Congress Passes 246,300 Acres of Federally Protected Wilderness

December 16, 2014

Earlier this month, we posted a call to action in the hopes of raising awareness about adding more protected public lands to our nation before the year's end. Today, we're proud to announce that just days ago, the United States Senate voted in favor of passing the National Defense Authorization Act, which included many public lands protection bills. All in all, the passed bill brought with it 524,300 acres of federally protected land, including 246,300 acres of new Wilderness in Washington, Nevada, Colorado, Montana, and New Mexico. That is officially the largest public lands protections that Congress has passed since 2009.

Our friends at The Conservation Alliance have outlined the specific lands that were protected in this week's vote. From their latest post: 

The newly protected areas are:

• Alpine Lakes Additions, WA: Just 45 minutes east of downtown Seattle, the Pratt, Middle Fork and South Fork Snoqualmie Valleys are the closest mountain valleys to Puget Sound population centers. The legislation permanently protects 22,000 acres of additions to the Alpine Lakes Wilderness, and 40 miles of the Pratt and Middle Fork Snoqualmie Rivers as Wild and Scenic.
• Hermosa Creek, CO: The bill protects the 108,000-acre Hermosa Creek Watershed in the San Juan National Forest of southwestern Colorado, including nearly 38,000 acres of new Wilderness within the watershed.
• Rocky Mountain Front, MT: Montanans rallied around the new protections for 275,000 acres of public land in western Montana. The bill adds 50,500 acres to the Bob Marshall Wilderness and 16,700 acres to the Scapegoat Wilderness. The legislation also designates 208,000 acres as Conservation Management Areas.
• Columbine-Hondo, NM: The protects 45,000 acres north of Taos, in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains, including Gold Hill, its highest peak. The new Wilderness also contains the headwaters for two rivers.
• Wovoka, NV: In Nevada, the bill designates 48,000 acres of wilderness in Lyon County, protecting historic, cultural, and natural resources. The Wovoka Wilderness will be named in honor of the Native American spiritual leader and father of the Ghost Dance, who lived near the area.
• Pine Forest Range, NV: The bill protects the 26,000 acre Pine Forest Range Wilderness in northwest Nevada. The Pine Forest Range is a popular destination for sportsmen and recreationists and is prime habitat for mule deer, sage grouse, and mountain lion.

Join Outdoor Afros around the country on December 13th for a Healing Hike

December 12, 2014

This guest post is written by Rue Mapp, founder of Outdoor Afro, a social community that Klean Kanteen is proud to partner with. We wanted to spread the word about this upcoming Saturday's Healing Hike, and we couldn't think of a better person to do so than Rue herself. In her words: 

Right now, we're living in times that are hard to understand. Recent events in Ferguson and in New York have re-opened wounds of fear and doubt that have divided our country, revealing riveting currents of pain and distrust.

These events touch me personally and professionally. As a mother of boys, and the aunt of several young adults in Oakland, California, I find myself holding them all a little tighter these days. And every day in my work, my team and partners, such as Klean Kanteen, strive to lower perceived barriers between people and nature, especially for people who look like me.

Through it all, I feel hopeful knowing we have at our disposal a variety of platforms to respond and press for change.

For instance: at Outdoor Afro, we typically call out the ways nature teaches and heals us.

Throughout our history in the U.S., there are many examples of how our people have expressed their greatest societal needs in both the streets and in natural settings. We recall how Harriet Tubman led people with and through nature to help us find freedom. The March on Washington brought together thousands of all hues in a national park to claim civil rights. And today, people are protesting in nearly every major city in response to the grand jury decisions in Ferguson and New York City calling for justice, all the while digitally chanting: #BlackLivesMatter.

Indeed our country is ailing, yet I strongly believe that we can turn to nature to provide an important pathway toward our healing as we always have. So in keeping with our history of turning to nature, Outdoor Afro leaders around the country call on friends, allies and partners to join us December 13, 2014 for a day of healing in nature.

