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September 11, 2009
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What is the greenest tent on the market?
— The Editors
Santa Fe, New Mexico
 Steal the packs of some AT thru hikers as they're cooling off in a swimming hole—or maybe using the privy—then dump their stuff on the ground and take inventory with an enviro-minded perspective. You'll probably find a plastic mug and food containers; maybe a plastic whistle and compass; petroleum-based fleece clothes (most likely not made from recycled materials) stuffed tightly into Ziploc bags to stay dry; a non recyclable gas-burning stove; a sleeping bag stuffed with synthetic insulation; and a shell jacket made from some kind of mystery proprietary waterproof membrane invented in a chemical company's evil laboratory. In other words, a hard core hiker's backpack is basically a big giant bag of global warming. With straps.
This situation is beginning to change, though, as a steady trickle of new outdoor products is being introduced that come from 100-percent recycled materials. Two notable tents fit in this category, the Nemo Nano Oz and the Big Agnes Salt Creek 2.
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Do you have a question of your
own?
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The body of the yellow-and-gray Nano Oz single-wall tent is made exclusively from recycled post-consumer plastic—from the floor to the top of the shell. Its aluminum DAC Featherlite poles are anodized using non-toxic methods. It weighs 4 pounds 3 ounces, fits two people, and sells for $449.
The roomier and heavier (6 pounds, 5 ounces) Salt Creek 2 uses all-recycled polyester for its fly and body--and as its white color indicates, no dyes were involved. (Good luck keeping it white for long in the backcountry, though.) Even the zippers are recycled. Price: $349.
Eco Adventurer
Greg Melville is the author of Greasy Rider, a new book in which he drives across the country in a fry-oil-powered car investigating the future of green technology. A journalist who has written for Outside, The New York Times, and Popular Mechanics, Melville blogs about all things eco at greasyriderbook.blogspot.com. He lives with his wife, kids, and dog in Asheville North Carolina.
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