Excellent
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Jul 08, 2026Cotopaxi is best known for its colorful backpacks and apparel, but the brand is also gaining a reputation for designing low-impact outdoor gear. Founded in 2014, Cotopaxi became a B Corp in 2015, showing its early commitment to fair business practices. Since then, it has partnered with Fair Trade to ensure fair labor practices in its supply chain, launched a resale program to help extend the life of Cotopaxi gear, and replaced all of its conventional fabrics with recycled, repurposed, or responsibly sourced alternatives. Cotopaxi’s marketing centers on sustainability: Let's take a deeper look to see if the brand’s practices live up to its claims.
This sustainability analysis evaluates both product- and brand-level initiatives to capture the full scope of Cotopaxi's efforts to reduce its environmental impact. Our research draws from Cotopaxi's published sustainability data, third-party certifications (a cornerstone of our process), and correspondence with brand representatives. We have independently researched over ten Cotopaxi products to date and counting, giving us a broad understanding of the brand’s use of low-impact materials, chemistry, and manufacturing practices.
You can explore our analyses of other outdoor brands, or use our advanced search to find products that align with your sustainability values.
Cotopaxi receives an “Excellent” transparency rating. The brand includes a sustainability section on each product page on its website, providing detailed information about product sustainability attributes. Cotopaxi publishes a highly comprehensive annual impact report, which includes statistics outlining the brand’s progress toward its many sustainability goals. We also love that the report clearly displays Cotopaxi’s greenhouse gas data for each emissions scope over the past three years. Additionally, Cotopaxi’s website provides clear, digestible information about the brand's sustainability initiatives, and its representatives have been responsive to our questions.
In fall 2023, Cotopaxi achieved its goal of ensuring that every product in its line features materials that meet at least one of its “3 R’s” of sustainable design: recycled, repurposed, or responsibly sourced. These materials—often referred to as “preferred materials”––come with a smaller environmental footprint than their conventional alternatives, making them a key component of Cotopaxi’s greenhouse gas reduction plan. Although the brand does not report the percentage of recycled materials used across its product line, every Cotopaxi product we've researched incorporates recycled content.
Unlike many other outdoor brands, Cotopaxi prioritizes deadstock—existing fabric that other brands didn’t use—over recycled materials whenever possible. The brand has been sourcing deadstock since 2016, a practice that helps divert material from landfills, reducing textile waste. In 2025, Cotopaxi used nearly 850,000 yards of deadstock, up from about 100,000 yards in 2024. According to the company, using deadstock helps reduce carbon emissions, water consumption, and textile waste.
Bluesign-approved materials meet rigorous standards for chemical management, environmental impact, and worker safety throughout the supply chain. While Cotopaxi is not a Bluesign System Partner, it incorporates Bluesign-approved materials into many of its products. Under the brand's preferred materials guidelines, all materials used beginning in 2025 must meet at least one responsible chemistry standard, including Bluesign, Oeko-Tex, or the Zero Discharge of Hazardous Chemicals (ZDHC) program. Whenever possible, Cotopaxi prioritizes Bluesign-approved fabrics over conventional alternatives. Unfortunately, Cotopaxi doesn’t report its total use of Bluesign-approved fabrics, but many of the products we’ve researched feature them.
Like many outdoor brands, Cotopaxi set the goal of eliminating PFAS, or per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, from its products by 2025. PFAS—also known as “forever chemicals”—were once the industry standard in durable water-repellent treatments and waterproof membrane materials for their unmatched water- and oil-repellent properties. Unfortunately, PFAS are also environmentally persistent (meaning they don’t break down), and come with a wide range of adverse health effects, leading states like California and New York to ban their use in textiles in 2025.
Cotopaxi phased PFAS out of nearly all of its products by spring 2024, but because the brand uses deadstock fabrics in its Del Día collection, it took longer to ensure that all of those fabrics (many of which were produced years earlier) were also PFAS free. By the end of 2024, Cotopaxi had eliminated intentionally added PFAS from all of its products. The brand was on track with that of most major outdoor brands, although industry leaders such as Fjallraven and Keen completed their phase-outs much earlier, in 2015 and 2018, respectively.
