ASHEVILLE, NC- The Grassroots Outdoor Alliance, KEEN Footwear, and Native
Energy are proud to announce that travel for Grassroots retail members, totaling 100
buyers, will be offset by Native Energy for this year’s Grassroots Early Show, which was
held June 16th-19th at Snowbird Ski & Summer Resort, Snowbird, Utah.
Grassroots Outdoor Alliance is a group of independent outdoor shops dedicated to the
sustainability of specialty outdoor retail and the quality of the outdoor enthusiast’s
experience. Each year, Grassroots hosts a unique Early Buying Show, a preview of Top
Brands in the industry. As a group of independent retailers, Grassroots has committed to
offsetting the travel of its buyers and KEEN as the newest partner to the group stepped up
to cover the cost.
Keen, a vendor member of the Grassroots Outdoor Alliance, made the $1200 investment
to Native Energy on behalf of Grassroots in an effort to make the Early Show a more
sustainable event. KEEN and the Grassroots Outdoor Alliance acknowledge that
offsetting travel is not a total solution, and strive each year towards making the Early
Show a more sustainable event.
Native Energy is known for its transparency, and the entire offset purchase amount will
go toward a Native Energy project called “Farmer-owned Distributed Wind Turbines.”
This project was chosen because it benefits independent farmers who have been working
family-owned, heritage farmlands for multiple generations. To read about the details of
this project, visit: http://www.nativeenergy.com/projects.html
Native Energy was also selected because of the depth of resources it offers to businesses
of all sizes. The Grassroots Outdoor Alliance and KEEN are actively encouraging the
membership to incorporate other sustainability services from Native Energy into their
retail businesses as well as communities and events, as the organization takes collective
steps toward educating its membership about sustainable business practices. The Early
Show will include an educational overview on Native Energy for its membership to
facilitate this connection.
Grassroots chose to host the event at Snowbird Ski & Summer Resort in Snowbird, Utah
once again this year and has committed to the location into 2011. Snowbird is known for
its sustainability efforts, and was honored by the National Ski Areas Association (NSAA)
in 2007 with its prestigious Golden Eagle Award for Overall Environmental Excellence.
What’s more, this spring Snowbird was also honored with the Environmental Protection
Agency’s Environmental Achievement Award and the State of Utah’s 2007 Earth Day
Award. To read more about Snowbird’s environmental platform, click here
http://www.snowbird.com/environment/index.html
About KEEN Corporate Social Responsibility
Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) at KEEN encompasses a broad range of activities
from community partnerships, operational and product-related sustainability initiatives, to
managing the expectations of the KEEN Workplace Code of Conduct. The KEEN vision
is to be an outdoor brand that delivers industry-changing, high-quality products for all
outdoor enthusiasts, and to demonstrate integrity and leadership, especially on social and
environmental commitments, while promoting a more inclusive outdoors community.
KEEN is a young company, founded in 2003; its employees are committed to making
CSR integral to the brand, and to being transparent with its customers and stakeholders
along the way. To read more about KEEN and their environmental initiatives, click here
http://www.keenfootwear.com/about.aspx
About Grassroots Outdoors Alliance
The Grassroots Outdoor Alliance is a group of independent outdoor shops dedicated to
the sustainability of specialty outdoor retail, and the quality of the outdoor enthusiast’s
experience. We stand together to help facilitate a market for performance-oriented,
revolutionary products, create a unified marketing presence for high quality, local
outdoor specialists, and help protect and sustain the quality and access to the environment
on a local, national and global level.
For additional information, please visit: http://www.grassrootsoutdoors.com
Leave a Reply