November 17, 2025 • 42 mins
"Hustle" and "Bustle" have become part of our every day vocabulary. And as we make lists, and check them twice, how can we make sure that our spending power is working for the causes we love. It's time to check our Shopping Values, and the values of the brands and places where we are shopping. Are they supporting our public lands? Are they helping us recreate responsibly?
In this episode we talk to Matt Moreau from The Landmark Project. Matt has made giving back a part of their core mission from day one.
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Episode Transcript
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(00:02):
When hustle and bustle becomepart of our daily vocabulary and
we're making lists and checkingthem twice, how can we make sure
our spending is working a littleharder for the places we love?
Join me as we talk aboutshopping values.
I'm your host, Missy Rentz, andthis is the Parks podcast.
Missy Rentz (00:23):
Today we have Matt Moreau who is the partner and
creative director at theLandmark Project.
Matt, welcome to the Parkspodcast.
Matt Moreau (00:31):
Thanks Missy.
I am so excited to be here.
Missy Rentz (00:34):
I am so excited to speak with you.
Full disclosure, a couple ofweeks ago I got to come into
your facility and do a tour, andI loved the Landmark project
before and I really love it nowwhen I see the tender loving
care that you guys put intoevery product and piece of art
that you create.
So I'm really grateful to you,for being here.
Matt Moreau (00:53):
Yeah, it was fun to have you.
We always like to lift thecurtain and let other people see
the magic behind the scenes.
For somebody who's notfamiliarwith screen printing and
how we put a graphic on at-shirt, it kinda looks like a
magic trick every time and Idon't get tired of it.
I've been doing it for 20 yearsso I don't get tired of seeing
it.
But at, the artwork lives on mycomputer screen for such a long
(01:16):
time before it actually makesits way onto a t-shirt.
So I understand how it's fun andyou get to meet the crew and
yeah, it was great to have you.
Missy Rentz (01:25):
And I think that I think people, sometimes I, for
one take for granted that,t-shirts are just, they just
happen.
But when you watch the processand you realize that human
beings are integral in everypart, they touch your shirt like
it is done with love and careand precision, and it just makes
anything I see or wear feel morespecial when I get to experience
(01:48):
what I did with you guys and tomeet your team and see how, they
adjust the shirts to make surethey're on right and they play
with the colors and it's justreally a fascinating process.
Matt Moreau (01:58):
Yeah.
I love that.
I'm so glad you got toexperience it.
Missy Rentz (02:00):
me too.
So the Landmark Project, you'rean apparel company founded in
2007, so you're almost having abig birthday here, coming soon.
And big capital A N D.
You're a company that iscommitted to sustainability and
conservation.
How and when did this wholevision begin for you?
Matt Moreau (02:21):
We started the company because we were already
screen printing shirts for otherpeople and.
Imagine like a real smallcompany, five or six people at
the most working and run mostlyby outdoor enthusiasts and
creatives who all knew eachother in college.
So we got to a point about 10years ago, like you said, that
(02:43):
milestone coming up, that wejust got burned down on other
people's products that we didn'tcare about.
It kept the lights on butcreative fulfillment was
lacking.
So because we were all into theoutdoors, spent our weekends
outside, we just decided let'smake something that we wanna
(03:04):
wear.
And the idea was not to start abrand, it was to start a
creatively fulfilling sideproject, which is how we got the
name, The Landmark Project, andit stuck.
Our friends loved the shirts.
We started like selling'em atcost to people we knew just to,
it was like a inside secret.
And eventually we had somebodycome by our shop and offer to
(03:27):
take samples on the road, showthem to their retail accounts.
We're like, you know what?
Sure let's see what you do withit.
And that person came back a fewweeks later with purchase orders
from local retailers.
So we're like, oh, I guess we'redoing this.
And.
The Landmark project was born.
We never expected it to scalethe way that it has in the last
(03:50):
10 years.
So early on in, in our brandstory, we started selling to key
REI stores, which then becameall REI stores.
We started selling to NationalPark stores, concessionaries
across the us and we're now inabout 1500 independent
retailers, a couple of keyretailers as well.
in those early stages of growth,when we were scrambling to learn
(04:15):
about how to make t-shirts atscale, we realized that how
great the negative impact was ofthe textile industry on the
environment.
And we were at a bit of acrossroads because we knew if we
wanted to do this, we had to doit in a way that we were okay
with.
And as, as a small developingbrand, you don't have a lot of
(04:37):
control over that, yet.
You don't have a lot of power.
You don't have a lot of muscleto flex.
So the, I think the thing thatreally just stood out to us was
like let's do this in a way thatwe could be proud of the way we
make our garments, the materialsthat we use, the way that we
screen print the factories thatwe partner with.
(04:58):
Then also if we're going to betelling the story of the
national parks or just outdoorsin general, conservation, our
charitable partners, et cetera,we need to actually have a give
back component to these productsso that when consumers who are
buying these shirts, becausethey resonate with the message
on them, we need to make surethat there's a full circle
(05:22):
supporting give back that goesback to those charitable
partners or to something thatthe the consumer, and ourselves,
that we care about.
So that's how we got startedthere.
The early days since we didn'tset out to build a brand.
The first thought was like,let's make cool stuff we wanna
wear.
Then again, as soon as westarted seeing the sales pick up
(05:45):
and we realized what we had thepotential that this whole brand
had, we realized that we need todo a little bit of good along
the way.
And I'm grateful that we hadthat foresight because even
though we never expected toreach a point, like I think we
just hit a million and a halfdollars given back.
That doesn't include in- kinddonations, volunteer work.
(06:08):
All the intangible benefits ofworking with our charitable
partners.
If somebody were to go back 10years ago and say, Hey just by
giving small amounts of moneyfor every T-shirt you sell, you
could reach a million and a halfdollars.
That would've blown my mind as ayoung 30-year-old, that would've
absolutely blown my mind.
Missy Rentz (06:27):
It's, that's a lot of money.
Was it always about parks andpublic land?
Was that always your focus?
Matt Moreau (06:34):
Yeah, it was, it started out specifically
national parks and then werealized, oh, there's so much
more than just the nationalparks.
'cause everybody would be ridingus and saying Hey, I love that
Yosemite shirt, but also youshould do something for this,
like really small, reallyspecial national forest in my
backyard because, lot of peoplego to Yosemite, if they're
(06:56):
lucky, once, maybe twice intheir life, and yet every
weekend they're spending time inPisco National Forest, which is
what we do.
So we realize some of theseother public lands have more
visitor pressure than some ofthe smallest national parks.
And you started thinking aboutwe need to be telling that story
(07:19):
as well, but also.
What about just like cool shirtswith some leave no trace
messaging.
There's so much that is adjacentto and related to the idea of
park specific that, everybodyhas their own personal landmark.
Like our first hashtag was MyLandmark.
We encourage people to use that,tag us and wherever they're
(07:41):
going and let us know this isthe place that you call home.
And that, that just reallyopened our eyes to the idea that
everybody recreates outside in adifferent way.
Whether you're an urban youstroll the streets of your
neighborhood and your city, oryou go completely off grid and
you backpack through awilderness area out west there,
(08:02):
or anything in between.
There's gravel bikes, there'srock climbing.
There's ATVs, there's fishing.
It's a huge industry and areally big tent.
So we decided not to limitourselves to national parks and
just really try to be whereverpeople are enjoying the outdoors
and try to really like, createproducts that resonate with a
(08:22):
huge variety of different typesof outdoor enthusiasts.
Missy Rentz (08:26):
And as you're building the company, it's clear
that the give back was part ofthe mission from the beginning.
And oftentimes when I'm talkingto organizations, they're like,
"oh, that, but that's too hardor that's too expensive." How
did you overcome that challengein order to stay true to this
mission?
Matt Moreau (08:46):
Yeah, it's a.
It certainly is anadministrative burden and the
idea of if you're not givingback, the idea of suddenly
starting to take margin fromyour product and give it to
something is a little bit scary.
Having done it since thebeginning is helpful for us
because we know, like that'sjust revenue that we plan for as
we're designing products.
(09:07):
There's a, anywhere between oneand 10% of that is getting
skimmed off.
Sometimes even 20% is gettingskimmed off and set directly to
a charitable partner.
I'd like to think about it asif, a copywriter who we work
with told me this and so I can'ttake credit for it, but we were
talking about being 1% for theplanet, and I love the 1% for
(09:31):
the Planet organization.
We've been a member for manyyears now, and they have a
network of brands and companiesthat give to a network of
recipient charitable partnersthat are all vetted and in some
kind of conservation orcharitable work in the outdoors,
and it allows us to choose froma list of predetermined options
(09:55):
to give back to.
And while we were building this1% for the Planet strategy, I
was struggling with the ideathat 1% doesn't sound like much,
it sounds like very little.
And I'm like, are we doing.
Are we doing enough here?