Unlike many outdoor brands, Cotopaxi uses very few animal-derived materials in its products. When the brand introduced down insulation in 2021, it committed to sourcing 100% Responsible Down Standard-certified down, a practice it continues today. This certification ensures that ducks and geese are not subject to excessive harm, while increasing traceability from farm to product. Cotopaxi does not use leather, fur, or exotic skins in its products. It does use merino wool in a small selection of gear, but unfortunately, the wool is not certified to the Responsible Wool Standard or the ZQ Standard. Still, the brand requires that the sheep providing their wool be non-mulesed, which is a step in the right direction for animal welfare.
Although most of the materials Cotopaxi uses are synthetic, it incorporates some cotton into its products. The brand uses only organic cotton, which is grown with fewer pesticides than conventional cotton. The brand also uses Forest Stewardship Council-certified cellulose fibers, bio-based trims, hemp, and linen in its products.
Cotopaxi partnered with Fair Trade USA in 2018, and now, the brand works with seven Fair Trade Certified factories (where nearly 35% of Cotopaxi’s products are made). Fair Trade certification ensures that factories adhere to rigorous social and environmental standards, including fair wages, safe working conditions, and sustainable resource management. Brands also pay a premium on each item produced in a Fair Trade-certified factory, which goes to the Fair Trade community development fund. This fund is allocated to workers at Fair Trade factories, who collectively determine how to use the funds to benefit their communities. Additionally, Cotopaxi works with Worldwide Responsible Accredited Production (WRAP) to certify some of its factories. The WRAP program certifies that manufacturing facilities adhere to safe, lawful, humane, and ethical standards, with each factory undergoing rigorous social compliance audits every one to two years. These audits assess factories against multiple principles, including the implementation of environmentally conscious practices.
In 2025, Cotopaxi revised its packaging standards to reduce waste and increase recyclability. As part of this effort, the brand is reducing packaging volume and using Forest Stewardship Council-certified, 100% recycled paper packaging materials. In select cases, it uses non-certified, recycled paper. The brand’s packaging standards also favor curbside recyclable materials whenever possible, and many of its packaging materials include a How2Recycle logo to help you dispose of them properly. Notably, Cotopaxi also includes certified at-home compostable and biodegradable materials on its list of preferred packaging materials. As of 2025, the brand is phasing out virgin plastic, virgin paper, and bio-based plastics (which break down into microplastics). Given its comprehensive approach to packaging sustainability, we consider Cotopaxi a leader in this area.
If your Cotopaxi gear breaks, the brand has your back with repairs. If damage is covered under warranty, Cotopaxi will repair or replace your gear at no cost. As with most brands, rips, punctures, pilling, and accidental damage are not covered under Cotopaxi’s warranty, but luckily, the brand offers repair services outside of warranty as part of its commitment to keeping gear in use longer. Between 2018 and 2024, Cotopaxi’s own “Mama Marge”—the brand’s in-house repair expert—revived over 2,000 products in need of a quick fix, like mending small tears, patching holes, and replacing buckles. For more complex repairs (like zipper replacements, panel rebuilds, or large patches), the brand partners with Rugged Thread to help you get your gear back on the trail. In 2025, the brand fulfilled nearly 2,000 repairs (down from nearly 3,000 in 2024). All in all, we think Cotopaxi is on the right track in this area.
