Icebreaker - Pure Merino

Quite simply, because nature is better than plastic.

We know you care about where the things you buy come from, want to know about the ethical commitment of the companies you buy from, and what impact your purchases will have on the planet. That’s why we’re committed to a sustainable business model that doesn’t put profits ahead of the environment.

Each year, sheep in New Zealand’s Southern Alps grow thick merino wool, and each spring the coat is shorn. From this fibre, Icebreaker creates beautiful merino clothing. Our merino clothing combines the best qualities of traditional wool, synthetics and cotton. It’s soft and non-itch, it’s warm in the cold and cool in the heat, it breathes to prevent clamminess, and it has a miraculous ability to warn off stinkiness – you can run a marathon and still smell as sweet as if you’ve spent the day on the sofa.

And because it was made in the mountains, rather than a lab, merino wool is renewable, recyclable and biodegradable. Plus, your unique Baacode will let you trace the merino fibre from your Icebreaker garment back to its source. You can see the living conditions of the high country sheep that produced the wool, meet the farmers who are custodians of this astonishing landscape, and follow every step of the supply chain.

So along with The Nature Conservancy we’re celebrating the second year of Green Gift Monday! And encouraging you to give green this holiday season with responsible, meaningful holiday gifts.

Green Gift Monday coincides with Cyber Monday, November 28, the biggest online shopping day of the year.

Gear to Grow is a great organisation in the US that supports getting people involved in outdoor recreation – exactly what we love here at Icebreaker, which is why we support them with product donations.

They are currently “Calling All Poles” – a campaign aimed to collect gently used or surplus tent poles from retailers, manufacturers, and the general public. The campaign seeks to outfit more than 70 of Gear to Grow’s beneficiary groups across the country with full tent sets.

After recently receiving a generous donation of tents that did not include poles, Gear to Grow have reached out to retailers across the US to serve as official collection sites for the “Calling All Poles” tent pole drive. Those interested in donating may drop off poles at participating retail locations, ship poles directly to the Gear to Grow warehouse, or provide a monetary donation of $10 securely through Gear to Grow’s web site that will be used to purchase new pole sets.

“With this generous donation comes a great opportunity for our program and our beneficiary groups,” said JT VonLunen, co-founder of Gear to Grow. “Through this campaign, not only will we be recycling and reusing tent poles, we’ll help give people the resources to get outdoors.”

The “Calling All Poles” campaign will be open for 60 days from 3 October. Gear to Grow requests pole sets that are either 13′ 6’’ long or between 11.5 and 12 feet. For more information on participating retail locations, please visit www.geartogrow.org or find Gear to Grow on Facebook at www.Facebook.com/DonateGear. To ship directly to Gear to Grow, please send shipping inquiries to contact@geartogrow.org.

So anyone in the US, who can help – go, hunt out those poles!

Julie Labrecque has just come to the end of her cycling adventure in West Africa where she has been visiting farmers’ co-ops (cotton, shea, pineapple, mango, cocoa, arts and crafts) that use fair trade to maximize national and international market access. The main goals of the adventure were to understand fair trade better, emphasise sustainable travel and promote physical activity.

The unsupported expedition was pedaled and entirely powered by calf muscles, by the sun and of course Icebreaker bike shorts!

Check out Julie’s website to find out more about her adventures in West Africa.