EcoVessel aims to reduce single-use plastic at Outdoor Retailer Winter Market
Boulder drinkware company EcoVessel is reducing plastic waste one reusable bottle at a time, and Outdoor Retailer Winter Market is their next stop.
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Tough enough to last a century, EcoVessel’s water bottles have a new opportunity to stand out: next week at Outdoor Retailer Winter Market in Denver, Colorado.
The show has remained the zenith of the outdoor industry for more than 30 years. Each iteration, attendees and vendors create new waves and find agency within the community. Yet one thing remains ironically stagnant, and EcoVessel has grown tired of complicity. The Boulder-based brand has its eyes on the show’s abundance of single-use plastic containers.
EcoVessel’s initiative comes in the form of a pledge: #LeaveLessOR. Attendees are invited to bring, purchase, and, most importantly, use reusable beverage containers on the show floor. The performance drinkware company’s booth will debut a revamped line—including reusable straws and Boulder and Aspen stainless-steel bottles—alongside a water fill station, to aid the endeavor.
“Environmental advocacy reflects the outdoor industry’s core values in almost every facet, but when it comes to our trade show, we somehow miss the mark,” said Jon Fox, CEO and founder of EcoVessel. “It’s jarring to see so many plastic water bottles available and used at these events, with little access to water refill stations, when in our daily lives we’re more conscientious about using sustainable products and reducing waste. EcoVessel is hoping to create a new Outdoor Retailer landscape where plastic bottles are eliminated.”
Outdoor Retailer supports the initiative.
“We’re always looking for ways to reduce Outdoor Retailer’s environmental footprint, and applaud EcoVessel’s efforts, along with all our brands that show us all how we can be better,” Show Director Marisa Nicholson said. “We are proud to be leaders on this front, developing initiatives and programs together with our sponsors, partners, and the Colorado Convention Center like recycling programs, water fill stations and the use of compostable products. There’s always more that we can and will do and look forward to what we can achieve as an industry.”
Participants can broadcast their pledge with the hashtag on social media to further the message, solidifying the movement through the industry and beyond. EcoVessel will donate proceeds from their sales to the like-minded non-profit, Plastic Oceans.
Everything’s in place for attendees that want to mitigate the environmental impact of plastic waste. All one has to do is remember to bring a reusable bottle—will you?
