As trail runners, it can be tempting to believe we’re engaged in a harmless pursuit. We’re powered by our own feet, zipping through the woods in gear that has been often marketed to us as sustainable. But runners are just as culpable as any other athletes, our mountain footprints the tip of an iceberg of a larger carbon footprint that gets us there. We need to transport ourselves to the trailhead, of course, but that sustainable gear? It could just be an example of greenwashing.
Greenwashing helps brands appear eco-friendly, while in reality deflecting accountability toward changing harmful industrial processes in any meaningful way. Capitalism thinks less in systems than it does in units, and by maximizing profit per unit, our current economic system often exploits individual desires (to be better) and shame (at falling short). The next purchase is the one that will save us! Redemption is often offered to the consumer by way of greenwashed gear, when, in reality, the onus should be on the company to not destroy the planet.
So what do we, as individuals, do? When it comes to the most destructive environmental…