And how do we tell our customersthat like, Hey, guess what, we
(10:16):
give back 1%.
That's there's nothing smallerthan 1%.
Like it's, so that's like sayingwe're doing the bare minimum.
Please.
Like us.
And my copywriter had a reallyinsightful comment and she said,
she's if you go out.
(10:37):
You set your compass towards away point, but you are one
degree off.
You're gonna end up at acompletely different place.
And I thought that was sointeresting because at the
beginning, 1% feels reallysmall.
But like looking back from wherewe started and where we are now,
if we weren't doing this.
(10:59):
We set our compass, right wherewe wanted to be, instead of 1%
to, to the side.
We'd be in a completelydifferent place.
We'd be completely lost.
And that is, that's just a goodreminder that like there,
there's no such thing as notgiving enough give, give back, I
feel, what you're comfortabledoing, what you can do, and have
(11:22):
the goal to grow that over timeif you want to, or invest in
very specific local needs, ifyou can.
Start maybe by just doing inkind donations or doing some
volunteer work, there's a lot ofother ways instead of just big
chunks at a time, 10, 20%.
I wouldn't ever encourage.
(11:43):
I'm a business owner, so I knowhow important it is to have
revenue and margin, like we'rein business to make money.
We're not a charity, but I wouldalways encourage people to like,
start with whatever you'recomfortable with and if you
could do better next season,great.
Do better.
But don't do nothing.
I think that's where especiallyif you're building your business
around something that reallycould be so helpful, especially
(12:07):
in this current climate.
The parks are understaffed,they're under-resourced, and
it's getting worse.
So being able to provide somekind of small financial aid
where it counts, makes such adifference to the right person.
Missy Rentz (12:25):
I also think it's interesting in the outdoor
industry there's a lot ofbusinesses that do give back and
it's, to me, it's one of thosethings where you're giving back
to what makes your businessviable.
Without those parks, we don'thave gear, we don't have the
need for this stuff.
So I do think it's important.
How does giving back work foryour organization?
(12:47):
You've mentioned the$1.5million, but you do other things
as well for giving back and forconservation and whatnot.
What other things do you all do?
Matt Moreau (12:58):
One of my favorite, like I, I guess you could call
it a hack, but maybe it's astrategy, but we choose, since
we're an art forward, an artthemed brand, we choose to
partner with some reallyinteresting heritage artwork
providers, or I guess licensers.
(13:18):
So I think Smokey Bear, WoodsyOwl, Leave No Trace.
These companies have IP thatgoes back up to 80 years.
If you're Smokey Bear, it's oneof the original trademarks of
the US Forest Service and it'sstill in use, but we pay a
royalty on that up to 10%, onthese products and we choose to
(13:41):
partner with companies whoseroyalty goes directly towards
some kind of conservation.
So in the case, the easiestexample is in the case of Smokey
Bear, we chose to, and weactually had wildfires six,
seven years ago in the SmokyMountains here in the east.
They're not as common here asout west, and it was a wake up
(14:02):
call for us to see friends andfamily displaced, to see
retailers lose everything, tosee some of our favorite trails
be closed because of damage.
It was a wake up call of thedevastating impact of wildfires
and we thought, Hey look we're abrand.
We can help raise awarenessaround this.
We don't want this to become amore common thing in our neck of
the woods.
(14:23):
So we started working with theForest Service to put Smokey's
messaging on products that wecarry.
And it's with that, through thatwe've been paying a royalty over
the years, and that goesdirectly towards more education
about wildfire prevention.
So if you see Smokey Billboards,if you see Smokey Bear in the
parade visiting a school.
(14:45):
That's all funded in part bycompanies like us who do quite a
bit of licensing work on, keepputting smoking on products and
keeping his message out there.
So we try to find more likethings like that.
If it's not artwork that we doin house, it's artwork that has
some kind of charitableconnection and or a conservation
(15:07):
connection.
Besides that, we also do quite abit of trail work service
oriented projects.
So imagine last year we did, wehelped build a wheelchair
accessible trail through one ofour local national forests.
We've done some just clean upprojects in our local river.
(15:29):
Also in Yosemite National Park.
So it's like everything from alocal level to which engages a
lot of our not just ourcommunity, but like our
employees and their families andtheir friends, but going out to
a beautiful place like Yosemiteor Rocky Mountain and doing
meaningful work there so that wecan inject our brand right into
(15:49):
the center of what the park'sdoing and getting to stay
familiar and stay engaged withthe park services priorities.
So we try to try to findopportunities like that.
And there's usually some in kinddonations, there's usually some
rallying of community and, a bartab afterwards.
But that all is just a ways ofokay, so if it's not just.
(16:11):
It's not just writing the check,but it's like demonstrating the
benefit of rolling up yoursleeves, inviting the community
to come together on a serviceproject that's just gonna
benefit them.
Missy Rentz (16:25):
Are really soul filling experiences and to
connect with the parks in thatunique way is so special.
Matt Moreau (16:32):
yeah, it is.
And I don't personally sign thechecks, you know that, so it's
really easy to get lost in thebusiness operations over here
and forget why we got into thisin the first place.
No, we were coming in late,leave it early, back in the day
when it was just screen printingt-shirts in the house.
And those were really fun.
But like the draw of theoutdoors was so big that it just
(16:56):
kept us going back to it.
And now that we're a businesswith 40 employees, we run a much
tighter ship.
We have schedules and ouremployees have families, and
it's like we don't go outsidenearly as much as we used to.
And it's so important to justbuild in those opportunities to
(17:18):
remind ourselves like, no, thisis why we started doing this.
This is why we exist.
This hasn't changed for people,this hasn't changed for us.
We have to have moments where wecan actually get outside and
just reconnect with nature.
Refill the like the work week islong, so being able to have that
creative fulfillment.
Find rest and come back nextweek.
(17:39):
Refresh is really important.
So it provides opportunity forour team.
It provides opportunity forother people.
And if, and even if you somebodycan't make it to one of these
activations, we love that.
Maybe it's showing them thatthey're not super hard to do and
hopefully they take theinitiative to find whatever is
in their area.
Missy Rentz (18:00):
So your, those activations are open to other
people to participate with you.
Matt Moreau (18:05):
Yeah, for the most part they are.
We there are of course alldifferent sizes and scales and
sometimes we're limited on whatour usually we partner with a
ranger.
Or a friend's group, they mightonly have 30 shovels or 30 pairs
of gloves or insurance might capa group size.
So we're always limited on howmany people could participate.
(18:28):
But then there are otherorganizations that can handle
that very large group sizes andare set up to do bigger
multi-day.
Projects like Yosemite Faceliftis one of them that every year
in September, thousands ofpeople come to Yosemite National
Park to take to take part in amassive park wide, community
(18:51):
wide strategic cleanup of thepark.
After, after the summer seasoncomes to an end, they pick up
thousands of pounds of trash.
They do, they remove graffiti.
They fix trail erosion.
Last time we were there, we werecollecting seeds from native
species of plants so that theycan then be germinated and
(19:13):
planted in areas of the parkthat need restoration.
Then that the following season,it's really
Missy Rentz (19:20):
so cool.
Yeah.
Matt Moreau (19:21):
cool and it's because of our partnerships with
companies that actually knowwhat they're doing.
Like we could show up ready totake marching orders and we're
willing to spend the day inservice.
And we're relying on ecologistsrangers to help lead those
projects.
So as many as many people as cancome, we are happy to have them.
Missy Rentz (19:46):
And Matt has an incredible marketing team that,
that works there.
And they do a great job on theirwebsite and social media.
So I encourage you to followthem on social so that you can
learn about the projects thatthey have done in the past and
what's coming up.
'cause it's really spectacularto see the work that, that you
are doing and have done.
How.
Would some, how would yourecommend someone figure out
(20:08):
what are those sorts oforganizations to work with, and
who are you working with rightnow?
Matt Moreau (20:14):
That's a great question.
I usually like to tell peoplestart with the place that you
already love.
Don't, if you're somewhere inOhio maybe don't be like, I
wanna go do a service project inYellowstone in a couple weeks.
I would, I'm sure you can dothat.
I'm not trying to say don't, orthat it would be that hard, but
if you wanna try something,there's always an opportunity on
a local level.
(20:34):
For us, I'm just gonna tell you.
How it works in my hometown,which is a fairly small town,
but I'm in Greenville, SouthCarolina, it's one of the bigger
cities in South Carolina.
We're on the mountain side andwe are close to the Blue Ridge
Mountains, close to Appalachiaand the Smokies just a couple
hours away.
And then in our town, like weliterally have.
(20:56):
A river that goes throughdowntown.
It used to be, it used to be thedumping place for all the
textile mills that they wouldjust have all this waste and not
know what to do with it back inthe thirties and forties and.
As they would be producingtextiles they would dump the
wastewater in the river.
Literally the trash, everythingwould go in this river.
