Sonder Bikes
When Nottingham Trent University (NTU) Product Department approached us in early 2022, we jumped at the opportunity. Three years on, this partnership is thriving in its 4th year.
The Alpkit product team are obsessed with the details. It's ingrained in every product we design. We meticulously pour over every jacket or sleeping bag until we're totally satisfied it meets the levels of performance we demand.
We've been building sustainability into our product range since Day 1. More recently, our focus has been both broader and more granular as new technologies, studies, and methods become available to us. As a result, we've been able to make larger strides in creating a more sustainable product range.
In recent years, our product design team have applied a science-based approach to analysing our carbon footprint, whilst at the same time not forgetting all the product attributes that are important to our customers.
This collaboration helps both the Alpkit design team and NTU students in the following areas:
- How we can make positive change
- Life Cycle Analysis, an in-depth look into how a product is made, used, and disposed of
- Data-driven design change
- Improved performance, reduced impact. Learnings can be applied across the product range
- Continued cooperation with NTU because we can always do more, be better
The partnership has been transformative for both sides, as NTU's Karen Winfield explains:
'We worked closely with the team at Alpkit, to define a brief suitable to challenge our students with improving the carbon footprint of an existing Alpkit product. Using Life Cycle Analysis (LCA) data, our group of students found opportunities to further enhance and improve the existing product. - Karen Winfield BA (Hons) MIED, Senior Lecturer / Placement Coordinator - Product Design Department
A Natural Partnership
NTU reached out to us for several reasons. Our values align perfectly with NTU's design agenda. The lecturers are customers, our B Corp accreditation and eco credentials mean we can play a part in educating NTU students on the subject of sustainable design. We are also sharply focused on the needs of the consumer—something a designer can never forget.
Karen again - The support from Alpkit was outstanding, including brand immersion with a visit to the head office, store visit at Hathersage and further insights shared from MD Nick Smith and junior product developer Joel Smeaton.
Why We Got Involved
LCA provides the most in-depth analysis of our products. With the data it provides, we can make real changes to our supply chain. The expertise of the Sustainability team at NTU helps us in other areas of the business, like carbon footprint analysis, and we can make a positive impact on the designers of the future, encouraging them to design sustainably.
What We Did
We threw open the doors to Alpkit. Students gained 'access all areas' visibility of the inner workings of our business. We gave them a tour of Campus and stores, ran hands-on workshop sessions and delivered the brief. We provided real product for their tear-down, with 20 groups all breaking apart the product to fully understand the construction and opportunity.
Karen adds -Their own brand values were reflected in the support the team offered throughout the project, resulting in proposals from our students that are currently being considered, and the experience truly valued as a partnership with our students demonstrating product development within a company that lives and breathes its brand values.
Outstanding Outcomes
The students presented their LCAs alongside design changes for the Radiant sleeping mat, with ideas ranging from a full redesign of the mat to using alternative, less impactful materials. Some of the groups focused on increasing the utility of the mat with additional features and benefits. We provided instant feedback in the design sprint to all the groups, with the best group given a week's placement.
Next Steps
This project helps stimulate wider and more diverse design thinking. Alpkit takes any learnings and applies them across many projects. While we may not commercialise every specific idea, each project sparks fresh thinking that ripples across our entire range—helping us design products that tread lighter on the planet.
'I was impressed with the depth of interrogation Alpkit had already undertaken in their sustainability principles and actions, prior to the student project. I felt that helped the students to develop a more detailed focus on the areas where there may have been scope for carbon reduction and tested them to think outside the box. The resulting student work was lifted to a higher level, because of the level Alpkit are already at.' - Michelle Johansson BA BArch(Hons) Architect (NZ) LFA, Sustainability Consultant ADBE Sustainability in Enterprise (SiE) Project