Brands unite to nix single-use plastic at summer Outdoor Retailer
So far, 15 companies have united to form the Plastic Impact Alliance to create a more sustainable trade show. Will you join us?
Get access to everything we publish when you sign up for Outside+.
Truth: Single-use plastic sucks. We all know it. So let’s do something about it at our biggest convergence as an industry: Outdoor Retailer.
Minimizing our impact on the planet is central to so many of our brands, yet we consume untold amounts of single-use plastic at our most important gatherings. From booth fridges stocked with Poland Springs to happy hours where thousands of “compostable cups” end up in trash bins, our casual use of single-use plastic as an industry is something that many companies want to fix.
That’s why we launched the Plastic Impact Alliance, a group of outdoor brands committed to making our trade show more sustainable, one bottle, one cup at a time. To join The Alliance exhibiting brands commit to the following:
1. Sign our Plastic Impact Promise and share it with employees and personal networks. By signing, you promise to bring your personal drinking vessel to the show and reject single-use plastic.
2. Host a water station at your OR booth. And don’t bring in plastic bottles.
3. Provide reusable bottles or cups at any beverage-related events at your booth.
a. If your company is a reusable bottle manufacturer, donate bottles to The Alliance. We’ll distribute them to anyone who signs the pledge on the show floor.
4. Allow us to use your logo in the marketing and education of this initiative.
SNEWS will support and promote your efforts in the following ways:
- Connect you with brands to provide reusable drinking vessels at your show events.
- Provide you with water refill station resources: Where to buy, pricing, and information that supports the sustainability of this initiative for your booth.
- Publish and promote a floor map of the booths hosting water stations.
- Publish a series of articles on SNEWS and in the June issue of The Voice with shout-outs to partners.
- Provide an EPS logo to overlay on your Outdoor Retailer marketing material.
- Share post-show research collected from a survey during ORSM 2019.
Support from brands has been swift and passionate. Aside from SNEWS, The Voice, and Catapult Creative Labs, early adopters include: adidas Outdoor, CamelBak, Costa Sunglasses, Eco Vessel, GoLite, Hydro Flask, Jetty, Klean Kanteen, Nathan Sports, Stanley, Ultimate Direction, and United By Blue. We reached out to Outdoor Retailer, who provided this statement: “As we get closer to Summer Market and have more details in place, we can definitely connect on a story around sustainability efforts at the shows.”
This is an inclusive collaboration and we invite every exhibiting brand to join The Alliance. If you support this mission and want to join The Alliance or have any questions, please let us know at snewsedit@aimmedia.com.
