Outdoor Retailer - Summer 2019 - 13

THE PULSE

BREAK THE CYCLE
According to the
non-profit Ocean
Conservancy, "Every
year, eight million metric tons of plastics
enter our ocean on
top of the estimated
150 million metric
tons that currently
circulate in our marine
environments."

THE BIG PICTURE

Bag the Plastic

Amid calls for awareness about the dire effects of single-use
plastics, the outdoor industry seeks to make its own proactive shifts.
by Patricia A. Cameron
PLASTIC IS A BIG PROBLEM, ESPECIALLY SINGLE-USE PLASTICS. PLASTIC BAGS, CUPS, AND
bottles make up 50 percent of all plastic production worldwide. We create roughly 300 tons of
the stuff every year. More than one million plastic bags get used every minute. To make matters
worse, every year eight million metric tons of plastic waste don't get recycled or even piled into
our landfills. The plastic ends up in the ocean. A plastic bag has been found at the bottom of the
Mariana Trench, 35,849 feet below sea level. The Great Pacific Garbage Patch, floating between
Hawaii and California, is estimated to be three times the size of France. According to the Center
for Biological Diversity, "Thousands of seabirds and sea turtles, seals, and other marine mammals
are killed each year after ingesting plastic or getting entangled in it."
The debate over how to stem the plastic tide has reached fervor status, with states such as
California and Hawaii legislating bans on some single-use plastics. Outdoor communities are
committing to making a difference, too: Steamboat Springs, Colorado, just banned plastic bags
and Breckenridge and Boulder, Colorado, both mandate a 10-cent fee on plastic grocery bags.
Meanwhile, as other sustainability-minded propositions like the Green New Deal settle with
more mainstream audiences, the conservation-minded outdoor retail community has also prioritized how it can take action at the local and personal levels.

Photograph by Andrew Kornylak

An initiative at the coming Outdoor
Retailer Summer Market may prove to be
the catalyst that changes the entire industry.
The Plastic Impact Alliance, the brainchild
of SNEWS (snewsnet.com) editor-in-chief
Kristin Hostetter and Catapult Creative Labs,
is a rapidly growing coalition of over 170
brands that has committed to reject singleuse plastic bottles at the Show (individuals can make a similar pledge via SNEWS's
Plastic Impact Promise).
"The excitement over this alliance has been
incredible. I think we all just needed a kick
in the butt," says Hostetter, who encourages
brands to also download the Alliance's toolkit.
"Brands are supporting others brands -even
competitors-with best practices and discounts on drinkware for events and donated
water bottles. I think we will see a drastic
reduction in plastic at this show. And I'm excited to see where it goes from here."
The Alliance promises beer and non-alcoholic drinks at happy hours-just without
plastic cups. The brands have also committed to providing water stations for refills
of reusable water bottles at their booths.
Alliance member Patagonia announced it
will bring what amounts to a waste auditor
to track plastic use so that the brand can apply reduction efforts at future shows.
Beyond the trade show itself, many retailers have shifted their efforts to reducing
and reusing first rather than just recycling.
Jimmy Funkhauser, owner of Colorado's
Feral Mountain Co., has outright rejected
single-use beverage sales in his stores. "We
decided not to sell them when we opened in
2017," he says. "We installed a water fountain
with a bottle-filter and direct people that way
if they ask for a drink."
Indeed, eliminating plastic bottle waste
alone can have a measurable impact. The
United States sells one million plastic bottles
a minute. Forbes estimates that half a trillion
plastic bottles will be sold in 2020.
"We'll only make an impact with thousands
of small steps," Funkhauser says. "Hopefully
this is one. If individuals walk away and start
applying this action to their own lives, then
it's all worthwhile." O.R.

Summer 2019 / OUTDOOR RETAILER 13

http://www.snewsnet.com

Outdoor Retailer - Summer 2019

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