Meanwhile, over at OIA…
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OIA has been hard at work covering important stories in the industry. Here’s what you can’t miss from the past month.
Our friends at the Outdoor Industry Association are always working hard to bring you the information you need to keep your business running strong. Here are some of the recent stories you shouldn’t miss.
How will the election affect the outdoor industry?
Now that the election is over, we can speculate on what the next four years will look like rather than try to guess who will win the presidency. OIA’s Government Affairs Team has been watching national, state and local elections closely, and explains what the industry might see from President-Elect Donald Trump and the senators and representatives elected on Tuesday.
“The outdoor recreation industry enjoys bipartisan support and OIA excels at working with both parties,” says Executive Director Amy Roberts. “Republicans and Democrats alike recognize the power and longevity of the outdoor recreation economy. We look forward to working with President Trump and his team to communicate that message and get to work on the many issues facing our industry.”
The Higg Index: Your one-stop shop for sustainability
The Higg Index is a tool to help companies assess sustainability measures and create benchmarks for improving their eco footprints, and OIA is subsidizing the cost for much of the industry.
Creating a successful business calls for more than just asking how you can do better, though; it also comes from driving innovations through meaningful questions, teamwork, and sharing challenges. The Higg Indexhelps the industry ask those questions and work together to find solutions.
One reason you should register your company for Higg.org? The Higg Index simplifies sustainability, and lets you take your analysis one step further to figure out what data matters and how to measure it. The data collected from the Higg Index “will allow our industry to take the next step of creating consumer-facing product labels with scores that communicate and certify sustainability under a single standard.” Contact OIAto be a part of the industry’s sustainable business movement.
Burlington, Vermont, is an outdoor city, but many of Police Chief Brandon Del Pozo’s officers don’t live in town, and don’t connect with the biking culture. So, Del Pozo saw a partnership with manufacturer Budnitz Bikesas the perfect way to integrate his officers and make them more accessible, bike-friendly and bike-minded. “In my experience as a police officer, a lot of conflicts [arise because] cities aren’t engineered for a variety of user groups to coexist,” Del Pozo says. “By putting cops on bikes, I am trying to set a good example; I am trying to make a point that we’ll be a better city once we designs streets to accommodate bikers safely and in harmony with vehicles and walkers.”
On Fire: How the outdoor industry is leading the charge in making fire retardants safer for everyone
A recent study by Duke University found that exposure to fire retardant compounds used in lightweight backpacking tents may be harmful to your health, and the outdoor industry is not taking that lightly. Tent manufacturers in the U.S. and Canada have been examining flammability standards, and working with OIA on a flame retardant task force to find better ways to make tents safer.
Getting schooled (in backpacking) by Outdoor Nation Campus Ambassador Tristan O’Mara
It’s easy to get college kids riled up on Facebook, but it’s harder to motivate them to get off the couch and get outdoors. So, the Outdoor Foundation and Merrell have teamed up to create the Outdoor Nation Campus Ambassador program, which has charged 25 college students with reinvigorating outdoor engagement at their schools. Tristan O’Mara, a junior at Seattle’s University of Washington, is one of the many stars of the program. She’s been using her own backpacking experience to encourage students to get out into the wilderness and sleep under the stars, and she’s been teaching them how to do it safely, too.
