Repurposed Rewild Retrophy

Author: Adam Bratton
​Read Time: 2 mins

Charlotteans understand the constant state of construction of this region. I’m a long-time environmentalist that has built a career of being keenly aware that with population growth come additional consumption. On a recent run around my neighborhood (which is currently expanding by another 100+ homes as shown in these pictures) I took an extra second to stop and look in a dumpster to see what would end up in the landfill for just one new home. Naturally, I saw a dumpster full of excess and mangled building materials but more importantly, and on a optimistically positive … I also saw this year’s Rewild World Championship Trophy!!

I’m not afraid to admit that I’ve dumpster dived a few too many times in my life … there's endless valuable treasures to find within the "trash". On this run, I excitedly pulled a 5-foot piece of baseboard molding out of the dumpster. Sure, it had a few scratches and was covered in dusty work boot prints, but it was beautiful when sprinkled with a little creativity. A perfect opportunity to turn this scrap wood into an on-brand and on-of-a-kind HPM trophy and continue to share the story of our environmental approach.
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I asked my woodworking and crafty neighbor (shout out to Jay!) to lend a helping hand in bringing this landfill-headed baseboard back to life in the form of a 3-dimensional HPM trophy. It ain’t the prettiest or most refined trophy out there, but then again, neither is the HPM community. And if I’m being honest, that makes it an even better fit in my mind!

Speaking of community … the plan for this repurposed retrophy is to have all Rewild participants write their initials on it at Check-In as another reminder of our environmental approach to the event and our business. This year’s Rewild World Champion will have a little piece of the entire HPM family with them when they toss this dumpster trophy on their mantel.
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To be clear, I’m not naïve enough to think that repurposing a 5-foot piece of wood is going to change the world, and I don’t think there is some deeper dumpster meaning here, but I do know that we will continue to do our part in bringing environmental initiatives, ideas and inspiration to the HPM audience and hope that you will do your part in caring for the planet and places that we love to run, bike, paddle, climb and surf throughout any and all aspects if your life.

Good luck to all Rewilders ... let's see who goes home with the best piece of trash in the world!

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Journal - Rewild Retrophy