(21:18):
It's a beautiful river, but itneeds a lot of restorative work,
not just removing all of thatall of the waste from decades of
misuse, but also removing nativespecies.
Re like fixing the pathway ofthe river that was modified to
flow between these millbuildings.
(21:38):
Shoring up the riparian zonesand making sure they're healthy
for native insects and animalsand birds.
Seeing how this river is.
PA is such a big part of ourcommunity.
We started working with thefriends group that was formed to
(21:59):
to over the years bring thisriver, restore this river back
to good health.
And the friends group is anonprofit.
It's very small.
So when we write a check for.
Like$5,000.
That actually helps in so manyways to them by paying for water
testing, lab testing, suppliesfor the way they, they may have
(22:23):
huge community workdays thatwhere people in Greenville come
out.
So gloves, ropes, shovels, allthe things that you might need
to outfit a crew of volunteers.
But beyond that, the the friendsgroup also does like.
Planting.
So we'll donate our spentcardboard to be used to smother
(22:45):
old invasive grasses and plantnew ones on top of it.
So I, it's called air layeringand you could just.
Instead of digging up andremoving old plants, you could
just kill'em off by layeringbiodegradable cardboard on top.
So it's neat.
It's a neat way of us taking,like some of our products that
we, or not products, butmaterials that would normally
(23:05):
just go to recycling or go to alandfill and putting'em to work
as part of a solution there.
And our whole team comes out.
We get in the river, we yank outold tires.
This is only possible becauselike we care about our local
river and there is a friendsgroup that is set up to help put
(23:27):
us to work.
So find, I'd say find likewhat's your local state park?
What's your local you might havea national park in your local
area or a national forest.
There's almost guaranteed to besome kind of.
Nonprofit friends group that'sassociated with that place.
And that's the perfect place tostart because they are in
(23:47):
constant communication with therangers.
Constant communication with cityofficials.
They know what projects need tobe done.
They know what projects need tobe funded.
Maybe they need, maybe they havea volunteer day coming up.
And a lot of time, a lot oftimes these small friends or
conservancy groups.
They just don't have a reallyloud voice.
They don't have a lot of socialmedia following.
(24:09):
They don't have a lot of peopleon their email list, they might
have really good opportunitiesfor the community, but they're
just not getting heard orthey're not getting seen.
Take it might take just a littlebit of research in your local
area and a couple phone calls oremails to get connected with the
right person.
But that's where I like to tellpeople to start.
And then if you find that youlove volunteer work, get a
(24:29):
couple friends and maybe reachout and say, Hey, we got a group
of.
Eight, 12 of us, we all wouldlove to do a service project
together.
What do you have and what's adate that works for you?
And our local state park, wewould absolutely love that.
We would totally put together asmall group of we would totally
put to work a small group offriends on a, something we've
(24:50):
done in the past.
It's just like a great, we have.
We have trees that need to be reblazed because the paint's s
worn off, or it's been, it'sfaded.
And the trees, as the trees havegrown.
So here's the blade blazestencil.
Here's a can of spray paint.
This is the pips wall trail.
And just go for it.
Go find the old blazes and blazeover up.
That's such a benefit.
Missy Rentz (25:10):
fun.
Matt Moreau (25:11):
It would be really fun.
And you're out, you're outside.
Missy Rentz (25:13):
Exactly.
You're walking that trailanyway.
Yeah.
Matt Moreau (25:16):
the trail, you've got your friends with you.
Yeah.
And once you do one of these,you really are breaking the ice.
It's just, they're so fun to doand they're fulfilling.
And and you look, every timeyou're on that trail, later you
look back and see the work thatyou did
Missy Rentz (25:31):
Yes,
Matt Moreau (25:32):
and.
Missy Rentz (25:33):
And I'm hearing I'm hearing as you're talking, like
my brain's going crazy on twosides.
First, the individual, how youcan get involved, but then also
from a corporation or businessstandpoint, it's more than just
money.
You've talked about, the,certainly the dollars, but you
guys give with time.
And then even taking a look atthe resources you have, whether
it be you have a big followingon social media and you could
(25:54):
help promote them, or you have aton of cardboard boxes and they
need it for something.
So it's just amazing.
The idea is you're, you arealready shared with us on how we
can support these organizationsand incorporate the give back
into our missions.
Matt Moreau (26:10):
Yeah, it's there's, it's so much more than just
writing a check.
Missy Rentz (26:14):
Yeah.
Yeah, absolutely.
Okay, so speaking of the, somuch more, let's talk about
shopping for good.
We are entering the holidayseason and I think we are at a
time, you mentioned the fundingand the resources of our
national parks, it also goeswith our forests and other
things.
And we've had several episodesabout how do you get involved
(26:35):
and advocate.
But one thing, and one reason Iwanted to talk to you, is a
really good way to advocate isto spend where your values are
and make decisions based off ofthat.
And so as we're entering the bigshopping season how does someone
find out what their organizationis doing?
(26:57):
Okay, if I wanna buy a T-shirt,how do I find out that, oh, The
Landmark Project Look at whatthey're giving back.
Matt Moreau (27:04):
That's a good question.
I, every brand's gonna telltheir story differently.
We know that our customer justlike really cares about these
things that the same as we do,and we just decide we don't
wanna just shove it in theirfaces and make sure that we're
not trying to virtue signal hereand be a little over the top.
We're just, we want people toknow, if you do buy from us.
(27:27):
Which we'd be extremelygrateful.
Every sale means something tous, but we really want people to
know, like we are doing our bestover here to do a little good
with we take that responsibilityseriously, like y'all are
keeping us in business.
Our wholesale partners arekeeping us in business, our
customers who are engaging withus on so many different ways,
(27:48):
either by communicating throughsocial media.
Leading reviews on the site,coming to our events, seeing us
at festivals.
Like we listen and we know whatour customers are doing with
their lives and with theirvalues and we try to meet them
where they are.
So our approach is to just makesure that messaging is
accessible on our website.
If you wanna know more, likewhat specifically does this
(28:12):
product benefit then it's thereon the product page.
For Smokey Bear products, itgoes directly to wildfire
prevention.
So if you're somebody who livesin a wildfire prone area, if
you've been personally affectedby wildfires in the past, that's
an easy one.
And the, I'd say if you likeSmokey Bear products, you
probably see a lot of them onthe internet and.
(28:33):
A good thing to do is just makesure it's a licensed product.
There's a lot.
Missy Rentz (28:37):
I wanna tell, talk a little bit about that, just to
educate people on the differenceyou mentioned earlier, licensed
you pay a fee to be able toprint Smokey Bear.
A non-licensed would meanthey're just stealing the
artwork or like what, basicallyno money is going back to
support the forest service,correct.
Matt Moreau (29:00):
That's correct.
Yeah.
And the Forest Service doestheir best to help police this,
but you can't catch'em.
All Smoky Bears been around for80 years and there's a lot of
print on demand and Etsy storesand Timo and Sheen and you can
find a lot of Smokey Bearproducts out there that aren't
licensed or Woodsy Owl or anyother official trademarks.
(29:24):
And it's damaging on a fewdifferent levels.
So number one, the ForestService doesn't get any benefit
from.
A non-licensed Smokey Bearproduct.
Number two, a lot of thenon-licensed Smokey Bear
products have messaging that isnot aligned with Smokey's
messaging.
So Smokey is all aboutpreventing wildfires.
(29:47):
It's been that way since day onein 1944.
That's why he was created, andthey've done an amazing job
protecting that intellectualproperty and that messaging over
the last 81 years.
So when you see a Smokey Bearproduct that says something
good, but not preventingwildfires it dilutes the
messaging and it makes smokey asymbol for other things.
(30:10):
If you see Smokey saying,something.
A lot of times people will dothe Resist Smokey or National
Parks themed, smokey, or even aa parody smokey, like for the
cannabis industry.
Those are actually reallyharmful.
Like we don't wanna see productsout there like that because
again, the, there's a heritageof, intellectual property that
(30:34):
we're trying to protect.
And when you buy the right ones,the ones that actually do good
goes to the Forest Service.
And it, in turn, it helps getmore educational materials, more
educational opportunities outthere about wildfire prevention,
which is the whole point ofSmokey Bear.
So there's, the Internet's fullof parody art.
It's always gonna be that wayfor not just these intellectual
(30:57):
properties, but all, there's fanart for everything you can
imagine.
It's just it's a little bit of aheadwind for us who are trying
to do it the right way.
And you can imagine that likewe, we've come to terms with
having to live in the, in aworld where there's plenty of
competition that has a littlebit of unfair advantage because
it's not going through theproper channels.
(31:19):
But when we do license ourproducts, everything has to be
approved.
The physical samples have to beapproved as well, like the
quality of the product.
Is like everything is a, is topnotch, above board and the
forest services, we don't wannamake anything that they're not
excited
Missy Rentz (31:35):
No and I think as a shopper, if you are looking to
have that feel good momentknowing that what you're buying
is also giving back, then the.
