Salewa supports the shepherds of Val di Funes with Green Friday
Salewa’s Green Friday is back on 27 November, with the 20+20 formula. To the 20% discount for purchases on the website, the South Tyrolean brand adds a donation of 20% of turnover for the renovation project of the shepherds’ hut in Val di Funes.
In 2018, Salewa coloured Black Friday green for the first time, turning it into Green Friday. In a few days’ time, for the third consecutive year, the South Tyrolean brand of technical mountain products is relaunching its initiative for mountaineers who are aware of the indissoluble link between responsible consumption and protection of the mountain environment.
On the purchases made on the website on 27 November 2020, buyers will enjoy a 20% discount on all product categories: clothing, footwear, technical equipment. But all purchases will also contribute to a concrete project of environmental sustainability: the renovation of the Kofel hut used in summer by the farmers of Villnösser Brillenschaf, the famous “sheep with glasses” of Val di Funes. To this end, Salewa will donate an amount equivalent to 20% of all online sales on Green Friday.
Salewa and the sheep with glasses: Made in South Tyrol
The Villnösser Brillenschaf is the oldest sheep breed in South Tyrol, famous for its white coat on which they contrast a half dark ear and two black circles around their eyes, hence their nickname of “sheep with glasses”. It is an endangered breed, preserved thanks to the passion of the local inhabitants who have jealously guarded it. These sheep also have an important function in the ecosystem of the Dolomites. By burning both the grasses at high altitudes and those in the meadows further down the valley, they help to maintain the undergrowth and pastureland down to the rocks, without destroying the soil thanks to their agile structure similar to that of a goat.
The use of hybrid technologies based on natural materials and support for the mountain economy are part of Salewa’s culture. For some years now, the wool from the Villnösser Brillenschaf, which largely remained unused and was thrown away, has been bought and processed by Salewa, which uses it for its own padding techniques such as TirolWool Responsive. In this way a waste material has become a valuable raw material that contributes to the local economy of Val di Funes. The new reportage “Made in South Tyrol” by Altripiani.org by Giacomo Frison and Glorija Blazinesk tells the story of this special collaboration between Salewa and the Villnösser Brillenschaf breeders.
Green Friday for the shepherds’ hut
Today more than fifty farmers in Val di Funes raise the Villnösser Brillenschaf and from mid-May until mid-September the sheep have to stay on the mountain pastures. The small shelter of the main alpine pasture of the valley is located at 2120 metres above sea level, surrounded by the fantastic landscape of the Dolomites, between spectacular hilly terrain and clearings on the edge of the forest. But the old Kofel alpine pasture is in bad condition. The wood is degraded by the weather and there is a lack of suitable equipment, such as a space for shelter and animal care, and a corner reserved for the daily work of the shepherd or for a decent and healthy seasonal life in the high mountains. It takes more than 40 minutes to get to and from the water source.
Repairs have only recently been carried out by the shepherds and some volunteers. But the current situation even jeopardises the traditional transhumance in the high mountains during the summer months and the normal grazing activities at high altitude. This is why a recovery project has begun to rebuild the mountain pasture and make the water more accessible. Salewa has chosen to support this project by donating 20% of its turnover on the website on 27 November, so that Black Friday is truly Green Friday.