The future of the American outdoors.

Each year, a myriad of articles hit the web. They'll have titles like

"The Future of our parks" or "Where the outdoors are headed".

They will all make relevant and salient points about how social media and less expensive travel costs are influencing how we consume the outdoors. They will quote research from the Outdoor Industry Association and the National Outdoor Leadership School. They will likely quote outfitters and guides who work daily to help people get outdoors.

The articles will eventually settle into a comfortable conclusion that the outdoors are both in danger, on the precipice of imminent demise if immediate and significant action is not taken, or that the consumption of the outdoors is continuing to grow and that all we need to do is consume responsibly in the growing sports that enjoy the outdoors.

Photo credit: Travis Nickey

The truth about all of these articles is that none of us know the future. We can speculate, we can look at the trends and examine the data and hope that we're drawing the correct conclusions, but that's all a hope.  The next administration could arrive in the office and decide to completely overhaul the parks system. Natural disasters could (and often do) strike and change how we consume a popular Park and its attractions.

So why even write this article at all? 

Why contribute to the noise that surrounds the future of the industry and of the outdoors?

I think that it comes down to our own planning.  When we talk about the future of the outdoors we're firming up how we interact with the outdoors in the present.  Conversations about the meteoric rise in popularity of certain destinations due to geotagging on social media can help us learn how to protect sites from being "overloved" and ecologically ruined. 

Learning that Backcountry pollution is on the rise can help us reaffirm and teach others the principles of Leave No Trace. 

The value of discussing the future is that it helps us decide what we do now.  

Rakaia Designs are committed to helping shape the future.

Part of our plan is to reduce global waste. Through conscious design and careful materials selection, we're helping to reduce the amount of waste that goes into outdoor products and reduce waste that is already in the use cycle.  

The future of the outdoors is a bright one.  More and more people are getting outdoors and learning how to consume the outdoors responsibly.

Our goal is to help create gear that helps them do so responsibly, to focus on the gear so that you can focus on the trail.

Our goal is to reduce 10 Billion Tons of waste, click the link below to see our current number and how you can contribute.