Locate your local Outdoor Afro network through Meetup.com or simply get out with your friends, family, congregation or local outdoor organization. Share how you are healing in nature to inspire others: Hashtag #HealingHike

We hope you will join us, but more importantly, we hope to find healing and hope during these challenging times for all.

New Study Finds Link Between BPA and Rapid Blood Pressure Increase

December 10, 2014

Need another reason to bring your own reusable container wherever you go? Here's a good one that pertains to your health, from an article published this December in The New York Times: 

"A new study shows that a common chemical in the containers can seep into beverages and raise blood pressure within a few hours." And, "The study found that when people drank soy milk from a can, the levels of BPA in their urine rose dramatically within two hours – and so did their blood pressure. But on days when they drank the same beverage from glass bottles, which don’t use BPA linings, there was no significant change in their BPA levels or blood pressure.

A single instance of increased blood pressure may not be particularly harmful. But the findings suggest that for people who drink from multiple cans or plastic bottles every day, the repeated exposure over time could contribute to hypertension, said Dr. Karin B. Michels, an expert on BPA who was not involved in the new research."

What's more, the article states that even so-called "BPA-free" plastics could pose a similar risk, as "these products often contain chemically similar alternatives – like bisphenol S." The New York Times goes on: "One study in the journal Environmental Health Perspectives found that plastic products advertised as BPA-free still leached chemicals with estrogenic activity – and some of these chemicals were even more potent than BPA."

For us here at Klean, a study like this is just one more reason to avoid single-use plastics altogether. If you agree, spread the word and raise awareness of the health risks associated with these ubiquitous chemicals. 

Want to learn more? Read the full article from The New York Times here. 

Sweet Holiday Savings at Klean Kanteen

December 03, 2014

The holidays are here! There's no denying it: 'tis the season of giving, receiving and sharing the love. That's why we're offering a few holiday specials here at Klean HQ. Here's what we have going on: 

From now through December 17th, Klean Kanteen is offering: 

We Love our Wild Places, Let’s Protect Them!

December 02, 2014

This year, we celebrate the 50^th anniversary of The Wilderness Act, which defined, once and for all, wilderness as “an area where the Earth and its community of life are untrammeled by man, where man himself is a visitor and does not remain.”

This monumental recognition and powerful legislation is just as useful today as it was in 1964 because it allows Congress to protect some of our nation’s most precious wild lands, again and again. We love our public lands, the recreation opportunities they offer and the solitude and soul-feeding beauty they offer all of us. So it’s important that we protect as much land as possible. Adding to that, 2014 is a unique and potentially opportune year because lawmakers of the 113^th Congress currently have the momentum necessary to some of these wilderness bills across the finish line. As a nation, we also have the momentum of the 50^th Anniversary of The Wilderness Act to build upon by protecting more wildernesses for decades to come.

So, what can you do? Historically, wilderness protection comes from those who experience the natural beauty of their own backyards and then feel moved to fight for their protection. You can help protect the wilderness in your own neck of the woods by exercising your civic rights and speaking up! Email your Senator to tell them that you love these wild places and that you – and your community – want them to stay wild. Join us in a movement along with many local communities in urging Congress to pass wilderness protection. 

We'll close this out with words from filmmaker Pete McBride, who created the film above. In a recent National Geographic post, he writes: 

"That said, there one fundamental distinction we cannot forget: unlike farms and gardens, wilderness areas cannot change, nor are they allowed to be changed. No permanent buildings, no roads, no wheeled traffic. Their management plans might have adjusted over the last 50 years, but their undeveloped landscapes have not. A few trails may have appeared; a few trees may have sprouted skyward, crashed to earth, or even burned. Yet, what someone saw in 1964 is roughly the same today."

#BringYourOwn: No To-Go

November 21, 2014

No To-Go from Klean Kanteen on Vimeo.

What if coffee shops stopped serving drinks in to-go cups? 