Cotopaxi first began exploring resale in 2023, and in 2025, it partnered with ThredUp to expand its resale platform and reach more customers. In the program’s first year, the brand extended the lifespan of 9,000 pounds of gear. In 2025, Cotopaxi collected nearly 7,500 products, 97% of which were resold on ThredUp. Through Cotopaxi Resale, you can buy used products or exchange your pre-loved products for store credit. Notably, ThredUp and Cotopaxi offer “Clean Out Kits” for free—print a prepaid shipping label and send your old gear in for resale or recycling, hassle-free. Depending on an item's resale value, ThredUp offers Cotopaxi store credit worth 15% to 80% of the product's selling price, with higher-value items earning the largest payouts. ThredUp only accepts products that are fully functional and in good condition, with no pilling, shrinkage, or discoloration. Conveniently, ThredUp also accepts other gently used clothing, handbags, shoes, and accessories from any brand, so you can clean out the rest of your closet when you send in your Cotopaxi gear. Items that aren't suitable for resale are donated, repurposed, or recycled through ThredUp's recycling partners.
In 2024, Cotopaxi launched its Renovo Collection in partnership with the Portland Garment Factory, a line of products made entirely from upcycled Cotopaxi gear. Unfortunately, the program’s stock was limited, so it sold out quickly. We are unsure whether the brand plans to continue the program.
Tracking greenhouse gas emissions is the first step toward understanding and reducing a brand's climate impact. Cotopaxi began tracking and reporting its carbon footprint in 2023, covering emissions across all three scopes. The brand announced a Science Based Targets Initiative-verified goal to reduce its absolute Scope 1 and 2 greenhouse gas emissions by 42% by 2030, and to reduce Scope 3 emissions by 90% by 2045 compared to its 2023 baseline. Like most outdoor brands, the vast majority of Cotopaxi’s emissions fall under Scope 3, or supply chain emissions.
In its 2025 impact report, Cotopaxi published emissions data covering the previous three years. Overall, its emissions have remained largely stable, with some progress toward reductions. In 2025, Cotopaxi reported emitting 32,653 metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent (tCO2e). Cotopaxi notes that it is still in the early stages of emissions accounting and attributes much of the year-to-year variation to improved data quality and accounting methods rather than meaningful emissions reductions. Still, the brand is investing in projects to reduce emissions throughout its supply chain, including helping fabric mills transition to cleaner heat sources and working with suppliers to procure renewable energy and invest in more sustainable infrastructure.
Annual impact reports help brands communicate their sustainability goals and track progress on initiatives ranging from emissions reduction to recycled material use. We consider Cotopaxi's impact report one of the most comprehensive in the outdoor industry. It provides detailed information on the brand's material sourcing, PFAS phase-out, circularity initiatives, greenhouse gas emissions, and supply chain. The 2025 report also includes extensive data on its circularity metrics and upcycling initiatives, along with a high level of transparency throughout. Overall, Cotopaxi's reporting sets a high bar for other outdoor brands to follow.
Cotopaxi has been a certified B Corp since 2015. Companies that are certified as B Corps are regularly evaluated by B Lab for their social and environmental practices and performance. B Corps must also work to achieve benefit corporation status, if possible, and exhibit a high level of transparency. In Cotopaxi’s most recent evaluation, it earned a B Impact score of 125.6—for comparison, a company must score 80 points to qualify as a B Corp.
The brand is also a member of the Outdoor Industry Association Climate Action Corps, a group of brands that collaborate to develop sustainability initiatives, engage in policy, and advocate for the outdoor industry to measure and reduce its carbon footprint. The group aims to cut the outdoor industry’s carbon footprint in half by 2030, with the goal of achieving net-zero emissions by 2040.
In 2019, Cotopaxi launched the Cotopaxi Foundation, an independent nonprofit organization geared towards expanding Cotopaxi’s philanthropic mission. In 2025, the brand contributed $1.2 million to the foundation, supporting non-profit organizations dedicated to education, healthcare, and climate solutions. The foundation is a member of 1% for the Planet, meaning that it contributes 1% of sales revenue to non-profit partners.
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Better Trail Certified products score 4 out of 5 or higher in our sustainability ratings and generally meet around 80% or more of our criteria. While it’s true that no product is 100% sustainable—all take resources to create and arrive at your doorstep—these products are industry leaders and among the most sustainable on the market.
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