Outdoor Retailer - March 2021 - 9

If you sit all
day, be sure to
move every 10
minutes.

realistic. " The pandemic locked everything
down, but when summer's local lodging taxes
showed the proof of an outdoors-based tourism boom there, Sandstrom asked Larsen and
Hennessey if they could pull off a COVID-safe
press trip for a small group. They planned a
three-night trip with bikepacking, backpacking, and paddleboarding, and secured bikes,
camping gear, and paddleboards (from Trek,
MSR, Therm-A-Rest, and Red Paddle Co.),
plus face masks (Buff). They sent out a handful
of invitations for a " Backyard Epics " press trip
focused on creating big adventures at home.
Four journalists showed up, spent three
days and nights outside, and everyone stayed
healthy.
" From a financial perspective, a bigger
group is not much more effort, and so it
makes more sense to have more writers here
to have this experience, " Larsen says. But
this was the way to get it done during the
pandemic.

Courtesy Primaloft, Unsplash

CLEAN DREAM
PrimaLoft's P.U.R.E. platform continues to
bring innovation to the industry.

Between shows, PR and marketing professionals have taken other tacks to get journalists' eyes on their products without in-person
events. " One of the brands I work with was
part of a virtual showroom, and every brand
had two minutes of video time-they were
quick and dirty, but you had a really focused,
engaged audience, " says Jordan Curet, an
Aspen-based social media, marketing, and
PR professional. She thought it was effective.
" I think it was a total of 200 journalists who
watched. "
For Red Paddle Co., Curet has put together
instructions and videos to send out to explain
things she would have shown a reviewer in
person in the past.
" There's no opportunity now for big press
trips, " she says. " So it's trying to make it a more
personalized experience, or it's being really
selective about how you're getting those products out for the journalists, and how they're
experiencing it on their own. "

P.U.R.E. uses air to
cure insulating
fabric, slashing CO2
emissions in half.

In November 2019, PrimaLoft released a new
proprietary manufacturing technique to the industry: Produced Using Reduced Emissions
(P.U.R.E). " The challenge with P.U.R.E was to
look at a manufacturing process that was used
globally and reinvent the way that we are producing a product-and do so without compromising
the performance, " says Tara Maurer, PrimaLoft
VP of business development for North America.
After searching for the dirtiest part of their manufacturing process, PrimaLoft found the slow highheat ovens traditionally used to thermally bond insulating fibers were the biggest culprit. So it made
some changes. P.U.R.E manufacturing technology pushes innovation in sustainable design by not
only using 100% post-consumer recycled material, but also by cutting manufacturing emissions by
nearly half. The technology utilizes air, rather than heat, to " cure " the insulation. P.U.R.E. scored an
Outdoor Retailer Innovation Award in January 2020, and brands are now embracing it.
In addition to updating its patterning to reduce cut-scrap waste (over 15,000 pounds a year),
Patagonia has partnered with PrimaLoft to transition its iconic Nano Puff to P.U.R.E. Insulation. By
transitioning PrimaLoft Gold insulation to P.U.R.E manufacturing technology, PrimaLoft reduces
carbon emissions by 48%, or 48,111 pounds of carbon dioxide (C02), which results in saving
enough carbon emissions to drive 438,617 miles (17.6 trips around the Earth). For Patagonia, cutting carbon emissions is a high priority, and by transitioning the Nano Puff to PrimaLoft Insulation
with PU.R.E technology, it cut CO2 by 510,000 pounds annually. -Ryan Scavo

IS SITTING THE NEW SMOKING?
Experts disagree.
In November, the British Journal of Sports
Medicine published a study recommending that people who sit all day do 30 to 40
minutes of sweat-inducing exercise daily
to counteract the negative health impacts
of sitting. The study was published as the
World Health Organization's (WHO's)
2020 Global Guidelines on Physical Activity
and Sedentary Behaviour, which was authored by 40 scientists from six continents,
was released. The study used data from
fitness trackers and aligns with the WHO's
guidelines, which recommend 150 to 300
minutes of moderate-intensity or 75 to 150
mins of high-intensity physical activity weekly to counter the effects of sitting.
But, Daniel Lieberman, in his new book,
Exercised: Why Something We Never
Evolved to Do Is Healthy and Rewarding,
says that, while there are a lot of benefits of exercise, sitting isn't that bad,
as long as you move a little bit every 10
minutes. Lieberman, in an interview with
Terry Gross, said sitting too much leads
to chronic inflammation. But going to the
bathroom, petting your dog, or even standing to make tea turns on muscles. That
uses up fats and sugars in your bloodstream and produces molecules that turn
down inflammation. -Berne Broudy

March 2021/ OUTDOOR RETAILER 9

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Outdoor Retailer - March 2021

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