Outdoor Minimalist

At the beginning of April, I published an article for SFGATE asking a simple but complicated question: Do clothing take-back programs actually reduce clothing production and fashion’s environmental impact? After speaking with brands like Levi Strauss & Co., Patagonia, and The North Face, the answer wasn’t exactly clear. Every brand approached take-back and resale differently, with different go...

The clothing brand TEREN was built on a simple idea: pack less, adventure more. Now, their first hire, Casey Hyde, has stepped in as CEO to lead the brand’s next chapter. In episode 221 of the Outdoor Minimalist Podcast , Casey shares how he wore the brand’s Traveler Tee for 60 days and its Traveler Pants for 45 days before washing—an experiment designed to challenge how often we wash, pack, and r...

This Friday, we're covering: 1. Doug Burgum defends the Fiscal Year 2027 Budget for the Department of the Interior before Congress 2. Senator Martin Heinrich questions Brooke Rollins on the Forest Service Reorganization 3. Republicans package Steve Pearce, nominated to be the next director of the Bureau of Land Management, in an en bloc vote with 49 other nominations ft. Michael Carroll, Direc...

In 2023, we released an episode about eco-anxiety that quickly became one of the most listened-to conversations on this show, and landed us our first award.  But honestly, that didn’t surprise me. More and more people are feeling overwhelmed by the state of the world—whether it’s the climate crisis, the 24-hour news cycle, political instability, or just the constant sense that everything is happen...

This week’s public lands news briefing covers: 1. Recent Big Bend border wall lawsuits with Laiken Jordahl (Center for Biological Diversity) 2. The proposed FY2027 Department of the Interior budget and its impacts on BLM lands with Chris Hill (Conservation Lands Foundation) 3. The Senate’s passage of H.J. Res. 140, overturning Boundary Waters mining protections Resources & Links: Senate roll c...

What if the most sustainable outdoor product… is one that you never buy in the first place? The outdoor industry has spent years talking about circularity—repair programs, resale platforms, and recycling initiatives designed to keep gear out of landfills. But there’s one idea that rarely makes it into the conversation: renting. In episode 219 of the Outdoor Minimalist podcast, I’m joined by return...

Plastic has infiltrated every facet of our lives. It is essentially inescapable. And while plastic is now a normalized material that we interact with every day, the health impacts are becoming harder and harder to ignore.  The Plastic Detox, a new documentary now available on Netflix, examines how much plastic is impacting our health and whether it is possible to detox our bodies from continued ex...

In this week's public lands news briefing, we cover three main stories: 1. The Trump administration has begun the process of potentially reversing federal protections for the lands surrounding Chaco Culture National Historical Park in northwestern New Mexico 2. Senator Mike Lee and Rep. Celeste Maloy introduced a joint resolution to undo the Grand Staircase-Escalante management plan using the...

In recent years, more people than ever have been heading outdoors—discovering new trails, exploring public lands, and connecting with nature in ways that are shaping the future of outdoor recreation.  But with that surge in participation comes an important question: how do we make sure the places we love are protected? In episode 217 of the Outdoor Minimalist podcast, we’re talking about AllTrails...

What do you think of when you think of meditation?  Many people think of meditation as only sitting still and clearing your mind, but in reality, mindfulness can happen through movement, sound, and attention. And for a lot of people, the outdoors might be the most natural place to experience it. In episode 216 of the Outdoor Minimalist podcast, we’re exploring the idea that hiking, walking, and sp...

During this week’s public lands news briefing on the Outdoor Minimalist podcast, we have two feature stories for you.  What we cover this week: 1. Oak Flat, a sacred indigenous site and popular rock climbing destination in central Arizona, was transferred to a multinational mining company featuring Jason Keith from the Access Fund. 2. Southern Texas is battling to protect Big Bend National Park an...

What happens when one of the world’s largest industrial fishing fleets operates alongside small coastal communities that depend on the same fish to survive? In Alaska, trawl fisheries—especially those targeting pollock—play a major role in the global seafood supply.  But they also raise major questions about their impact, including bycatch, ecosystem impacts, and who really benefits from the fish...

