Trek has been listed in TIME’s second edition of its influential companies list after it published the in-depth and critical sustainability report and launched the Trek Foundation to protect land and develop trail networks for public use. The sustainability report was the first of its kind for the bike industry and an updated report is set to release this year detailing the brand’s long-term aims and new actions that Trek has taken so far.
TIME said: “Bicycles are plenty eco-friendly, but building and shipping them still exacts a toll. Trek Bicycle in July became the world’s first major bicycle manufacturer to quantify that toll, publishing a sustainability report that found that producing and shipping each bike emits the same amount of carbon energy as an average car driving 430 miles. It now plans to reduce its reliance on air freight, use more sustainable materials, and consolidate shipments. The company’s hope, says president John Burke, is that ‘other companies in the bike business can do the same thing’.”
Alongside Trek, the list of 100 companies also featured Patagonia for its longstanding political and environmental activism saying: “Outdoors retailer Patagonia has doubled down on its long-standing political activism in recent months, donating $1 million to fight restrictive voting-rights laws in Georgia, for example, and ceasing sales at a Wyoming ski resort after the owners sponsored a conservative fundraiser. At the same time, CEO Ryan Gellert criticized counterparts who he feels aren’t doing enough to combat climate change. That Patagonia’s sales exceed $1 billion demonstrates such corporate activism can be very good for business.”
To make the list TIME editors and industry experts evaluated companies on a range of key factors including relevance, impact, innovation, leadership, and success. You can see the full list here.
