and grant you the most uses—the most bang for your carbon bucks. If you make a purchase prioritizing the longevity and versatility of a garment, you are helping to combat fast fashion culture, all while making a carbon conscious choice. Afterall, the greatest pitfall of sustainability in apparel is overproduction at the expense of quality. A mindset shift to investing in high quality clothes that are built to last is a powerful and long-lasting way to bring about a more sustainable future.

Terry’s Steps Towards Sustainability

Here at Terry, we take our time to develop the highest quality cycling apparel. We don’t rush through our rides, so why would we rush through our products? We work diligently to ensure our clothing, accessories and saddles will not only last, but will also keep you the most comfortable you can be on a bike. We want every woman to feel confident in themselves and our gear, so we use premium and durable materials that can handle the wear and tear of even the most active lifestyle and perform as well as the day it was purchased. We believe it’s important to buy less and wear longer, and thus produce garments with an extended lifecycle that encourage a more sustainable mindset around consumption.

The Butterfly is my lifelong saddle. I bought one for my new bike and it is just as great as my first Butterfly! The original is well over 10 years old and going strong.

– Nicole B., Terry Customer.

In 2023, we focused our sustainability efforts on the development process and solidifying baselines for sustainability reporting and goals. Here is a summary of our latest successes, along with some of our ongoing goals:

PFAS Elimination
Per-and polyfluoroalkyl substances, abbreviated as PFAS, have gained notoriety in
recent years for their adverse health effects on both humans and animals. PFAS have found their way into many consumer goods, either by intentional usage—namely water repellant finishes—or unintentional contamination. States, such as California, have passed regulatory limits on the concentration of PFAS allowed in consumer goods to help combat the presence of these dangerous chemicals.

As of 2023, all Terry-branded products have gone through a rigorous environmental audit
to ensure that none of our products contain unsafe concentrations of PFAS. This effort has involved testing garments of concern, obtaining certificates to verify safe levels of PFAS in existing products, and confirming that any new textiles or materials are PFAS-free before development proceeds.

More Sustainable Fabrics
In 2023, we updated the fabrication of our Metro Collection to a recycled stretch woven blend that’s lightweight, quiet in motion and features a water-resistant finish that’s PFAS-free. We also added the Vista Skort to our Vista Line of bottoms that are made from a unique stretch twill weave where 100% of the nylon fibers used are recycled. Currently, we are working on transitioning our existing styles to recycled fabrics. This process is lengthy, as it involves various checks to guarantee the quality, sourcing, safety, and overall feel of the recycled fabric. We are in the midst of switching one of our most popular styles (hint: she’s ultralight and sun protective) to a recycled version, an environmentally friendly change we hope to bring to you all in 2025.

We also make it a priority to use materials that have been chemically tested and independently certified to ensure the highest quality and safety in our products, for you and the environment. We especially love materials that are bluesign approved and/or Oeko-Tex Standard 100 certified due to their comprehensive and rigorous chemical testing requirements. Currently, all our chamois are bluesign approved and the majority of our fabrics are Oeko-Tex Standard 100. We continuously work to source and incorporate materials that meet these certifications.

Environmentally Conscious Packaging
One of the more difficult challenges is finding environmentally conscious packaging. Recycled/recyclable plastic bags are a step forward in sustainable packaging, but we
hope to eliminate plastic bags entirely in the upcoming years. We are currently in the
testing stages of an environmentally friendly and innovative solution to plastic bags—some of you may have gotten a sneak peek at this new packaging with your Spring order. While we are still in the initial testing stages, we hope to integrate these new packaging methods in the coming seasons. While transitioning to more sustainable packaging requires long-term planning and can take time to implement, Terry’s goal of eliminating plastic packaging is in the works.

Carbon Emmisions Reporting
As many of you are aware, Terry is a small company. Carbon emissions reports can be
time consuming and resource intensive; however, we are excited to share that we have completed our baseline carbon emissions reporting, and we are in the process of quantifying emissions from 2023. These carbon reports will give us a comprehensive look at how we are improving in our sustainability efforts each year and provide key metrics for areas of both success and improvement. Our baseline carbon emissions report solidifies a foundation for our sustainability efforts here at Terry and we can’t wait to share how our footprint lessens as we learn more and build on this foundational framework.

Cycling: The Best Way To Love The Planet

Perhaps the most significant step forward in sustainability is something we have all done together: encouraging cycling. Switching out your car for a bike can have a significant impact on your carbon footprint. One study found that on average, cyclists have an 84 percent lower daily travel carbon emissions than non-cyclists. This reduction in emissions gets better the more you ride, with CO2 life cycle emissions reduced by 14 percent for every additional bike ride. Swapping your car for a bike on one trip a day can reduce your annual carbon footprint by 0.5 tonnes—to put that in perspective, in 2022, transportation emissions in the United States were 5.13 metric tonnes per capita.

Emissions for the US transportation sector account for a large chunk of our country’s carbon footprint. In 2022, the transportation sector was responsible for 29 percent of total carbon emissions in the United States, with the majority of these emissions coming from petroleum-operated trucks and passenger cars. Compared to European countries, such as Denmark and the Netherlands, the United States has an undeveloped cycling infrastructure making it more difficult to utilize your bike as an effective carbon footprint reducer.

This is why it is more important now than ever to get you and your best friends out for a ride! By expanding the cycling community, we have the power to shape what a sustainable future looks like. The more you bike and encourage a strong community of cyclists, the more likely your town or state is to prioritize cycling infrastructure, which in turn encourages more cycling… and more carbon savings.

Sometimes the most important things you can do to help move this world to sustainability are the most straight forward. By strengthening your cycling community and choosing your bike over your car, you are, little by little, helping to influence a culture that prioritizes cycling, sustainability, and a love for our planet.