Sustainability

At this point, it's something of a tradition in the outdoor industry: Every year on Black Friday, just as predictably as shoppers outlay vast sums of cash for new gear, we can all count on Patagonia to release an attention-grabbing sustainability campaign encouraging them to do ...read more

The guilt of e-commerce is real. On Cyber Monday this year, U.S. shoppers spent a record $10.8 billion in less than 24 hours, generating an incredible amount of packaging waste in the process. For outdoor industry consumers—people who care about the environment and ...read more

Cant see the video above? Click here In this edition of Straight Talk, Editorial Director Kristin Hostetter sits down for a candid Zoom conversation with Ryan Gellert, the new CEO of Patagonia. It's his first U.S. interview since taking the helm. Key takeaways include: ...read more

Industry headlines: Intriguing reads from around the web Suspicious story: Doubts have arisen surrounding the survival story of a woman who was rescued from Zion National Park last week. [The Independent] Vintage gear stash: This Brooklyn couple is running a retro gear shop out ...read more

The outdoor industry, more than most, is keenly aware of the effects of climate change and, in particular, the need to create greener supply chains. It’s the reason more than 377 outdoor brands have joined the Plastic Impact Alliance, committing to making our industry more ...read more

Industry headlines: Intriguing reads from around the web A new way to sell shoes: The Swiss footwear company On Running is trying out a new business model for the shoe industry, borrowed from Silicon Valley—subscription memberships. [Outside Online] Respecting the Appalachian ...read more

Industry headlines: Intriguing reads from around the web Hateful vandalism in Tennessee: Officials are searching for suspects after someone vandalized the Great Smoky Mountains National Park entrance sign with a message that read “black lives don’t matter.” [CNN] BOA Technology ...read more

[This is part one of a three-part series.] Strictly speaking, you don’t need to justify making durable products for the outdoors. “It’s just the right thing to do, to make equipment that isn’t going to fail in the field,” says Mystery Ranch project manager Luke Buckingham, ...read more

At HydraPak’s product testing lab, the 1-liter plastic bottle was filled to capacity with water, which swooshed like the steady beat of a song each second, for 72 hours. Dubbed the RECON, the bottle clung to the hiking imitation machine, which rapidly jiggled the bottle via a ...read more

Industry headlines: Intriguing reads from around the web $2 billion for sustainability: Amazon has announced the creation of a new Climate Pledge Fund to invest in sustainable technologies and work toward the ecommerce giant's goal of carbon neutrality by 2040. [TechCrunch] Rue ...read more

A new partnership between Google and the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) Sweden might just help the fashion industry become less dirty by harnessing the power of data and machine learning. According to Google, the global fashion industry accounts for a whopping 20 percent of ...read more

The outdoor industry makes way too much stuff. That has ramifications all down the line. There is a lot of product in the marketplace that retailers don't buy from vendors, and that customers wouldn’t miss if they never saw it. I would like to see lines shrink overall and focus ...read more

Just in time for Earth Day, The North Face has announced the launch of a new line, "Remade," that champions the environmental benefits (not to mention style points) of repaired, upcycled garments. A result of the company's inaugural Renewed Design Residency—"a workshop dedicated ...read more

In 2010, an employee at prAna’s Boulder retail store snapped a photo that depicted a room littered with mounds of polybags. The capture—and the astonishing amount of plastic—represented the aftermath of unboxing a single day’s shipments to the shop. When the photo made its way to ...read more

The Big Gear Show, the new hardgoods-centric hike, bike, and paddle event launching in Salt Lake City this summer, has a very bold sustainability plan, aiming to be a zero-waste show within three years. In terms of waste management, trade shows have a lot of challenges. “Trade ...read more

Hot New Products are written by the company and edited for space and clarity. They do not express the opinions of SNEWS or its editors. Pitched by Reima At Reima, we believe what’s good for our kids should be good for our environment, too. That was our thinking behind the Voyager ...read more

The anti-plastic warriors were out in force at last week’s Outdoor Retailer Snow Show. Exhibiting members of the Plastic Impact Alliance, a coalition of more than 350 outdoor companies working to eliminate the industry's dependence on single-use plastic, displayed PIA signage at ...read more

Here are today's top headlines. That’s a wrap: Voting closes today for our 2020 #CoolShop Award, with an announcement of the winner coming this Friday. The shop with the most votes from our list of 15 finalists will win $500 to throw a staff appreciation party, a custom banner ...read more

We used to come to Outdoor Retailer just to ogle gear, but these days, we’re devoting just as much attention to our industry’s environmental and social impacts. “Responsibility” may have been the biggest buzzword from last week’s convention: Attendees rallied against climate ...read more

There are lots of way to make an impact on the world’s raging plastic problem. Every little step away from single-use plastic and towards a circular and petroleum-free world is worth celebrating. Here are a few things we’re stoked about from just a few of our 336 (and counting) ...read more

The outdoor industry has a love/hate relationship with polybags, those ubiquitous clear plastic bags that seem to encase every apparel item we sell. Growing public awareness about the urgent problem of plastic pollution is intensifying scrutiny of single-use plastic, and how ...read more

Hot New Products are written by the company and edited for space and clarity. They do not express the opinions of SNEWS or its editors. Pitched by Headsweats: This isn’t just another workout top. This moisture-wicking, quick-drying, temperature-regulating, water-repelling, ...read more

Led by its Relentlessly Responsible mission, PrimaLoft has discovered a way to bond insulation fibers without using a high-heat oven, reducing carbon emissions by as much as 48 percent. The new technology is called PURE, which stands for Produced Using Reduced Emissions. It ...read more

While Kathmandu analyzed its use of recycled plastic in its 2019 Sustainability Report, more striking was the New Zealand brand's focus on combatting modern slavery through ethical business practices. To do that, Kathmandu in its eighth annual report outlined plans to work more ...read more