It can take a little bit ofhomework to go and dive in to
that company's website to makesure that they're aligned
properly.
Matt Moreau (31:52):
Yeah, and a lot of companies, so like you can shop
directly with some, nonprofitsor charitable companies that
have their own really coolmerchandise.
So I'm thinking of like theNational Forest Foundation
thinking of Leave No Trace.
These are partners of ours.
If you go to their website, youcould buy directly from them,
which is also a really cool wayto support something you can
(32:12):
get.
You can get a really cool pieceof Landmark or other brands,
merch.
Directly support one of thosenonprofits.
They'll sometimes make their owngift guides that feature.
So the National ParksConservation Association does
this.
They'll have a gift guide thatis all gifts that they know
support the parks.
So there is some, there I wouldalways caution people to if
(32:37):
somebody says they support theparks there, that may be true.
But it also, if there's not likesome, at least some real
beneficiaries listed or if theydon't show other evidence on
their site of the charitablework, maybe question that a
(32:57):
little bit.
Missy Rentz (32:57):
Yeah.
Matt Moreau (32:58):
Yeah, just not everything you see out there is
true, unfortunately.
And I'm not even thinking aboutany brand in particular.
There are great brands outthere, many of whom are, I would
consider competitors to us, butwe're all in it for the same
reason.
So I've never felt animositytowards other people who make
National Park shirts or SmokeyBear shirts if they're doing the
(33:18):
right thing.
If they're doing good along theway, that's great.
There's room for us.
There's plenty of shelf space,there's plenty of closet space.
Pick the product that reallyspeaks to you.
Pick a product that you're gonnawear.
That's, don't pick a productjust to have it and keep it in
your drawer.
Wear it out.
Get cherished use out of thatproduct until it's thread bear.
That's what we wanna see.
(33:39):
And if that's one of ours, ifthat's somebody else's product,
that's totally fine.
The most good you're gonna do isto give that product a long and
cherish life.
That's what I like to tellpeople, is the most sustainable
product they have.
It's the one that you keepwearing and never throw away.
Missy Rentz (33:56):
I love that.
So we wrap up every episode witha speed round of questions and
just answer with what firstcomes to mind.
Matt Moreau (34:04):
Okay.
Missy Rentz (34:05):
What is your earliest park memory?
Matt Moreau (34:08):
Backpacking in Yosemite?
Missy Rentz (34:11):
What made you love the parks?
Matt Moreau (34:14):
I would say a couple really amazing subsets on
some of those first backpackingtrips and realizing we have the
one mile in rule where if youdon't feel like you're loving a
park, just get a mile in.
To any trail.
95% of the tourists drop off.
(34:35):
You start to you don't see theparking lot anymore.
I think that's, yeah, that'swhat made me love the parks.
Missy Rentz (34:42):
What is your favorite thing about our parks
and public lands?
Matt Moreau (34:47):
I think the even playing field that it brings,
it's, I've, I love seeing thediversity of people that enjoy
these parks.
I like.
I like that they're accessibleand that the same kind of thing
being in nature.
It just shows you that issomething that is a universal
value, whoever you are.
Missy Rentz (35:10):
What is your favorite thing to do in our
parks and public?
Lands
Matt Moreau (35:14):
my first experience with backpacking, I think my, if
I were to have.
Any choice of a sport tocontinue doing for the rest of
my life, that would have to beit.
Missy Rentz (35:25):
what park have you yet to visit, but it's on your
bucket list and why?
Matt Moreau (35:31):
Believe it or not, I haven't been to the Grand
Canyon, so it is on my bucketlist because it is one of the
most important parks in the USand I'm intimidated by it
because.
The I'm not a day hiker as muchas I am.
Like I wanna do an epic hike andthe rim to rim trail is pretty
(35:54):
epic.
So I don't wanna visit the GrandCanyon until I have the time and
stamina to do that trail.
Missy Rentz (36:03):
Love that.
What are three must haves youpack for a park visit?
Matt Moreau (36:09):
I have a water bottle filter.
That I take with me everywhere.
I don't like carrying more thanlike a liter of water at a time.
So I like to filter as I go.
I bring my national park pass,of course sometimes I totally
forget it and just have to paythe entry again, but you know
how that is.
And I can't, my camera I'vegotta document these things.
(36:31):
I travel with my wife and wejoke about the amount of time
that I tell her like, wait, godo that again.
Go hike up that quarter again.
And so it's, I'm there capturingthe moments and I don't think
you'd be able to see me withoutmy camera in hand at any given
point.
Missy Rentz (36:47):
What is your favorite campfire activity?
Matt Moreau (36:52):
Favorite campfire activity.
I like, I really like to cookaround the campfire.
You put me in a group of friendswho are enjoying a campsite.
I want a job to do.
I don't want the social pressureof keeping the conversation
going, so I will frequently puta lot of thought and effort and
prep into.
(37:14):
Somewhat elaborate, like adeceptively simple but secretly
elaborate campfire meal.
Yeah that, that would be, thatwould have to be it.
Missy Rentz (37:23):
Tent, camper, or cabin.
Matt Moreau (37:26):
Neither actually I sleep in the back of our.
Vintage 1988 Land Cruiser.
When we're camping, if it's carcamping like a campground or
dispersed like forest serviceroads, that kind of thing we'll
put the backseat down, roll outthe air pads, hang up a couple
string lights, it's perfectlyflat in the back.
(37:48):
I don't make cars like thatanymore and it's enough him to
sit up in and just long enough.
To where I don't have to curl upinto fetal position when I'm
sleeping, so I could actuallystretch out.
But I hate putting away a wettent.
So when backpacking, of course,that's fine.
It's necessary evil, but giventhe choice, we're sleeping in
(38:10):
the back of the lay cruiser,
Missy Rentz (38:12):
And are you hiking with or without trekking poles?
Matt Moreau (38:16):
Width every time.
Yep.
I need to make those knees last.
Missy Rentz (38:21):
What is your favorite trail snack?
Matt Moreau (38:26):
That depends on what decade.
You ask me.
Early on, it was just a Snickersbar, king size, Snickers.
I would have that every morningon a backpacking trip just
loaded with peanuts and sugar.
And I don't do that so muchanymore.
My my trail snack now, actually,can I give you a I, I think I've
replaced snacking with the,hydration packs, like the, yeah,
(38:49):
a lot of times I think I'vedeveloped a dependency on the
electrolyte packs that you addto your water bottle.
That's I've noticed that thoseare as important as calories for
me.
Especially in the southeast whenit gets like you're dealing with
a hundred degrees, a hundredpercent humidity, so easy to get
dehydrated.
Yeah, those have been alifesaver.
Missy Rentz (39:11):
What is your favorite animal sighting?
Matt Moreau (39:15):
Seen a lot of bears on the trails and it's always
cool.
The one that stands out to me iswhat I thought was a bear that
was like five feet off the trailjust emerged as we were hiking
by, freaked us out.
But it was a moose.
It was in Glacier National Parkand we just saw this brown.
(39:36):
Like back this hump come out ofthe blueberry bushes and we
totally thought it was a grizzlybear.
Still scary still dangerous, butit was a moose just checking us
out.
Missy Rentz (39:49):
What is your favorite sound in the park?
Matt Moreau (39:56):
I think the white noise machine of camping near a
creek.
I don't like crickets.
'cause they'll stop at somepoint and it it gets really
quiet and scary, but it, the,their creek doesn't stop and it
just creates this like constantlow a level of noise that you
(40:17):
can fall asleep to reallyeasily, it's comforting.
It's there.
So I think I'd have to go withthat.
Missy Rentz (40:22):
And what is the greatest gift that the parks
give to us?
Matt Moreau (40:27):
For me, the greatest gift that it gives me
is the ability to refill thewell.
I think that life and work.
Tend to just drain it so that ifyou go back to keep drawing from
that, you eventually will pullup a bucket with nothing in it
(40:49):
and you're like, all right, Ijust need to escape to nature.
So that, to me that's what itis.
And I think a lot of peopleprobably resonate with that.
You don't have to be a businessowner, you don't have to be
creative.
Every now and then, you justneed to walk in the woods to
restore.
A little something about youthat you've been missing.
So I think that's the best giftthey give us.
Missy Rentz (41:10):
Matt, thank you for your art and your creativity and
your cozy t-shirts and for beingwith us today on the Parks
podcast to teach us about.
Out, giving back when we'redoing our shopping, and when
we're choosing the companies wework with.
Thank you.
Matt Moreau (41:26):
Of course it is.
Absolutely.
My pleasure to be here, andthank you Missy for telling our
story and for also you're such agreat way of amplifying things
like this that are important.
Missy Rentz (41:36):
Thank you! That's it for this episode.
Until next time, we'll see youin the parks.
Thanks for listening.
If you enjoyed today's episode,please be sure to like and share
on your favorite podcastplatform.
