When Vail Resorts debuts its brand-new Helly Hansen uniforms (across all 37 resorts, mind you) this season, there will be a lot of changes—some visibly noticeable and others less so. Various versions of the final designs were tested by hundreds of employees year-round (thank you, Southern Hemisphere!), which yielded better zipper placement, high-visibility detailing to help avoid collisions, high-performance materials, and uber-insulated “life pockets,” which extend the life of your phone and/or keep items like EpiPens from freezing. Sustainability was also a big driver for both Vail Resorts and Helly Hansen. “An important part of sustainability is durability; how do you make something last longer?” explains Jeff Babb, senior director of resort operations. The answer is more stitches and spaps and fewer zippers.

There is now an economy to Vail Resorts’ color selections. In the past, the uniform collection included 7,000 individual skews for color, style, resort, size, etc. And there were, at one time, eight different colors of black pants. Going forward, every resort will follow the same formula:

So, what happens to the old uniforms? Recircle, a Denver-based company with  European operations, is taking the used garments and dismantling them. The Velcro, buttons, and zippers are bucketed and sent to different facilities for reuse. Then Recircle takes the stripped garments and shreds them, turning the material into a commercial insulation block for building purposes. “You can also use those fibers and material to build faux quartz countertops,” says Babb. “[Vail Resorts] rebuilds things all the time—restaurants, ticket offices, guest spaces—and down the road we’ll have an opportunity to use these countertops and construction blocks.”