So I just found out that The Piton, a blog run by a bunch of outdoor industry people, has just posted its last. Given my experiences working in the industry and knowing how unbelievably uncommunicative it is, I’m pretty disappointed that I just found out about it when it closes its proverbial doors.

That said, they’re not taking it down, just choosing to not post new content. Among the sundry things I’ve found on it, there’s a link to a cool little site dedicated to wilderness survival skills called Tracker Trail. The specific item they linked to was an article detailing how to start a fire using nothing but a Coke can and a chocolate bar. Pretty interesting reading.

One thing that has always struck me as rather strange is that larger outdoor industry companies sometimes are hypocritical when it comes to choosing more environmentally-conscious ways of doing things. You really have to look at the smaller upstarts to find products made with recycled and/or reused materials, fairer business models and intriguing new ways of doing things (Patagonia, still under the commendable guidance of its founder, Yvon Chouinard, would be the big exception to this rule).

Chalk up another exception: Black Diamond Equipment (or, BD). If you’re not a climber or a tele skier, you might not recognize the name, but Yvon’s original company (yup, same Yvon - before it rose again from being sued into the ground back in the day before legal disclaimers, the company was originally Chouinard Equipment) is a very well-respected leader within the industry. I just caught wind of a press release today that announced that BD will be installing solar panels on the roof of their single retail store by their headquarters in Salt Lake City.

BD has always been cool. Unlike the overwhelming trend of outdoor companies choosing to ignore their founders (or even rewriting their history), BD doesn’t shy away from where they come from (in fact, the “c” in their logo is a hat-tip to their roots). Peter Metcalf, the CEO of BD, led the charge against then-governor of Utah (now, scarily, the Secretary of Health & Human Services after a terrifying run as head of the EPA), Mike Leavitt when Leavitt agreed to open up protected land in Utah. The outdoor industry eventually rallied around Metcalf, leveraging their expiring contract with Salt Lake City for the biannual tradeshow. They were successful in the end, but I think that had more to do with Governor Olene Walker, who replaced Leavitt when he was picked by Dubya to head up the EPA.

Salon has a great article on a little-known story about the flaunting of the organic label by not-so-organic dairies like Horizon and Organic Valley. While the article is great, I have to admit that I’m a little disappointed in the lack of citation of resources for those of us who want to buy organic dairy but aren’t so informed as to know where to go (nevermind newly annoyed at Salon’s recent change to how their Day Pass works, or doesn’t as it was when I was forced to re-view the ad 5 minutes after doing it the first time).

That said, while buying goods from a local (and reputable) organic label would be most ideal, I’m not too sure where one would start - that is, aside from Googling a bit. For those who want a bit of a short-cut past that effort, I recommend Straus Family Creamery. They’re local to the Bay Area, but their products are also available in stores outside California and via some select home delivery services and mail order. Their products are excellent and can’t be recommended highly enough - cool little side note: they don’t homogenize their milk, so you can get it old-school with the cream on top like our parents did.

If the name sounds a little familiar but you can’t quite place it, this is the same dairy that got some press a while ago for building a methane digester to produce electricity from the manure from their cows. Can’t beat that in trying to make as closed-loop a solution as you can.

Here’s the official roll-call for the recent vote that defeated the amendment proposed to strike the section pertaining to the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge from the Federal Budget. If your Senator bowed to oil interests, please let them know your feelings…

So apparently some sleazeballs are trying to sneak their planned rape of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge into the Federal Budget Bill. Please take a moment to sign the online petition to be sent to your members of Congress.