Sustainability Champion of the Year Award for Plastic Impact Alliance Co-Founder

October 7, 2021

Outdoor Media Summit recognizes Kristin Hostetter, editorial director of Outside Business Journal for work on the Plastic Impact Alliance

Boulder, Colorado (October 7, 2021) — The Plastic Impact Alliance is proud to announce that Outdoor Media Summit has recognized Kristin Hostetter as the “Sustainability Champion of the Year” for her work co-founding and leading the Plastic Impact Alliance (PIA). The award was presented by a panel of judges at the Outdoor Media Summit, held September 27-29, 2021, in Estes Park, Colorado.

Kristin Hostetter is the editorial director of Outside Business Journal and has been a leading journalist in the outdoor industry for the last 25 years. Hostetter has used her platform and industry relationships to encourage and motivate brands to eliminate single use plastic.

“We chose Kristin Hostetter as Sustainability Champion of the Year for her founding of—and tireless work on—the Plastic Impact Alliance,” said Heidi Allen, VP of marketing for Nikwax North America, who was one of the judges. “From helping trade shows work towards the elimination of single-use plastics, to leading her team in crafting compelling stories around brands’ efforts, to working with brands directly to drive the conversation in the industry, Kristin has spearheaded a movement that benefits us all.”

“It’s such an honor to receive this award,” said Hostetter. “But at the end of the day, this is an industry effort. I am thrilled to see some of the progress we have made collectively but know there is still so much to do. I share this award with a team of industry friends like Kelly Blake and Lia Cabello who have been a great support in helping the PIA accomplish our goals.”

The Plastic Impact Alliance started as the Plastic Impact Promise—a commitment by Outdoor Retailer attendees to reject single-use plastic bottles and cups at the trade show and other industry events. The Alliance unifies leading environmental and sustainability-forward brands to achieve a common goal of creating a more authentic and sustainable industry. Plastic Impact Alliance members have committed to: Signing the Plastic Impact Promise, a pledge to bring personal drinking vessels or provide reusable bottles and cups to trade shows and reject single-use plastic; host water stations at trade shows and events and not bring in plastic bottles.

Today the PIA boasts more than 420 members and is working to not only eliminate single-use plastic at events, but to transition the industry away from its reliance on single-use plastic polybags.

“We’ll be announcing an exciting polybag recycling project (a partnership with Eco Cycle and 11 prominent outdoor brands) in the coming days, which will help us start to quantify the polybag problem that plagues our industry,” said Hostetter.

Plastic pollution is one of the most pressing environmental problems the planet faces today, and the outdoor industry has the power to have a major impact, for the land and for generations of outdoor enthusiasts.

About The Plastic Impact Alliance

The Plastic Impact Alliance is a collaborative effort open to all organizations who commit to doing their part to eliminate single-use plastic. Membership is free. To join, fill out this form and email your company logo to khostetter@outsideinc.com. Once a member, join the conversation on LinkedIn.

Media Contact

Kelly Blake

kelly@cgprpublicrelations.com

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