Klean Kanteen created the #BringYourOwn project to inspire a new conversation around eliminating single use and waste in the environment. Typically, the dialogue goes something like this; “YOU need to change the way you live to make the world better. Here’s a simple step that you can take to live ‘smarter.’ It’s not that hard.”

But research shows that ingrained habits, convenience, and public policies can make it really hard for people to make these personal changes. So we want to change that and meet them where they are.

#BringYourOwn starts a conversation around the policies and cultural ideas that promote a disposable lifestyle. Why is it easier to find a disposable bottle of water than finding a place to fill your reusable bottle? Why are there some places that will fill your reusable container and other places that have health codes against it? Why is bringing reusable options seen as so easy by some, but sort of hard for many?

There are reasons for all of these questions. And we want to talk about them. So join the conversation at #BringYourOwn.

Note: While waste stream reporting in the US is understandably complex, the numbers used in these films are based on widely used and accepted estimates throughout advocacy and academic work.

#BringYourOwn: Trashed Car

November 21, 2014

Trashed Car from Klean Kanteen on Vimeo.

We all get a sense of relief when we clean up our homes and take out the trash. Away it goes! But does that trash ever really go away? Furthermore, what if you had to live amid your own disposable goods? Doing so might change your perspective on waste forever. Find out how one man felt when he was intimately  faced with his family's garbage. 

Klean Kanteen created the #BringYourOwn project to inspire a new conversation around eliminating single use and waste in the environment. Typically, the dialogue goes something like this; “YOU need to change the way you live to make the world better. Here’s a simple step that you can take to live ‘smarter.’ It’s not that hard.”

But research shows that ingrained habits, convenience, and public policies can make it really hard for people to make these personal changes. So we want to change that and meet them where they are.

#BringYourOwn starts a conversation around the policies and cultural ideas that promote a disposable lifestyle. Why is it easier to find a disposable bottle of water than finding a place to fill your reusable bottle? Why are there some places that will fill your reusable container and other places that have health codes against it? Why is bringing reusable options seen as so easy by some, but sort of hard for many?

There are reasons for all of these questions. And we want to talk about them. So join the conversation at #BringYourOwn.

Note: While waste stream reporting in the US is understandably complex, the numbers used in these films are based on widely used and accepted estimates throughout advocacy and academic work.

#BringYourOwn: Will You Fill?

November 21, 2014

Will You Fill? from Klean Kanteen on Vimeo.

What happens when you ask a fast food restaurant if they can use your reusable container for the drink you ordered? The answer may not be as simple as you think. Watch, learn, #BringYourOwn. 

Klean Kanteen created the #BringYourOwn project to inspire a new conversation around eliminating single use and waste in the environment. Typically, the dialogue goes something like this; “YOU need to change the way you live to make the world better. Here’s a simple step that you can take to live ‘smarter.’ It’s not that hard.”

But research shows that ingrained habits, convenience, and public policies can make it really hard for people to make these personal changes. So we want to change that and meet them where they are.

#BringYourOwn starts a conversation around the policies and cultural ideas that promote a disposable lifestyle. Why is it easier to find a disposable bottle of water than finding a place to fill your reusable bottle? Why are there some places that will fill your reusable container and other places that have health codes against it? Why is bringing reusable options seen as so easy by some, but sort of hard for many?

There are reasons for all of these questions. And we want to talk about them. So join the conversation at #BringYourOwn.

Note: While waste stream reporting in the US is understandably complex, the numbers used in these films are based on widely used and accepted estimates throughout advocacy and academic work.

Washed Away in a Rapture of White

November 21, 2014

The Shadow Campaign // Whitewash from DPS SKIS on Vimeo.

'Tis the season of pow, and there's no sweeter way to capture it than through the eyes of those who revel in the whitewashed beauty of a cold winter's day. It's through the beautiful lens of DPS Skis and The Shadow Campaign that we see this insanely gorgeous season of pow, with some super talented skiers amid a paradise of white. Without further adieu, we invite you to sit back, watch and enjoy.