SmartWool to Unveil Green Booth at OR

OR Booth # 32091 will be home to new thinking in sustainable booth design as well as the industry’s best-selling lines of merino wool socks, base layers and accessories. SmartWool, in partnership with Condit Exhibits, has created a new booth that uses 65% LEEDS (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certified green based materials. The LEED Green Building Rating Systemâ„¢ is the nationally accepted benchmark for the design, construction, and operation of high performance green buildings.

The new SmartWool booth will include the following materials:
• FSC (Forest Stewardship Council) certified plywood: most of the undersole of the booth is built out of this material, which is made from sustainably harvested wood and uses more environmentally friendly glues
• Benjamin Moore Ecospec paints – all the paint in the booth will be this low VOC paint
• Plyboo: 100% bamboo plywood is sutainably harvested and made with emissions-free adhesives
• Organic cotton canvas made from 100% unbleached organic cotton
• 100% New Zealand grown wool carpeting…what’s more sustainable than wool? It’s who we are!
• Ecoresin foot boards: a unique, non-toxic resin material made from 40% post-industrial regrind material. The addition of this one material for the SmartWool trade show booth changed our green certification from 35% to 65%!

The need for a new trade-show booth stems from the dramatic growth of SmartWool’s product line. With an impressive offering of new apparel, sweaters and accessories, the company needed increased space to properly merchandise the fall ’07 product offering. While there were many decisions on overall design, layout, number of sales stations, and meeting space, the decision to use construction materials that have a lesser impact on the environment was an opportunity to better match the new booth with the brand.

The new SmartWool ‘green’ booth is just the next step in the companies long standing philosophy to effect positive change in the world in which we live, play and do business. “We believe that SmartWool has been a socially conscious brand from our very beginning” says Gardner Flanigan, SmartWool Communications Manager. “From our pioneering industry sourcing contracts, our stance on animal treatment, our advocacy and employee volunteerism programs, we feel that SmartWool stands today as the largest natural fiber based/socially conscious brand in the outdoor industry”. The new booth, designed by Condit Exhibits of Denver, Colorado, is the first new SmartWool booth in seven years. Flanigan continues “this new booth addresses our ever-growing product offering while also demonstrating to our industry our continued commitment to leave this earth better off than when we arrived, economically, environmentally, and socially.”

A wholly owned subsidiary of The Timberland Company, SmartWool is a leading performance brand of wool-based apparel, socks and accessories. Nothing can compare to SmartWool® products for the ultimate in performance, comfort and easy care. SmartWool® fiber is superior at vaporizing moisture, controlling temperature and odor and is guaranteed not to shrink. It’s also a renewable resource that illustrates the design genius of evolution. For information on the full range of SmartWool® products or to find a dealer near you, please log onto SmartWool’s award winning website: www.SmartWool.com or contact Carson Stanwood, Stanwood & Partners PR, via phone at 307-733-1514 or via email at stanwood@wyoming.com.