Music for the parks podcast isperformed and produced by Porter
Hardy.
For more information, pleasefollow us on Instagram at the
(41:57):
parks podcast.
Or visit ourwebsite@theparkspodcast.com.
When hustle and bustle becomepart of our daily vocabulary and
we're making lists and checkingthem twice, how can we make sure
our spending is working a littleharder for the places we love?
Join me as we talk aboutshopping values.
I'm your host, Missy Rentz, andthis is the Parks podcast.
Missy Rentz (00:23):
Today we have Matt Moreau who is the partner and
creative director at theLandmark Project.
Matt, welcome to the Parkspodcast.
Matt Moreau (00:31):
Thanks Missy.
I am so excited to be here.
Missy Rentz (00:34):
I am so excited to speak with you.
Full disclosure, a couple ofweeks ago I got to come into
your facility and do a tour, andI loved the Landmark project
before and I really love it nowwhen I see the tender loving
care that you guys put intoevery product and piece of art
that you create.
So I'm really grateful to you,for being here.
Matt Moreau (00:53):
Yeah, it was fun to have you.
We always like to lift thecurtain and let other people see
the magic behind the scenes.
For somebody who's notfamiliarwith screen printing and
how we put a graphic on at-shirt, it kinda looks like a
magic trick every time and Idon't get tired of it.
I've been doing it for 20 yearsso I don't get tired of seeing
it.
But at, the artwork lives on mycomputer screen for such a long
(01:16):
time before it actually makesits way onto a t-shirt.
So I understand how it's fun andyou get to meet the crew and
yeah, it was great to have you.
Missy Rentz (01:25):
And I think that I think people, sometimes I, for
one take for granted that,t-shirts are just, they just
happen.
But when you watch the processand you realize that human
beings are integral in everypart, they touch your shirt like
it is done with love and careand precision, and it just makes
anything I see or wear feel morespecial when I get to experience
(01:48):
what I did with you guys and tomeet your team and see how, they
adjust the shirts to make surethey're on right and they play
with the colors and it's justreally a fascinating process.
Matt Moreau (01:58):
Yeah.
I love that.
I'm so glad you got toexperience it.
Missy Rentz (02:00):
me too.
So the Landmark Project, you'rean apparel company founded in
2007, so you're almost having abig birthday here, coming soon.
And big capital A N D.
You're a company that iscommitted to sustainability and
conservation.
How and when did this wholevision begin for you?
Matt Moreau (02:21):
We started the company because we were already
screen printing shirts for otherpeople and.
Imagine like a real smallcompany, five or six people at
the most working and run mostlyby outdoor enthusiasts and
creatives who all knew eachother in college.
So we got to a point about 10years ago, like you said, that
(02:43):
milestone coming up, that wejust got burned down on other
people's products that we didn'tcare about.
It kept the lights on butcreative fulfillment was
lacking.
So because we were all into theoutdoors, spent our weekends
outside, we just decided let'smake something that we wanna
(03:04):
wear.
And the idea was not to start abrand, it was to start a
creatively fulfilling sideproject, which is how we got the
name, The Landmark Project, andit stuck.
Our friends loved the shirts.
We started like selling'em atcost to people we knew just to,
it was like a inside secret.
And eventually we had somebodycome by our shop and offer to
(03:27):
take samples on the road, showthem to their retail accounts.
We're like, you know what?
Sure let's see what you do withit.
And that person came back a fewweeks later with purchase orders
from local retailers.
So we're like, oh, I guess we'redoing this.
And.
The Landmark project was born.
We never expected it to scalethe way that it has in the last
(03:50):
10 years.
So early on in, in our brandstory, we started selling to key
REI stores, which then becameall REI stores.
We started selling to NationalPark stores, concessionaries
across the us and we're now inabout 1500 independent
retailers, a couple of keyretailers as well.
in those early stages of growth,when we were scrambling to learn
(04:15):
about how to make t-shirts atscale, we realized that how
great the negative impact was ofthe textile industry on the
environment.
And we were at a bit of acrossroads because we knew if we
wanted to do this, we had to doit in a way that we were okay
with.
And as, as a small developingbrand, you don't have a lot of
(04:37):
control over that, yet.
You don't have a lot of power.
You don't have a lot of muscleto flex.
So the, I think the thing thatreally just stood out to us was
like let's do this in a way thatwe could be proud of the way we
make our garments, the materialsthat we use, the way that we
screen print the factories thatwe partner with.
(04:58):
Then also if we're going to betelling the story of the
national parks or just outdoorsin general, conservation, our
charitable partners, et cetera,we need to actually have a give
back component to these productsso that when consumers who are
buying these shirts, becausethey resonate with the message
on them, we need to make surethat there's a full circle
(05:22):
supporting give back that goesback to those charitable
partners or to something thatthe the consumer, and ourselves,
that we care about.
So that's how we got startedthere.
The early days since we didn'tset out to build a brand.
The first thought was like,let's make cool stuff we wanna
wear.
Then again, as soon as westarted seeing the sales pick up
(05:45):
and we realized what we had thepotential that this whole brand
had, we realized that we need todo a little bit of good along
the way.
And I'm grateful that we hadthat foresight because even
though we never expected toreach a point, like I think we
just hit a million and a halfdollars given back.
That doesn't include in- kinddonations, volunteer work.
(06:08):
All the intangible benefits ofworking with our charitable
partners.
If somebody were to go back 10years ago and say, Hey just by
giving small amounts of moneyfor every T-shirt you sell, you
could reach a million and a halfdollars.
That would've blown my mind as ayoung 30-year-old, that would've
absolutely blown my mind.
Missy Rentz (06:27):
It's, that's a lot of money.
Was it always about parks andpublic land?
Was that always your focus?
Matt Moreau (06:34):
Yeah, it was, it started out specifically
national parks and then werealized, oh, there's so much
more than just the nationalparks.
'cause everybody would be ridingus and saying Hey, I love that
Yosemite shirt, but also youshould do something for this,
like really small, reallyspecial national forest in my
backyard because, lot of peoplego to Yosemite, if they're
(06:56):
lucky, once, maybe twice intheir life, and yet every
weekend they're spending time inPisco National Forest, which is
what we do.
So we realize some of theseother public lands have more
visitor pressure than some ofthe smallest national parks.
And you started thinking aboutwe need to be telling that story
(07:19):
as well, but also.
What about just like cool shirtswith some leave no trace
messaging.
There's so much that is adjacentto and related to the idea of
park specific that, everybodyhas their own personal landmark.
Like our first hashtag was MyLandmark.
We encourage people to use that,tag us and wherever they're
(07:41):
going and let us know this isthe place that you call home.
And that, that just reallyopened our eyes to the idea that
everybody recreates outside in adifferent way.
Whether you're an urban youstroll the streets of your
neighborhood and your city, oryou go completely off grid and
you backpack through awilderness area out west there,
(08:02):
or anything in between.
There's gravel bikes, there'srock climbing.
There's ATVs, there's fishing.
It's a huge industry and areally big tent.
So we decided not to limitourselves to national parks and
just really try to be whereverpeople are enjoying the outdoors
and try to really like, createproducts that resonate with a
(08:22):
huge variety of different typesof outdoor enthusiasts.
Missy Rentz (08:26):
And as you're building the company, it's clear
that the give back was part ofthe mission from the beginning.
And oftentimes when I'm talkingto organizations, they're like,
"oh, that, but that's too hardor that's too expensive." How
did you overcome that challengein order to stay true to this
mission?
Matt Moreau (08:46):
Yeah, it's a.
It certainly is anadministrative burden and the
idea of if you're not givingback, the idea of suddenly
starting to take margin fromyour product and give it to
something is a little bit scary.
Having done it since thebeginning is helpful for us
because we know, like that'sjust revenue that we plan for as
we're designing products.
(09:07):
There's a, anywhere between oneand 10% of that is getting
skimmed off.
Sometimes even 20% is gettingskimmed off and set directly to
a charitable partner.
I'd like to think about it asif, a copywriter who we work
with told me this and so I can'ttake credit for it, but we were
talking about being 1% for theplanet, and I love the 1% for
(09:31):
the Planet organization.
We've been a member for manyyears now, and they have a
network of brands and companiesthat give to a network of
recipient charitable partnersthat are all vetted and in some
kind of conservation orcharitable work in the outdoors,
and it allows us to choose froma list of predetermined options
(09:55):
to give back to.
And while we were building this1% for the Planet strategy, I
was struggling with the ideathat 1% doesn't sound like much,
it sounds like very little.
And I'm like, are we doing.
Are we doing enough here?
And how do we tell our customersthat like, Hey, guess what, we
(10:16):
give back 1%.
That's there's nothing smallerthan 1%.
Like it's, so that's like sayingwe're doing the bare minimum.
Please.
Like us.
And my copywriter had a reallyinsightful comment and she said,
she's if you go out.