Climate change is one of the biggest stories of our time—but the way we tell that story hasn’t always kept up with how people actually consume media today.  As younger audiences spend more time on social platforms and less time watching traditional news or documentaries, climate communicators are being forced to rethink not just what stories they tell, but how they tell them. That’s why in episode...

Holy war? Resource war? Either way, it's illegal. In this special bonus episode on the Outdoor Minimalist podcast, I am joined by Leigh Larson, who breaks down how and why Christian nationalism and religious extremism might be the true motivator behind the US/Israel war with Iran. Leigh studied International Relations, African Studies, and Environmental Science at The University of Texas at Au...

AI has seemingly taken over our lives in so many ways. Personally, I’ve seen a huge shift in the writing and journalism field for both staff and freelance writers.  But one thing we often don’t see is the energy being funnelled to AI data centers from our already stressed electrical grid. And it’s not just a little bit of energy either–  The 2024 US Data Center Energy Usage Report found that after...

During this week’s public lands news briefing on the Outdoor Minimalist podcast, we have three feature stories for you. And no, this is not all that’s happened with public lands this week. So, as always, make sure you’re subscribed to our weekly newsletter at theoutdoorminimalist.com for more in-depth public lands and outdoor industry sustainability news. What We Cover: 1. Plans for a border wall...

Is zero-waste backpacking possible? Well, in a lot of ways, yes, and in some ways, not really.  We saw this play out when a previous guest of ours, one of our earliest guests, actually in episode 37 . In that episode, Ana Lucía (aka Eco) explains how in 2021 she set out to complete a zero-waste thru-hike of the Pacific Crest Trail. Now, a few years later, in episode 212 of the Outdoor Minimalist p...

I know I said that we would only be releasing Friday public lands news episodes every other week, but we have a special episode for you today covering two of the most pressing issues regarding public lands policy: the nomination of Steve Pearce to lead the BLM and the use of the CRA to roll back a 20-year mining ban in Northern MN.  Why couldn’t we cover them next Friday?  Well, both of these topi...

By now, we know that our society has a problem with plastics.  They seem to have made their way into every aspect of our lives. They’re inescapable, but this is a problem that doesn’t need to last forever. It is a problem we can solve, or at least, that’s what the new book The Problem with Plastic argues.  We’ve been told for decades that recycling would solve the plastic crisis — but it hasn’t. T...

We expected the Senate vote on H.J. Res. 140, which would overturn the 20-year mining ban protecting the BWCA, to occur this week, but it was postponed until after their upcoming recess. The vote could be as early as February 23rd. This gives us more time to contact Senators and ask them to vote no on this resolution. I’ve been posting plenty of resources and scripts to do this on our Instagram @o...

You know full well that I am a dog lover, and I know that many of you are dog lovers, or just pet lovers in general. They are our family, and much like humans, our domesticated pets have a pretty big impact on our planet and the environment around us.  Think about walking into a store like PetSmart, or even your local pet store, there are aisles and shelves lined with single use toys, plastic bone...

Where do we go from here? Where are the leaders? Why does it feel like no one is doing anything? In this solo episode of The Outdoor Minimalist Podcast, we work to dismantle one of the most persistent myths about resistance: that it only looks one way — loud, visible, risky, and centered on a single kind of leader. Drawing on history, journalism, and movement research, this episode explores why su...

A lot has been happening this year already, and while many Americans are focused on ICE terrorizing US citizens in places like Minneapolis, attacks on public lands have not slowed down, they’re just getting less attention. With the limited time we have on the show, we have three interviews for you today.  The first is discussing management changes with greater sage-grouse followed by updates on a...

When we think about environmental impacts in the outdoors, we often focus on things we can see: litter left behind, eroded trails, overcrowded trailheads. But some of the most significant impacts are invisible, and they’re showing up in places many of us consider pristine. In episode 208 of the Outdoor Minimalist podcast, we’re talking about microplastics in remote wilderness areas and what new re...

Trail work is one of those things most of us benefit from, whether we realize it or not.  The smooth singletrack we ride, the well-marked hiking routes we follow, the trails that stay open season after season despite heavier use and harsher conditions. But behind every trail is a group of people showing up with tools, time, and care for the places they love. In episode 207 of the Outdoor Minimalis...