It’s ironic that outdoor enthusiasts—a generally eco-conscious bunch—clothe and outfit themselves extensively with petroleum-based products like polyester and nylon. The reason is simple. Compared to natural alternatives, the advantages of synthetic materials—lightweight, fast-drying, durable—are usually more desirable, at least when it comes to outdoor activities. So how can you reduce your gear’s carbon footprint without compromising performance? Know your threads and shop responsibly. Here’s a true/false primer to keep you on your toes.

True or False: The majority of recycled fleece is made from plastic soda bottles. In 1993, Patagonia became the first manufacturer to produce fleece garments entirely made from recycled two-liter plastic soda bottles. Polartec, the outdoor industry’s leading supplier of fleece, developed and supplied the recycled “pop bottle” fabric for Patagonia. This fleece, known as Synchilla, was made from previously used, or post-consumer, waste. In today’s jargon and labeling, however, “recycled” content also includes materials that come from postindustrial waste, or the recovered—and re-used—leftovers from the manufacturing process that would otherwise be discarded. In the fleece industry, this means all of the yarn scraps and cuttings from fabric production. According to Polartec spokesman Ian Anderson, the company currently obtains 20 percent of its recycled material from post-consumer waste. The remainder is almost entirely yarn scraps. Read the labels next time you shop; tags often indicate a garment’s recycled content by source and percentage. Answer: FALSE

True or False: You can buy garments made from wood pulp, corn, soybeans, bamboo, and coconut shells. Tencel is a fabric produced from wood pulp cellulose. Extremely soft and fast-wicking, it is often blended with materials like cotton and silk. Ingeo is a biodegradable natural fabric produced from fermented corn starch; look for it in shirts and socks. Soy-based fabrics are created with post-industrial waste from tofu and soybean oil production; its supple feel gives it the name “soy silk.” The fibers found in bamboo pulp can be spun into a soft fabric with natural anti-microbial properties. Cocona also uses post-industrial waste, in this case discarded coconut husks, to create an organic carbon compound that bonds with other fabrics to provide natural anti-microbial properties. Answer: TRUE.

Courtesy of the Appalachian Mountain Club

True or False: Less than 10 percent of Polartec fleece is made from recycled material. Synchilla marked the beginning of an era. Today virtually every major gear manufacturer has begun using recycled Polartec fleece in its product line. At the same time, recycled fabrics have become virtually indistinguishable from their non-recycled peers in terms of feel and performance. As a result, 15 percent of Polartec’s total fleece production now contains a minimum of 50 percent recycled materials. In 2009, the company intends to up its recycled production to 20 percent. The North Face will provide a significant boost in 2009 when it begins producing its iconic Denali jacket—perhaps the best-selling fleece of all time—with an 87 percent recycled Polartec fabric. “Our customers are asking for it,” Anderson notes, “because consumers are asking for it.” Answer: FALSE.

True or False: Less than 1 percent of tents are made from recycled materials. The vast majority of tents are made from nylon, with limited amounts of polyester in mesh, zippers, and some rainflys and floors (though lightweight silicon-coated nylon has largely taken over these areas). And while nylon can be “down-cycled” into carpeting and other products, it cannot be recycled into a usable thread for the outdoor industry. As a consequence, nearly all tents are made from non-recycled sources. And it’s not just tents—it’s just about any piece of gear made from nylon. This is also true of gear made with Lycra and Spandex, which are virtually impossible to recycle as well. Keep an eye out, however, for recycled nylon in the outdoor industry; a few yarn manufacturers have recently added it to their product line for the first time. Answer: TRUE.