(10:37):
You set your compass towards away point, but you are one
degree off.
You're gonna end up at acompletely different place.
And I thought that was sointeresting because at the
beginning, 1% feels reallysmall.
But like looking back from wherewe started and where we are now,
if we weren't doing this.
(10:59):
We set our compass, right wherewe wanted to be, instead of 1%
to, to the side.
We'd be in a completelydifferent place.
We'd be completely lost.
And that is, that's just a goodreminder that like there,
there's no such thing as notgiving enough give, give back, I
feel, what you're comfortabledoing, what you can do, and have
(11:22):
the goal to grow that over timeif you want to, or invest in
very specific local needs, ifyou can.
Start maybe by just doing inkind donations or doing some
volunteer work, there's a lot ofother ways instead of just big
chunks at a time, 10, 20%.
I wouldn't ever encourage.
(11:43):
I'm a business owner, so I knowhow important it is to have
revenue and margin, like we'rein business to make money.
We're not a charity, but I wouldalways encourage people to like,
start with whatever you'recomfortable with and if you
could do better next season,great.
Do better.
But don't do nothing.
I think that's where especiallyif you're building your business
around something that reallycould be so helpful, especially
(12:07):
in this current climate.
The parks are understaffed,they're under-resourced, and
it's getting worse.
So being able to provide somekind of small financial aid
where it counts, makes such adifference to the right person.
Missy Rentz (12:25):
I also think it's interesting in the outdoor
industry there's a lot ofbusinesses that do give back and
it's, to me, it's one of thosethings where you're giving back
to what makes your businessviable.
Without those parks, we don'thave gear, we don't have the
need for this stuff.
So I do think it's important.
How does giving back work foryour organization?
(12:47):
You've mentioned the$1.5million, but you do other things
as well for giving back and forconservation and whatnot.
What other things do you all do?
Matt Moreau (12:58):
One of my favorite, like I, I guess you could call
it a hack, but maybe it's astrategy, but we choose, since
we're an art forward, an artthemed brand, we choose to
partner with some reallyinteresting heritage artwork
providers, or I guess licensers.
(13:18):
So I think Smokey Bear, WoodsyOwl, Leave No Trace.
These companies have IP thatgoes back up to 80 years.
If you're Smokey Bear, it's oneof the original trademarks of
the US Forest Service and it'sstill in use, but we pay a
royalty on that up to 10%, onthese products and we choose to
(13:41):
partner with companies whoseroyalty goes directly towards
some kind of conservation.
So in the case, the easiestexample is in the case of Smokey
Bear, we chose to, and weactually had wildfires six,
seven years ago in the SmokyMountains here in the east.
They're not as common here asout west, and it was a wake up
(14:02):
call for us to see friends andfamily displaced, to see
retailers lose everything, tosee some of our favorite trails
be closed because of damage.
It was a wake up call of thedevastating impact of wildfires
and we thought, Hey look we're abrand.
We can help raise awarenessaround this.
We don't want this to become amore common thing in our neck of
the woods.
(14:23):
So we started working with theForest Service to put Smokey's
messaging on products that wecarry.
And it's with that, through thatwe've been paying a royalty over
the years, and that goesdirectly towards more education
about wildfire prevention.
So if you see Smokey Billboards,if you see Smokey Bear in the
parade visiting a school.
(14:45):
That's all funded in part bycompanies like us who do quite a
bit of licensing work on, keepputting smoking on products and
keeping his message out there.
So we try to find more likethings like that.
If it's not artwork that we doin house, it's artwork that has
some kind of charitableconnection and or a conservation
(15:07):
connection.
Besides that, we also do quite abit of trail work service
oriented projects.
So imagine last year we did, wehelped build a wheelchair
accessible trail through one ofour local national forests.
We've done some just clean upprojects in our local river.
(15:29):
Also in Yosemite National Park.
So it's like everything from alocal level to which engages a
lot of our not just ourcommunity, but like our
employees and their families andtheir friends, but going out to
a beautiful place like Yosemiteor Rocky Mountain and doing
meaningful work there so that wecan inject our brand right into
(15:49):
the center of what the park'sdoing and getting to stay
familiar and stay engaged withthe park services priorities.
So we try to try to findopportunities like that.
And there's usually some in kinddonations, there's usually some
rallying of community and, a bartab afterwards.
But that all is just a ways ofokay, so if it's not just.
(16:11):
It's not just writing the check,but it's like demonstrating the
benefit of rolling up yoursleeves, inviting the community
to come together on a serviceproject that's just gonna
benefit them.
Missy Rentz (16:25):
Are really soul filling experiences and to
connect with the parks in thatunique way is so special.
Matt Moreau (16:32):
yeah, it is.
And I don't personally sign thechecks, you know that, so it's
really easy to get lost in thebusiness operations over here
and forget why we got into thisin the first place.
No, we were coming in late,leave it early, back in the day
when it was just screen printingt-shirts in the house.
And those were really fun.
But like the draw of theoutdoors was so big that it just
(16:56):
kept us going back to it.
And now that we're a businesswith 40 employees, we run a much
tighter ship.
We have schedules and ouremployees have families, and
it's like we don't go outsidenearly as much as we used to.
And it's so important to justbuild in those opportunities to
(17:18):
remind ourselves like, no, thisis why we started doing this.
This is why we exist.
This hasn't changed for people,this hasn't changed for us.
We have to have moments where wecan actually get outside and
just reconnect with nature.
Refill the like the work week islong, so being able to have that
creative fulfillment.
Find rest and come back nextweek.
(17:39):
Refresh is really important.
So it provides opportunity forour team.
It provides opportunity forother people.
And if, and even if you somebodycan't make it to one of these
activations, we love that.
Maybe it's showing them thatthey're not super hard to do and
hopefully they take theinitiative to find whatever is
in their area.
Missy Rentz (18:00):
So your, those activations are open to other
people to participate with you.
Matt Moreau (18:05):
Yeah, for the most part they are.
We there are of course alldifferent sizes and scales and
sometimes we're limited on whatour usually we partner with a
ranger.
Or a friend's group, they mightonly have 30 shovels or 30 pairs
of gloves or insurance might capa group size.
So we're always limited on howmany people could participate.
(18:28):
But then there are otherorganizations that can handle
that very large group sizes andare set up to do bigger
multi-day.
Projects like Yosemite Faceliftis one of them that every year
in September, thousands ofpeople come to Yosemite National
Park to take to take part in amassive park wide, community
(18:51):
wide strategic cleanup of thepark.
After, after the summer seasoncomes to an end, they pick up
thousands of pounds of trash.
They do, they remove graffiti.
They fix trail erosion.
Last time we were there, we werecollecting seeds from native
species of plants so that theycan then be germinated and
(19:13):
planted in areas of the parkthat need restoration.
Then that the following season,it's really
Missy Rentz (19:20):
so cool.
Yeah.
Matt Moreau (19:21):
cool and it's because of our partnerships with
companies that actually knowwhat they're doing.
Like we could show up ready totake marching orders and we're
willing to spend the day inservice.
And we're relying on ecologistsrangers to help lead those
projects.
So as many as many people as cancome, we are happy to have them.
Missy Rentz (19:46):
And Matt has an incredible marketing team that,
that works there.
And they do a great job on theirwebsite and social media.
So I encourage you to followthem on social so that you can
learn about the projects thatthey have done in the past and
what's coming up.
'cause it's really spectacularto see the work that, that you
are doing and have done.
How.
Would some, how would yourecommend someone figure out
(20:08):
what are those sorts oforganizations to work with, and
who are you working with rightnow?
Matt Moreau (20:14):
That's a great question.
I usually like to tell peoplestart with the place that you
already love.
Don't, if you're somewhere inOhio maybe don't be like, I
wanna go do a service project inYellowstone in a couple weeks.
I would, I'm sure you can dothat.
I'm not trying to say don't, orthat it would be that hard, but
if you wanna try something,there's always an opportunity on
a local level.
(20:34):
For us, I'm just gonna tell you.
How it works in my hometown,which is a fairly small town,
but I'm in Greenville, SouthCarolina, it's one of the bigger
cities in South Carolina.
We're on the mountain side andwe are close to the Blue Ridge
Mountains, close to Appalachiaand the Smokies just a couple
hours away.
And then in our town, like weliterally have.
(20:56):
A river that goes throughdowntown.
It used to be, it used to be thedumping place for all the
textile mills that they wouldjust have all this waste and not
know what to do with it back inthe thirties and forties and.
As they would be producingtextiles they would dump the
wastewater in the river.
Literally the trash, everythingwould go in this river.
(21:18):
It's a beautiful river, but itneeds a lot of restorative work,
not just removing all of thatall of the waste from decades of
misuse, but also removing nativespecies.
Re like fixing the pathway ofthe river that was modified to
flow between these millbuildings.
