Chaco and Leave No Trace Give Awards to Exhibitors at OR

As a partner of, and contributor to, Leave No Trace, Chaco firmly believes in leaving the world at least as good a place as they found it, and hopefully better. To that end, Chaco and Leave No Trace combined forces at the Winter Outdoor Retailer show to walk the floor after all the exhibitors had pulled up stakes to see who left the cleanest spot and made the least impact. Top honors were awarded to Kuhl, Grivel and Pacific Outdoor Equipment as the three exhibitors who left the cleanest booth spaces and used the most sustainable packing methods.

The winners of the first Chaco/Leave No Trace Clean Booth Award had cleaned their booths impeccably, with Kuhl and Grivel leaving their exhibit space completely empty: free of packing materials, boxes or trash. Pacific Outdoor Equipment took it a step further and used storage bags instead of cardboard boxes, reusable flooring and they also reused other exhibitor’s leftover packaging to minimize not only their own impact, but that of other companies as well.

There were many Honorable Mentions as well including Nikwax, Kelty, Mountaineer Books, Primaloft, Montbell and Big Agnus, notable for their clean spaces without a lot of excess waste.

With booths ranging from perfectly clean to huge piles of trash, the award committee did not discriminate between big and small companies. It was all about impact.

Jim Hopkins from Kuhl expressed his excitement about the award, “We are really glad that someone is looking out at OR. It doesn’t matter what you say or what you think, it matters what you do. Plus Chuck said we could go skiing tomorrow if we do a good job.”

Greg Garrigues, GM at Pacific Outdoor Equipment added, “We really appreciate the effort that Chaco and Leave No Trace put into defining and implementing this award and acknowledging the folks that are trying to do it right. We have adopted efficiency, sustainability and the general desire not to waste into our company culture and feel honored to be in such great company.”

At the other end of the spectrum, some exhibitors (you know who you are), left mountains of trash, unused packing materials, scraps and flooring which served to illustrate the long road the outdoor industry as a whole has to travel to become low or no impact.

Chaco and Leave No Trace will be roaming the Outdoor Retailer show floor after Winter and Summer shows in the future to find shining examples of cleanliness and environmental sensitivity as well as those who need some help.

Winners of the Chaco/Leave No Trace award win the peace of mind that comes with doing a good job for the environment, a plaque they can display in their booths and all employees who were present for the cleanup receive a pair of Chaco flips.

Since 1989, Chaco has been designing and producing the finest and best fitting sport sandals available. For more information on the Chaco Headwaters sandals or any Chaco products, contact Alli Noland, Stanwood & Partners PR, 307-733-1514, or anoland@wyoming.com