Sarah MacGillivray
It’s the kind of day you never forget. During a routine spring skiing adventure, Bryan Papé found himself lying in the snow with skis strewn down the mountainside. He'd sustained a fractured femur and only a tree was keeping him from collapsing.
"On April 15, 2006, lying against that tree not knowing if I would live or die, I thought, what would people say about me at my funeral? And that question cut to the core of who I was."
It’s the kind of moment that makes you think deeply about legacy, and ultimately this near-death ski accident inspired Bryan to embark on a different kind of adventure: following in his grandfather's entrepreneurial footsteps, he launched the innovative local drinkware company MiiR, with a social and environmental mission.
Intended to be a design-forward and generosity-driven company, the Seattle-based company always places people over profit. A certified B Corp and 1% for the Planet member, MiiR is independently owned and operated and, like The Mountaineers, adamantly and actively contributes to bettering outcomes for people and the planet.
A Shared Vision
Our Mountaineers partnership with MiiR began in 2017, with MiiR signing on to be a steadfast supporter of our conservation and advocacy efforts. Over the years, MiiR has sponsored our BeWild Speaker Series and our annual conservation fundraising event, An Evening of Advocacy. Our deep relationships with like-minded companies amplify our collective impact.
“The Mountaineers has been a champion for getting people outside in our region for over 100 years. It’s their unwavering commitment to advocacy, community, and education that influenced our own commitment to giving back to the broader community, while telling stories about it along the way. It’s through partnerships like these ones that we can truly maximize our positive impact, and make strides in this region and beyond.” - Devon Richardson, MiiR Giving & Sustainability Manager
While MiiR might have started more than 100 years after The Mountaineers, their impact on the Pacific Northwest has been monumental. Their giving model has granted over $2.4 million through trackable giving projects with every product sold. Recently, MiiR has shifted their definition of impact to include three pillars: People, Environment, and Giving. This shift has also meant adopting a new purpose to prioritize business practices and strategies that preserve the long-term viability of people and the planet. At The Mountaineers, we share this value to serve the people in our community, to explore and protect our wild places, and to serve through education and volunteerism.
Looking toward a future together, MiiR will continue to fund nonprofit organizations in the local region and beyond, as well as put their energy towards curbing the worst effects of the climate crisis and to creating products in the most ethical and sustainable way possible. This means increasing the amount of recycled content in their stainless steel vessels, decreasing the use of virgin materials, encouraging and supporting clean energy and waste reduction measures along their supply chain, and seeking out ways to repurpose old product.
All in this Together
The Mountaineers and MiiR believe that it's imperative for all businesses to demonstrate leadership in eliminating emissions across the supply chain. While MiiR is addressing climate change by reducing their carbon footprint, The Mountaineers has taken impactful steps across our organization to reduce our own carbon footprint. The Seattle Program Center (and hopefully soon the Tacoma Program Center) has been converted to solar power, emissions are reduced through carpooling to the outdoors, and beef and pork menu options have been removed from all Mountaineers events. Mountaineers Books prints all new titles on FSC-certified or 100% recycled paper, and launched imprints to address conservation issues at both the national and local levels.
Our partnership thrives on the belief that we all share the responsibility to protect, preserve, and restore our natural environment. And, at The Mountaineers, our ability to make good on our mission relies on valuable partnerships like ours with MiiR, which supports innovations in conservation and advocacy.
So, the next time you have a MiiR mug in hand, remember that positive impact can start with a single sip.
Special thanks to Devon Richardson from MiiR for co-writing this blog post.