(21:38):
Shoring up the riparian zonesand making sure they're healthy
for native insects and animalsand birds.
Seeing how this river is.
PA is such a big part of ourcommunity.
We started working with thefriends group that was formed to
(21:59):
to over the years bring thisriver, restore this river back
to good health.
And the friends group is anonprofit.
It's very small.
So when we write a check for.
Like$5,000.
That actually helps in so manyways to them by paying for water
testing, lab testing, suppliesfor the way they, they may have
(22:23):
huge community workdays thatwhere people in Greenville come
out.
So gloves, ropes, shovels, allthe things that you might need
to outfit a crew of volunteers.
But beyond that, the the friendsgroup also does like.
Planting.
So we'll donate our spentcardboard to be used to smother
(22:45):
old invasive grasses and plantnew ones on top of it.
So I, it's called air layeringand you could just.
Instead of digging up andremoving old plants, you could
just kill'em off by layeringbiodegradable cardboard on top.
So it's neat.
It's a neat way of us taking,like some of our products that
we, or not products, butmaterials that would normally
(23:05):
just go to recycling or go to alandfill and putting'em to work
as part of a solution there.
And our whole team comes out.
We get in the river, we yank outold tires.
This is only possible becauselike we care about our local
river and there is a friendsgroup that is set up to help put
(23:27):
us to work.
So find, I'd say find likewhat's your local state park?
What's your local you might havea national park in your local
area or a national forest.
There's almost guaranteed to besome kind of.
Nonprofit friends group that'sassociated with that place.
And that's the perfect place tostart because they are in
(23:47):
constant communication with therangers.
Constant communication with cityofficials.
They know what projects need tobe done.
They know what projects need tobe funded.
Maybe they need, maybe they havea volunteer day coming up.
And a lot of time, a lot oftimes these small friends or
conservancy groups.
They just don't have a reallyloud voice.
They don't have a lot of socialmedia following.
(24:09):
They don't have a lot of peopleon their email list, they might
have really good opportunitiesfor the community, but they're
just not getting heard orthey're not getting seen.
Take it might take just a littlebit of research in your local
area and a couple phone calls oremails to get connected with the
right person.
But that's where I like to tellpeople to start.
And then if you find that youlove volunteer work, get a
(24:29):
couple friends and maybe reachout and say, Hey, we got a group
of.
Eight, 12 of us, we all wouldlove to do a service project
together.
What do you have and what's adate that works for you?
And our local state park, wewould absolutely love that.
We would totally put together asmall group of we would totally
put to work a small group offriends on a, something we've
(24:50):
done in the past.
It's just like a great, we have.
We have trees that need to be reblazed because the paint's s
worn off, or it's been, it'sfaded.
And the trees, as the trees havegrown.
So here's the blade blazestencil.
Here's a can of spray paint.
This is the pips wall trail.
And just go for it.
Go find the old blazes and blazeover up.
That's such a benefit.
Missy Rentz (25:10):
fun.
Matt Moreau (25:11):
It would be really fun.
And you're out, you're outside.
Missy Rentz (25:13):
Exactly.
You're walking that trailanyway.
Yeah.
Matt Moreau (25:16):
the trail, you've got your friends with you.
Yeah.
And once you do one of these,you really are breaking the ice.
It's just, they're so fun to doand they're fulfilling.
And and you look, every timeyou're on that trail, later you
look back and see the work thatyou did
Missy Rentz (25:31):
Yes,
Matt Moreau (25:32):
and.
Missy Rentz (25:33):
And I'm hearing I'm hearing as you're talking, like
my brain's going crazy on twosides.
First, the individual, how youcan get involved, but then also
from a corporation or businessstandpoint, it's more than just
money.
You've talked about, the,certainly the dollars, but you
guys give with time.
And then even taking a look atthe resources you have, whether
it be you have a big followingon social media and you could
(25:54):
help promote them, or you have aton of cardboard boxes and they
need it for something.
So it's just amazing.
The idea is you're, you arealready shared with us on how we
can support these organizationsand incorporate the give back
into our missions.
Matt Moreau (26:10):
Yeah, it's there's, it's so much more than just
writing a check.
Missy Rentz (26:14):
Yeah.
Yeah, absolutely.
Okay, so speaking of the, somuch more, let's talk about
shopping for good.
We are entering the holidayseason and I think we are at a
time, you mentioned the fundingand the resources of our
national parks, it also goeswith our forests and other
things.
And we've had several episodesabout how do you get involved
(26:35):
and advocate.
But one thing, and one reason Iwanted to talk to you, is a
really good way to advocate isto spend where your values are
and make decisions based off ofthat.
And so as we're entering the bigshopping season how does someone
find out what their organizationis doing?
(26:57):
Okay, if I wanna buy a T-shirt,how do I find out that, oh, The
Landmark Project Look at whatthey're giving back.
Matt Moreau (27:04):
That's a good question.
I, every brand's gonna telltheir story differently.
We know that our customer justlike really cares about these
things that the same as we do,and we just decide we don't
wanna just shove it in theirfaces and make sure that we're
not trying to virtue signal hereand be a little over the top.
We're just, we want people toknow, if you do buy from us.
(27:27):
Which we'd be extremelygrateful.
Every sale means something tous, but we really want people to
know, like we are doing our bestover here to do a little good
with we take that responsibilityseriously, like y'all are
keeping us in business.
Our wholesale partners arekeeping us in business, our
customers who are engaging withus on so many different ways,
(27:48):
either by communicating throughsocial media.
Leading reviews on the site,coming to our events, seeing us
at festivals.
Like we listen and we know whatour customers are doing with
their lives and with theirvalues and we try to meet them
where they are.
So our approach is to just makesure that messaging is
accessible on our website.
If you wanna know more, likewhat specifically does this
(28:12):
product benefit then it's thereon the product page.
For Smokey Bear products, itgoes directly to wildfire
prevention.
So if you're somebody who livesin a wildfire prone area, if
you've been personally affectedby wildfires in the past, that's
an easy one.
And the, I'd say if you likeSmokey Bear products, you
probably see a lot of them onthe internet and.
(28:33):
A good thing to do is just makesure it's a licensed product.
There's a lot.
Missy Rentz (28:37):
I wanna tell, talk a little bit about that, just to
educate people on the differenceyou mentioned earlier, licensed
you pay a fee to be able toprint Smokey Bear.
A non-licensed would meanthey're just stealing the
artwork or like what, basicallyno money is going back to
support the forest service,correct.
Matt Moreau (29:00):
That's correct.
Yeah.
And the Forest Service doestheir best to help police this,
but you can't catch'em.
All Smoky Bears been around for80 years and there's a lot of
print on demand and Etsy storesand Timo and Sheen and you can
find a lot of Smokey Bearproducts out there that aren't
licensed or Woodsy Owl or anyother official trademarks.
(29:24):
And it's damaging on a fewdifferent levels.
So number one, the ForestService doesn't get any benefit
from.
A non-licensed Smokey Bearproduct.
Number two, a lot of thenon-licensed Smokey Bear
products have messaging that isnot aligned with Smokey's
messaging.
So Smokey is all aboutpreventing wildfires.
(29:47):
It's been that way since day onein 1944.
That's why he was created, andthey've done an amazing job
protecting that intellectualproperty and that messaging over
the last 81 years.
So when you see a Smokey Bearproduct that says something
good, but not preventingwildfires it dilutes the
messaging and it makes smokey asymbol for other things.
(30:10):
If you see Smokey saying,something.
A lot of times people will dothe Resist Smokey or National
Parks themed, smokey, or even aa parody smokey, like for the
cannabis industry.
Those are actually reallyharmful.
Like we don't wanna see productsout there like that because
again, the, there's a heritageof, intellectual property that
(30:34):
we're trying to protect.
And when you buy the right ones,the ones that actually do good
goes to the Forest Service.
And it, in turn, it helps getmore educational materials, more
educational opportunities outthere about wildfire prevention,
which is the whole point ofSmokey Bear.
So there's, the Internet's fullof parody art.
It's always gonna be that wayfor not just these intellectual
(30:57):
properties, but all, there's fanart for everything you can
imagine.
It's just it's a little bit of aheadwind for us who are trying
to do it the right way.
And you can imagine that likewe, we've come to terms with
having to live in the, in aworld where there's plenty of
competition that has a littlebit of unfair advantage because
it's not going through theproper channels.
(31:19):
But when we do license ourproducts, everything has to be
approved.
The physical samples have to beapproved as well, like the
quality of the product.
Is like everything is a, is topnotch, above board and the
forest services, we don't wannamake anything that they're not
excited
Missy Rentz (31:35):
No and I think as a shopper, if you are looking to
have that feel good momentknowing that what you're buying
is also giving back, then the.
It can take a little bit ofhomework to go and dive in to
that company's website to makesure that they're aligned
properly.
