As we celebrate Earth Day, The Mountain is proud to announce that we have been named a model Industrial Waste Discharger by our city. This is due to our extensive work in the area of wastewater treatment over the last ten years. The achievement means a lot to us since our commitment to eco-friendly manufacturing is a core value we established in our company from day one. Here's a little history...

With Big Growth Comes Greater Social Responsibility

In 2009, after the viral success of our Three Wolf Moon t-shirt, we faced a situation where we had to rapidly scale up our production in order to meet the increased demand for our tees. It was a good problem to have until we were informed by the city that our water treatment system was not working properly. Long story short: we were using a 2 part reduction chemistry system that changes the oxidation in atoms, almost like bleach but much stronger. When our wastewater entered the Waste Water Treatment Plant, pH changes would sometimes turn the water a bluish tint. This was not good. And we needed a solution fast.

Where There's a Will, There's a Way

Fast forward to 2010. We began an intensive investigation and discovered that ozone could treat color in water if used in a large and controlled setting. Ozone is used in many industries as a cleaner and sanitizer, but we could not find a company effectively using it for color treatment. Well the New Englander spirit in us came out with a vengeance. We wouldn't back down in the face of these roadblocks and we continued our research. Eventually, we found 03 Solutions, a company in Indiana that said they could could treat the color in our wastewater with ozone. 

Could it be? Was it true? We were skeptical, cautiously hopeful! Representatives came out to our production facility and set up small scale tests on our water. We held our breath. But alas, they proved it could be done and we began the full scale project of using ozone to treat our wastewater. The water is so clean now, we use it in our first rinse cycle of every wash and have now recycled over 4,000,000 gallons (and counting!)

We Put the Environment First 

As an apparel manufacturer, we have always taken pride in creating products that are environmentally safe and sustainable. When our wastewater treatment method wasn't up to our standard, we were devastated and could not compromise our commitment to eco-friendly manufacturing. After going through the Waste Water Treatment Plant, our water is reintroduced to our local Ashuelot River. It was bigger than us. This issue impacted our local community. And that's why we take our social responsibility so seriously.