The Way You Buy Outdoor and Travel Gear Is Changing for the Better

10.12.2024 - 21:47 / matadornetwork.com

Emme Hayes wasn’t happy with the “buy, use, and toss” flow of gear in the outdoor apparel industry. With constant pressure from brands and social media to buy the latest and greatest gear, the industry she loves and has worked in for much of her life wasn’t exactly living up to her – or its – values. Footwear and clothing account for some 8 percent of total carbon emissions, and though gear brands love to tout mantras of ever-increasing sustainability, buying new stuff constantly is never going to be as sustainable as using what you have for longer, and repurposing it when you’re done. In 2021, the climate activist and former apparel designer decided to do something about it, founding the digital platform Articles in Common as a marketplace for recreators to repurpose their outdoors gear and clothing to keep it out of landfills.

“I was an avid backpacker spending a lot of time in the Sierras, I’ve done a bit of guiding, and I was also in the apparel industry,” Hayes says. “It is an extremely wasteful industry, and I felt like the way that it was going, it doesn’t make sense from a consumer standpoint – it’s not circular in any way, and it’s not easy for people to [repurpose their gear].”

Emme Hayes on the High Sierra Trail. Photo courtesy Emme Hayes

The second-hand market is a $1 billion industry. Historically, however, selling used outdoor gear has been incredibly decentralized, making it difficult for consumers to repurpose their stuff. Many communities also lack a good place to buy used gear. Thrift stores don’t dependably have quality gear, and the companies that offer platforms to buy and sell used items tend to prioritize – sometimes with exclusivity – their own products at the expense of customer convenience.

Until Articles in Common, Hayes says, “There wasn’t a central location online that made it easy for people to buy and sell used gear. From a consumer perspective, I wasn’t seeing what I thought I should be seeing the the outdoor industry from outdoor brands. There is a big push for resale, but it’s not with the consumer in mind. Realistically, it just doesn’t make sense for each brand to have their own resale section, because what person only buys Patagonia, or The North Face, or whoever?”

Hayes’ goal became to create an independent marketplace and scale it to be industry-wide, giving recreators the ability to sell gear from any brand to anyone, anywhere. Three years in, the company may be on the cusp of its moment of impact – recent figures from the Outdoor Industry Association show that some 87 percent of recreators want to get outdoors in a more sustainable manner, if only they could do so conveniently.

Screenshot taken from Articles in Common website

“We’ve been conditioned by outdoor brands