Our planet is everyone’s business – Trek Bicycle

The time for climate action is now. Here's Trek President John Burke on eight ways Trek is working to draw down our impact and be a part of the climate solution. 

The brutal facts

Atmospheric carbon dioxide reached a record high in 2023. And it’s only rising, causing global temperatures to rise along with it.
Source: Kennedy, R (Director), (2018). Above and Beyond: NASA’s Journey to Tomorrow [Motion Picture]. United States: Fathom Events  

As our average global temperature continues to rise, it will lead to increasingly negative impacts on our ecological systems and human life.
Source: GISTEMP Team, 2024: GISS Surface Temperature Analysis (GISTEMP), version 4, Lenssen et al. 2019  

We’ve had over 150-billion-dollar climate events in the past 10 years, leading to significant economic effects, human fatalities, and massive loss of wildlife.   
Source: “Billion-Dollar Weather and Climate Disasters,” National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration  

Eight actions to help guide your efforts

Here are the eight actions Trek has taken to run a business that’s better for our planet. Use them as a guide to lower your own impact.

ACTION 1
Emissions study  

We hired external experts to study our carbon footprint so we could take informed action.  

ACTION 2
Set a goal  

We used our emissions study to set a company-wide goal: reduce our absolute scope 3 GHC emissions 32.5% by 2032.

ACTION 3
Reduce packaging waste

We made changes to our packaging that have helped us save 532,422 lbs. of plastic packaging waste annually since 2020.* 

ACTION 4
Eco-friendly materials 

We worked with our suppliers to move from dirty to clean aluminum and cut carbon emissions from certain frames by 80%.  

ACTION 5
Reduce air freight 

The transport of goods is a massive generator of emissions, so we're reducing our air freight in favor of other options. 

ACTION 6
Red Barn Refresh

We started refurbishing and reselling used bikes to encourage a circular economy.

ACTION 7
Car trip reductions

We’re taking action to encourage people to ride more and drive less.   

ACTION 8
Be an example 

We’ve learned a lot on our sustainability journey, and we’re sharing what we’ve learned so others can act, too.  

*Figure is approximate and may vary based on annual forecasts and units sold. 

The change the world scorecard

What gets measured gets done. Use a climate action scorecard to drive change within your organization.

“The greatest threat to our planet is the belief that someone else will save it.”
–Robert Swan, Arctic explorer