Get the Koch Brothers Out of Your Gear

by Keith Goetzman

Would you want to go camping, hiking, biking, or trail running with the Koch brothers? Me neither. Well, then, why on earth would you want to do any of those things with the products they help make?

That’s the thorny question that may face many green-minded outdoor recreationists when it sinks in that a host of material brands used in their gear are controlled by the right-wing brothers David and Charles Koch, who have been widely outed as major funders of anti-environment politics and climate-change denial PR campaigns.

Like what materials, you ask?

Like the Polarguard insulation in your sleeping bag, the Coolmax fabric in your running outfit, the Lycra in your swimwear, the Supplex in your windbreaker, and—woe upon woe—the Cordura that’s ubiquitous in the gear world. I own duffels, backpacks, stuff sacks, fanny packs, bike bags, luggage, gaiters, and binocular cases made of the stuff.

Now, it’s no surprise to me that these materials are all made from petroleum, so I had an inkling they weren’t exactly the most sustainable products: Using “dinosaur squeezin’s” to make fabric and insulation is as problematic as using it to fuel our cars. But it pains me to think that the very gear that helps me journey out into inspirational natural settings is tainted because it’s part of a corporate machine that is quite literally and demonstrably destroying the very same natural world.

What’s the answer?



Read more: http://www.utne.com/Wild-Green/Get-the-Koch-Brothers-Out-of-Your-Gear.aspx

Thanks... It is my mission in my life to divest myself and my friends and family completely of koch addiction.

Being from Wisconsin, I have to stay away from a whole new list of Walker donors, too. Not a lot of options in BFE where I live.

fact number 1: as the op shows, just investigating all the inputs into any product is a full-time job -- the materials, the labor conditions, the transport...

and even if you had the time to do it, you would not be able to trace all the inputs anyway, as many go through shell companies set up to hide the bad stuff.

and it's based on an illusion that there are some "good" manufacturers and other "evil" manufacturers. but they all operate in the same market conditions under the same constraints. there may be degrees, but they all are driven by the same goal; profit, protection/expansion of market share.


which is why "buying green" or "dollar progressivism" is a non-starter. i started hearing about that crap in the 60s & we can see how effective it's been.

I didn't mean "evil" quite like that. I know I can't avoid giving dollars to those I disagree with. It is the nature of capitalism in general to be predatory. We are dealing with the nearly inevitable end result. I try to keep my dollars local. It costs more, though, and that hurts. Short of living as a recluse-there's not much to be done.

as things have stood for the last 30-odd years, it's just been a scam to segment the market so the same capitalists could make more profit by targeting "green" goods to the "enlightened" upper middle.

miracles of capitalism and the free market.

:kick: