What if every time we got gear, it helped do good in the world? Help people go to school, improve our ability to protect the environment, give more people access to transportation–all through just getting a new bike or bottle?
That is exactly what these three companies allow you to do: get gear, and do good.
Cotopaxi
Cotopaxi’s model takes 10% of all profits and funnels it into different grants and nonprofits. They select their grantees based on “outstanding impact, agility, and persistence” (source).
And you can bet that this won’t ever change–it can’t, legally, because Cotopaxi filed as a “Benefit Corporation” (also called B-Corp) since their inception. B-Corps must stick to strict guidelines in order to remain a B-Corp.
Cotopaxi does a good job of explaining what it means to be a B-Corp in their impact report: “The benefit corporation model enables a company to write their social and environmental purpose into their charter and articles of incorporation, ensuring that those values remain elevated as the company grows and evolves.”
Any time you buy a Cotopaxi product, you’re contributing to their grant-making efforts. And because 10% of profits go towards these efforts, you’re making a significant impact.
Other reasons to love Cotopaxi
Cotopaxi goes beyond their own internal initiatives and have an entire guide for different ways you can do good.
As a B-Corp and a company that just “gets it,” they care about their employees through every part of the product line, from textile to backpack.
Take, for instance, their Luzon Del Día 18L day pack: “The Luzon Del Día is designed with total creative control by employees in the Philippines, meaning no two bags are alike. Each bag will arrive at your door a total surprise. What you can expect is the highly packable design, repurposed ripstop nylon, mesh backpack straps, and internal hydration sleeve that make up the perfect adventure pack.”
The Luzon Del Día 18L day pack. Every time I see one of these on the trail, I stop and talk to the person wearing it. Half of the time they know the story, half of the time they don’t, and that’s kind of beautiful — they bought the gear because it’s great, and Cotopaxi is still able to help people around the world.
When you get a Luzon Del Día pack, you’re getting a pack made with love by employees who are respected and given control. With so many companies having unknown supply chain practices, it is incredibly refreshing and gratifying to be able to support Cotopaxi’s transparency.
You can get the Luzon Del Día pack here ($49.95), and learn more about Cotopaxi’s mission here.
MiiR
MiiR has three specialties: Bottles, bikes, and bags.
Their “product to project” model is elegant and easy to remember.
Purchasing a MiiR Bottle supports clean water projects globally. Image © MiiR 2016.
Bikes support transportation projects and directly putting bikes in the hands of those who could use them most. Image © MiiR 2016.
Miir Bags helps support education projects globally. Image © MiiR 2016.
Every product correlates directly to a project. When you buy a water bottle you are buying into a clean water project. So while you are able to drink more water, so are others around the world. And the same is true for bikes and bags.
So far, MiiR has contributed to 55 water projects, given 4,100 bikes, and supported 1 school in a 3rd-world country.
You can read all about their different progress towards these initiatives on their blog.
See their full line of goods (and buy them to do good in the world) here.
Parks Project
Parks are some of our most precious resources. They are havens for outdoors lovers, protected by law and by dedicated rangers. And it’s important to protect the things we love.
Parks Project offers you products that help protect our park system. They support 22 different park conservancies through their products, each with specific and important missions. For example, check out these two projects they support:
Denali National Park – Est. February 26, 1917
Project: Wildlife Conservation – Bear Canisters
Partner: Alaska Geographic
Purpose: With every 50 Denali National Park items sold, we fund the purchase of one bear proof canister for backpackers to use while visiting the park. The addresses a current problem in the park and keeps Grizzlies from eating human food near campsites. They should be eating wild salmon out of the rivers not your trail mix.
Mount Hood National Forest – Est. July 1, 1908
Project: Habitat Restoration – Planting Cedar Pines
Partner: National Forests
Purpose: Each 5 tees sold funds the planting of one cedar tree in the forest. Humans have had great impact on these lands, and reforestation is a priority to restore the natural habitat. The reforestation will also reduce erosion which is impacting the waterways and fish that live in them too.
Parks Projects supports 22 different projects around the country.
Check out their mission: “We are on an adventure with a purpose. Our mission is to creatively connect people with parks. Whether it’s supporting bear conservation in Denali or trail restorations in Muir Woods, we make quality goods with purpose to fund and promote projects that restore our nations parks. We are advocates of the outdoors and work with 22 park conservancies to identify projects and priorities that need immediate attention.”
I’m sure you’re burning to know by now: what do these products look like?
Right now, they’re mostly focused on shirts. With some sweet 5-panel hats and accessories in the mix, they have the urban explorer look down to a T.
Parks Project co-founder Sevag rocking his product in the desert.
The Joshua Tree Sleeveless Tee. Parks are part of the production process from inception to design.
The future for Parks Project is bright:
“As we grow, so will our list of parks, scope of projects, and overall impact. We’ve just gotten started and over the past year alone we’ve contributed hundreds of volunteer hours and influenced how hundreds of thousands of people look at their relationship with the outdoors. This is just the beginning – we have a ten-year goal of funding 100 projects and generating 100,000 volunteer hours while reinvigorating passion for our parks.” (source)
Check out their full line of product and projects here.
