{"id":1025,"date":"2025-08-15T17:25:02","date_gmt":"2025-08-15T17:25:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.braceducation.org\/?p=1025"},"modified":"2025-08-19T15:29:24","modified_gmt":"2025-08-19T15:29:24","slug":"nat-habs-rescued-gear-program-giving-travel-gear-a-second-life","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.braceducation.org\/index.php\/2025\/08\/15\/nat-habs-rescued-gear-program-giving-travel-gear-a-second-life\/","title":{"rendered":"Nat Hab\u2019s Rescued Gear Program: Giving Travel Gear a Second Life"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2><strong>Behind the Scenes of an Eco-Friendly Travel Gear Revolution<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>At <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nathab.com\/\">Natural Habitat Adventures<\/a>, we\u2019ve always believed that responsible travel means more than treading lightly on the planet\u2019s wild places. It\u2019s also about taking responsibility for the tools we use to explore them. Each year, we issue hundreds of jackets, backpacks and field essentials to our guides, field staff and partners\u2014gear that carries the Nat Hab name into the world\u2019s most spectacular landscapes.<\/p>\n<p>But what happens when a zipper breaks, a seam unravels or a logo patch fades? Too often, even slightly worn items end up discarded. We have changed that with our new \u201cRescued Gear Program.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis gear has our name on it, and we need to be responsible,\u201d said Rachel Milton, Director of Adventure Fulfillment, who devised the program with colleagues. \u201cWe issue a massive amount of gear each year\u2014to guides, field staff, operators and partners\u2014and we want to be more circular, to take ownership of the gear for its entire lifetime.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-274394 size-full lazyload\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" alt=\"The new Nat Hab Rescued Gear Program is now our in-house system for eco-friendly travel gear recycling and sustainable travel gear repair.\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" data-src=\"http:\/\/www.braceducation.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Medium-RGB-NAT-HAB-_dana-cama_546242.jpg\"><\/p>\n<h2><strong>The Nat Hab Rescued Gear Program Begins<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>The new Nat Hab Rescued Gear Program is now our in-house system for <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nathab.com\/conservation\">eco-friendly travel<\/a> gear recycling and sustainable travel gear repair. The mission is simple: repair, reuse or recycle Nat Hab-issued gear so nothing usable goes to waste.<\/p>\n<p>Phase 1 focuses on our <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nathab.com\/us-national-parks-tours?dropdown=true\">U.S. National Parks<\/a> operations. As vans return from Yellowstone, Yosemite, Glacier and other field sites, they now bring back damaged or retired gear alongside returning supplies. Back at our <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nathab.com\/our-story\">Colorado office<\/a>, each item goes through a detailed evaluation process<strong>:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Wash and inspect<\/strong>: Every piece is laundered and checked for condition, fabric integrity, seams, zippers and logo visibility.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Rate and record<\/strong>: Using a 1\u20135 condition scale, our team logs each item in the Rescued Gear Inventory.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Rescue decisions<\/strong>: Gear is then routed for repair, recycled responsibly or reissued to guides and field staff.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-274391 size-full lazyload\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" alt=\"Rescued gear doesn\u2019t just save money\u2014it saves resources, reduces waste and extends the life of materials designed to endure the elements.\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" data-src=\"http:\/\/www.braceducation.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Medium-RGB-NAT-HAB-_dana-cama_546243.jpg\"><\/p>\n<h2><strong>Repair, Reuse, Reimagine<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>Rescued gear doesn\u2019t just save money\u2014it saves resources, reduces waste and extends the life of materials designed to endure the elements.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Repair<\/strong>: Our in-house sewing and gear repair team restores wearable items, from patching elbows on rain jackets to fixing zipper pulls.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Reuse<\/strong>: Quality gear is cleaned, inspected and reissued.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Recycle<\/strong>: If an item is beyond repair, its components are responsibly recycled to keep textiles out of landfills.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><strong>Why It Matters<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>In the outdoor industry, the environmental cost of gear production\u2014from fabric manufacturing to shipping\u2014is significant. By rescuing gear, we reduce new manufacturing demands, lower our carbon footprint and set a new standard for travel sustainability programs.<\/p>\n<p>This is just the beginning. Ultimately, we aim to reuse or recycle all of the apparel and gear we distribute.<\/p>\n<p>This program is our promise to our guides, guests, and the wild places we explore that we will take responsibility for the resources we use. This is one more way we\u2019re working toward a future where eco-friendly travel gear recycling and sustainable travel gear repair are the norm, not the exception.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>The post <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nathab.com\/blog\/rescued-gear-program\">Nat Hab\u2019s Rescued Gear Program: Giving Travel Gear a Second Life<\/a> first appeared on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nathab.com\/blog\">Good Nature Travel Blog<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Behind the Scenes of an Eco-Friendly Travel Gear Revolution At Natural Habitat Adventures, we\u2019ve always believed that responsible travel means more than treading lightly on the planet\u2019s wild places. It\u2019s also about taking responsibility for the tools we use to explore them. Each year, we issue hundreds of jackets, backpacks and field essentials to our [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1027,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[11],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.braceducation.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1025"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.braceducation.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.braceducation.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.braceducation.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.braceducation.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1025"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"http:\/\/www.braceducation.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1025\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1030,"href":"http:\/\/www.braceducation.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1025\/revisions\/1030"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.braceducation.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1027"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.braceducation.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1025"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.braceducation.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1025"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.braceducation.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1025"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}