Small Act. Big Impact
The outdoors is where we spend all of our free time. And like so many outdoor enthusiasts, we’ve been stressing out about climate change for a long time. At a certain point, when we were feeling particularly frustrated with the current state of affairs, we began to recognize that we were part of the problem. Caring about climate change wasn’t enough. Donating to organizations that fight climate change was important but still not enough. We needed to DO something, to act, as a company.
So, we started to research what a small start-up company like ours (which hadn’t even begun to operate yet) could do. Through our research, we learned that planting trees is a part of a climate change solution. Trees have tremendous environmental benefits beyond the fact that they remove CO2 from the environment and clean the air we breath. Planting trees supports biodiversity. Planting trees provides jobs. Planting trees provides integral food and resources to both humans and animals. We learned that climate change is a human rights issue. It’s a social justice issue. And so, we settled on committing to plant a tree for every order purchased from our company. Small Acts – Big Impact.
Often times, corporate responsibility is prioritized once a company matures, proves itself, and has the resources to commit to their community. When we envisioned our new outdoor gear shop, we wanted to emphasize our corporate responsibility from the start. That is what we felt like we owed to our local community. Lone Pine wants to focus on sustainability, accountability, and transparency while we grow.
When we first opened and folks heard about our mission, a lot of people asked if we planted the trees ourselves. They would look at Ben and Buckley wondering how they had the time since they saw them in the shop so often. While we have committed to planting some trees ourselves on special occasions, we have partnered with One Tree Planted, a non-profit organization that plants trees where they are needed most. While they focus on global reforestation, they also give us the option to choose where we plant. For this upcoming month, we are choosing to assist in the recovery of the devastating forest fires in California, Oregon, and Washington.
It is this desire to act that formalized Lone Pine’s core value, Small Acts – Big Impact. This core value has expanded to other causes we care about. We are committed consignment and keeping used gear in circulation, and we are committed to using plastic-free resources in our refill station and eco-friendly materials. We view it as our commitment to our community that we love to be a part of!
Cheers!
