LET’S GET CIRCULAR
Gabriella Le Breton chats to Stephen Cousins, founder of Bluebird Exchange – the pioneering social enterprise that’s tackling the environmental impact of our ski gear
Stephen Cousins, founder of Bluebird Exchange
Stephen Cousins is not your typical eco-warrior. Based in Edinburgh, the 26-year-old is a solicitor who talks as eloquently about economics and the infrastructure of social enterprises as he does about normalising recycled clothing.
Stephen first took an interest in the environmental impact of ski gear while doing a ski season in Les Gets, France. “I started looking at second-hand clothes as I was a ski bum on a budget,” he explains. “But the more I scratched the surface of the waste involved in the ski wear industry, the more it became an informed choice. I also realised there was no specific marketplace for recycled outdoor clothing.”
Stephen duly set up Bluebird Exchange, an online platform for buying and selling outdoor clothing, in 2020. As a Community Interest Company, it distributes surplus profits to local community interests and enables users to buy, sell and donate their kit. From snowboard boots to helmets, there’s a growing selection of quality kit to choose from: some used, some repaired and some new – all at reasonable prices.
“By changing our commercial behaviour, we can force change in industry.”
Bluebird Exchange is one of a growing number of businesses in the ski industry promoting a circular economy. “The current economy works to a linear model, whose three key steps – take-make-dispose – place an enormous burden on the ecological balance of our planet,” says Stephen. “A circular economy rethinks our relationship with products, striving to eliminate waste and pollution in production, keep products and materials in use and regenerate natural systems. This can be achieved by increasing the product lifecycle of items through repair and reuse, and creating products that are not only made from recycled and/or renewable materials, but also designed to be repaired.
“If you feel you need a new piece of ski kit – a jacket for example – first ask yourself: can I repair my existing one? If not, can I rent a jacket for my holiday? Sharing is a key part of the circular economy. If renting isn’t an option, can you buy a second-hand one?
“Only once you’ve exhausted these options should you consider buying a new jacket, at which point you start investigating brands that manufacture sustainable products.”
Stephen is quick to admit that donning a second-hand ski jacket for your ski holiday won’t negate the environmental impact of travelling to the mountains and sustaining an inherently ecologically damaging ski industry.
“I can’t deny the element of hypocrisy in what we’re doing – we’re merely reducing the harm caused by the sport we love. The environmental impact of the ski industry is significant. But it’s only by acknowledging the harm we’re personally inflicting on the environment that we can work towards achieving change.”
He continues: “Incremental changes do ultimately create big change and, critically, open dialogue. By changing our commercial behaviour, we can force change in industry – if you stop buying new clothes, brands will adapt to regain your custom. Rather than creating new products, for example, they could offer repairs to their existing products as a customer service.”
It’s inspiring stuff and, as the circular economy gains traction across society, there couldn’t be a better time to consider whether the jacket and salopettes that have been gathering dust in your wardrobe could be put to better use by another skier out there…
Stephen enjoying the snow, in reused kit of course
BLUEBIRD EXCHANGE FACTFILE
Bluebird Exchange is an Edinburgh-based social enterprise. It generates profits from the sale and purchase of secondhand outdoor products on its dedicated marketplace, using them to fund environmental and social access projects.
“Increasing the product lifecycle of an item by nine months can reduce its waste, water and carbon footprints by up to 30%.”
“The fashion industry produces more carbon emissions than all international flights and maritime shipping combined.”