What It Means To Keep Nature Wild

Humans have a massive footprint on our planet. Leaving a trace feels unavoidable and systemic change often feels out of reach. Even taking steps to lessen our own individual impact through things like reducing usage of single-use plastic or eating more plant-based meals feels more challenging than it should. 

So let’s have a conversation about this footprint and one way we think many outdoor enthusiast weekend warriors like ourselves are trying to make change: by being friends of the wild. 

What does it mean to be a friend of the wild? To us, it’s leaving places better than we found them. But it goes much deeper than that. Nature provides us with the perfect playground. But playing in it comes at a cost, no matter how much we respect it. To lessen the toll our adventures take on the environment, it’s up to each of us to do whatever we can give back what we take. 

Plant a tree. Pick up a piece of trash. Organize a clean up. Make a donation to the National Park Service or your local state park. Talk to your lawmakers about legislation that could do a lot of good (or a lot of harm) to public lands. 

Why are we talking about this? Well, ICYMI we're spring 2020 ambassadors with Keep Nature Wild, a company that physically picks up one pound of trash for every product sold. This is our first time doing the ambassador thing. We haven't really worked with a brand or a company like this before. Any time we shout out our favorite gear or shops it's because we like them and want to spread the stoke. 

That’s still how we feel despite being official ambassadors this time around - we love the mission and we love the community it’s fostering. Since 2016, Keep Nature Wild has enlisted tens of thousands of volunteers to help its collective mission.

And that's why we're coming to you today on this first of four Impact Days we'll participate in as ambassadors. What's an Impact Day, you say? Well, it's one dedicated day online where we make as big of a splash as we can about being good stewards of our environment. We talk about this relentlessly already. Joining thousands of others in spreading this message just felt natural. 

For our first Impact Day, we decided to do a little mountain cleanup at Whitetail Resort. It’s good news that our trash bag wasn’t filled to the brim. We do see some litter on the mountain, but it’s not as bad as it could be. It’s also helped that there’s a brand new trash bin at the top of the main lift, which has alleviated some of the litter we used to see dropped on the way up. And mountain staff do a really good job of regularly cleaning up what doesn’t make it into that bin!

What does being a friend of the wild mean to you? We know you’re all doing things to leave our mountains, waterways, trails, and parks better than you found them. Tell us below - let’s have a real conversation about your views on our collective responsibility to protect and respect the places that give us so much enjoyment.

P.S. If you like any of the Keep Nature Wild products you see, you can get 20% off using code WKAFRIENDS20. We don’t get a kick-back; this is just us spreading the stoke!