Matt Moreau (31:52):
Yeah, and a lot of companies, so like you can shop
directly with some, nonprofitsor charitable companies that
have their own really coolmerchandise.
So I'm thinking of like theNational Forest Foundation
thinking of Leave No Trace.
These are partners of ours.
If you go to their website, youcould buy directly from them,
which is also a really cool wayto support something you can
(32:12):
get.
You can get a really cool pieceof Landmark or other brands,
merch.
Directly support one of thosenonprofits.
They'll sometimes make their owngift guides that feature.
So the National ParksConservation Association does
this.
They'll have a gift guide thatis all gifts that they know
support the parks.
So there is some, there I wouldalways caution people to if
(32:37):
somebody says they support theparks there, that may be true.
But it also, if there's not likesome, at least some real
beneficiaries listed or if theydon't show other evidence on
their site of the charitablework, maybe question that a
(32:57):
little bit.
Missy Rentz (32:57):
Yeah.
Matt Moreau (32:58):
Yeah, just not everything you see out there is
true, unfortunately.
And I'm not even thinking aboutany brand in particular.
There are great brands outthere, many of whom are, I would
consider competitors to us, butwe're all in it for the same
reason.
So I've never felt animositytowards other people who make
National Park shirts or SmokeyBear shirts if they're doing the
(33:18):
right thing.
If they're doing good along theway, that's great.
There's room for us.
There's plenty of shelf space,there's plenty of closet space.
Pick the product that reallyspeaks to you.
Pick a product that you're gonnawear.
That's, don't pick a productjust to have it and keep it in
your drawer.
Wear it out.
Get cherished use out of thatproduct until it's thread bear.
That's what we wanna see.
(33:39):
And if that's one of ours, ifthat's somebody else's product,
that's totally fine.
The most good you're gonna do isto give that product a long and
cherish life.
That's what I like to tellpeople, is the most sustainable
product they have.
It's the one that you keepwearing and never throw away.
Missy Rentz (33:56):
I love that.
So we wrap up every episode witha speed round of questions and
just answer with what firstcomes to mind.
Matt Moreau (34:04):
Okay.
Missy Rentz (34:05):
What is your earliest park memory?
Matt Moreau (34:08):
Backpacking in Yosemite?
Missy Rentz (34:11):
What made you love the parks?
Matt Moreau (34:14):
I would say a couple really amazing subsets on
some of those first backpackingtrips and realizing we have the
one mile in rule where if youdon't feel like you're loving a
park, just get a mile in.
To any trail.
95% of the tourists drop off.
(34:35):
You start to you don't see theparking lot anymore.
I think that's, yeah, that'swhat made me love the parks.
Missy Rentz (34:42):
What is your favorite thing about our parks
and public lands?
Matt Moreau (34:47):
I think the even playing field that it brings,
it's, I've, I love seeing thediversity of people that enjoy
these parks.
I like.
I like that they're accessibleand that the same kind of thing
being in nature.
It just shows you that issomething that is a universal
value, whoever you are.
Missy Rentz (35:10):
What is your favorite thing to do in our
parks and public?
Lands
Matt Moreau (35:14):
my first experience with backpacking, I think my, if
I were to have.
Any choice of a sport tocontinue doing for the rest of
my life, that would have to beit.
Missy Rentz (35:25):
what park have you yet to visit, but it's on your
bucket list and why?
Matt Moreau (35:31):
Believe it or not, I haven't been to the Grand
Canyon, so it is on my bucketlist because it is one of the
most important parks in the USand I'm intimidated by it
because.
The I'm not a day hiker as muchas I am.
Like I wanna do an epic hike andthe rim to rim trail is pretty
(35:54):
epic.
So I don't wanna visit the GrandCanyon until I have the time and
stamina to do that trail.
Missy Rentz (36:03):
Love that.
What are three must haves youpack for a park visit?
Matt Moreau (36:09):
I have a water bottle filter.
That I take with me everywhere.
I don't like carrying more thanlike a liter of water at a time.
So I like to filter as I go.
I bring my national park pass,of course sometimes I totally
forget it and just have to paythe entry again, but you know
how that is.
And I can't, my camera I'vegotta document these things.
(36:31):
I travel with my wife and wejoke about the amount of time
that I tell her like, wait, godo that again.
Go hike up that quarter again.
And so it's, I'm there capturingthe moments and I don't think
you'd be able to see me withoutmy camera in hand at any given
point.
Missy Rentz (36:47):
What is your favorite campfire activity?
Matt Moreau (36:52):
Favorite campfire activity.
I like, I really like to cookaround the campfire.
You put me in a group of friendswho are enjoying a campsite.
I want a job to do.
I don't want the social pressureof keeping the conversation
going, so I will frequently puta lot of thought and effort and
prep into.
(37:14):
Somewhat elaborate, like adeceptively simple but secretly
elaborate campfire meal.
Yeah that, that would be, thatwould have to be it.
Missy Rentz (37:23):
Tent, camper, or cabin.
Matt Moreau (37:26):
Neither actually I sleep in the back of our.
Vintage 1988 Land Cruiser.
When we're camping, if it's carcamping like a campground or
dispersed like forest serviceroads, that kind of thing we'll
put the backseat down, roll outthe air pads, hang up a couple
string lights, it's perfectlyflat in the back.
(37:48):
I don't make cars like thatanymore and it's enough him to
sit up in and just long enough.
To where I don't have to curl upinto fetal position when I'm
sleeping, so I could actuallystretch out.
But I hate putting away a wettent.
So when backpacking, of course,that's fine.
It's necessary evil, but giventhe choice, we're sleeping in
(38:10):
the back of the lay cruiser,
Missy Rentz (38:12):
And are you hiking with or without trekking poles?
Matt Moreau (38:16):
Width every time.
Yep.
I need to make those knees last.
Missy Rentz (38:21):
What is your favorite trail snack?
Matt Moreau (38:26):
That depends on what decade.
You ask me.
Early on, it was just a Snickersbar, king size, Snickers.
I would have that every morningon a backpacking trip just
loaded with peanuts and sugar.
And I don't do that so muchanymore.
My my trail snack now, actually,can I give you a I, I think I've
replaced snacking with the,hydration packs, like the, yeah,
(38:49):
a lot of times I think I'vedeveloped a dependency on the
electrolyte packs that you addto your water bottle.
That's I've noticed that thoseare as important as calories for
me.
Especially in the southeast whenit gets like you're dealing with
a hundred degrees, a hundredpercent humidity, so easy to get
dehydrated.
Yeah, those have been alifesaver.
Missy Rentz (39:11):
What is your favorite animal sighting?
Matt Moreau (39:15):
Seen a lot of bears on the trails and it's always
cool.
The one that stands out to me iswhat I thought was a bear that
was like five feet off the trailjust emerged as we were hiking
by, freaked us out.
But it was a moose.
It was in Glacier National Parkand we just saw this brown.
(39:36):
Like back this hump come out ofthe blueberry bushes and we
totally thought it was a grizzlybear.
Still scary still dangerous, butit was a moose just checking us
out.
Missy Rentz (39:49):
What is your favorite sound in the park?
Matt Moreau (39:56):
I think the white noise machine of camping near a
creek.
I don't like crickets.
'cause they'll stop at somepoint and it it gets really
quiet and scary, but it, the,their creek doesn't stop and it
just creates this like constantlow a level of noise that you
(40:17):
can fall asleep to reallyeasily, it's comforting.
It's there.
So I think I'd have to go withthat.
Missy Rentz (40:22):
And what is the greatest gift that the parks
give to us?
Matt Moreau (40:27):
For me, the greatest gift that it gives me
is the ability to refill thewell.
I think that life and work.
Tend to just drain it so that ifyou go back to keep drawing from
that, you eventually will pullup a bucket with nothing in it
(40:49):
and you're like, all right, Ijust need to escape to nature.
So that, to me that's what itis.
And I think a lot of peopleprobably resonate with that.
You don't have to be a businessowner, you don't have to be
creative.
Every now and then, you justneed to walk in the woods to
restore.
A little something about youthat you've been missing.
So I think that's the best giftthey give us.
Missy Rentz (41:10):
Matt, thank you for your art and your creativity and
your cozy t-shirts and for beingwith us today on the Parks
podcast to teach us about.
Out, giving back when we'redoing our shopping, and when
we're choosing the companies wework with.
Thank you.
Matt Moreau (41:26):
Of course it is.
Absolutely.
My pleasure to be here, andthank you Missy for telling our
story and for also you're such agreat way of amplifying things
like this that are important.
Missy Rentz (41:36):
Thank you! That's it for this episode.
Until next time, we'll see youin the parks.
Thanks for listening.
If you enjoyed today's episode,please be sure to like and share
on your favorite podcastplatform.
Music for the parks podcast isperformed and produced by Porter
Hardy.
For more information, pleasefollow us on Instagram at the
(41:57):
parks podcast.
Or visit ourwebsite@theparkspodcast.com.
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