We don’t do too much in the way of traditional advertising at Trek Light Gear and so when we do put an ad together, we like to make it count.   The ad below will be printed full page in every program guide handed out at the Monolith Music Festival as well as in The Marquee (a fantastic and FREE music magazine available in Colorado) and I’m thrilled with the way it came out.   A million thanks to Jon Fogel over at Gravity Creative in St. Louis for putting together an ad that captures about as much of our spirit as could possibly be done on one page.

Check it out:

We’ll be at Red Rocks all weekend long, hope to see some of you there!

Our good friends that are putting on the Monolith Music Festival have just released a fun widget game that allows you to guide a green-powered rocket ship “to recycle goods and blast away harmful waste from Red Rocks, while music from Monolith performers Passion Pit, Port O’Brien, Chain Gang of 1974, and Hearts of Palm rock the park."  

You can win a pair of ALL ACCESS PASSES to the 2008 Monolith Festival in addition to amazing daily prizes including VIP Gold Passes and lightweight hammocks from Trek Light Gear. That's right, they're giving away hammocks to the daily high scorers so if you've been waiting for the right time to get your hands on some Trek Light Gear, maybe you should head over to the Monolith site and try your luck at the Trash Blaster game!   While you’re at it, check out the great lineup and set aside September 13th and 14th to get your dancing shoes on and head over to one of the most beautiful music venues in the world for a five stage music festival that can’t be beat!

Link: Trash Blaster

We're proud to announce that Trek Light Gear is partnering up with the great Monolith Music Festival at Red Rocks, the weekend of September 13th & 14th.

There will be hammocks hanging backstage for the artists, in the VIP lounges and a whole lot more!  The Trek Light booth will also be setup at Red Rocks for all the fans so you can take a break after climbing all those Red Rocks steps and chill out in our amazing hammocks.  Don't forget to pick up some Eco Totes so you can bring home your new CDs and T-Shirts from the Merch Booth without wasting plastic! 

(We should also take this time to remind you that Trek Light’s lightweight hammocks can be hung between two cars, RV’s, Jeep’s or wherever you can find to points strong enough to support your weight.  So don’t wait until the festival to buy your hammock, bring them with you and tailgate in style!)

Check out the great lineup on Saturday and Sunday and get your tickets today.  Everyone who purchases a VIP ticket to the event will also get a free Eco Tote in their VIP package along with all the other great benefits (like hanging out in a hammock in the VIP lounge while listening to the show!).  The Monolith festival is in its second year and if last year was any indication this year's festival is bound to be an event you won't want to miss!

The great folks behind the Monolith Festival (along with help from festival partner Esurance) have completely impressed us with their efforts to ensure that this year’s festival is as green as possible.  The event itself will actually use carbon offsets to be a completely carbon neutral festival, and the list goes on to include everything from great carpooling initiatives, biodegradable concession supplies, and even the Monolith Reforestation Project!

We know there’s nothing better than relaxing in a hammock while listening to great music and there’s no argument that Red Rocks is easily one of the most breathtakingly beautiful music venues on the planet.   We’re extremely proud to be partnering up with the Monolith Music Festival this year and whether you live in Colorado or you’re flying out for the event we hope to see you there and show you why every experience can be a little bit better with Trek Light Gear.

A little Sunday laugh, courtesy of Modern Hiker:

(For the uninitiated, the picture is of a garbage can you’ll find on public trails and campsites that have a concealed handle to prevent animals from getting in…)

On Wednesday, June 25, thousands of people will leave their cars at home and take two wheels to work. 

The League of American Bicyclists has been sponsoring National Bike Month and Bike to Work Day since 1956. Throughout most of the country, these events take place in May, but a few years ago, the state legislature officially declared June as Colorado Bike Month, with the fourth Wednesday of the month being Bike to Work Day.

There will be breakfast stations setup all over the Boulder and Denver metro areas serving up delicious morning treats, so even if you have to leave your house extra early to get to work on time you’ll still be able to squeeze in a good breakfast to start your day.   If you live in Colorado, get that bike out on Wednesday and take part in a great event.   If you don’t live in Colorado, help us celebrate anyways by biking, walking or taking public transportation to work on Wednesday!

A very encouraging development from Best Buy:

Under pressure to help dispose some of the electronic waste it helped create, Best Buy Co. is testing a free program that will offer consumers a convenient way to ensure millions of obsolescent TVs, old computers and other unwanted gadgets don’t poison the nation’s dumps.

(Via Best Buy testing free e-waste recycling program - Going Green- msnbc.com)

I’m always amazed at how difficult it still seems to be to do simple ‘green’ things like recycle or properly dispose of your waste.   You know you’re not supposed to throw your electronics in with the regular trash, but you can’t put them in your recycling bin either, so what do you do?   Currently, you have to contact a group like Colorado’s own Eco-Cycle and find a local recycling center where you can drop it off and also pay a fee while you’re at it.  Or, depending on the manufacturer of your equipment you can sometimes return it straight to them.    Dell has implemented a great, free, recycling program for their branded equipment and, if you purchase new equipment from them, they’ll even offer to recycle your old PC and monitor for free as well.  The only problem is, Dell is out in front in a lot of ways and there are just as many major manufacturers that either don’t make it easy for you to recycle their equipment or they charge you a fee for doing so.

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Memorial Day weekend means a lot of things to a lot of people - a chance to honor our fallen vets, camping, BBQ's, picnics,  a day off from work, gardening, or maybe even a chance to just enjoy the weather and do nothing at all.   

For me, Memorial Day Weekend has meant a weekend spent working for the  last few years, but it's the kind of work I love so that's no complaint.  It can be the busiest weekend of the year in Boulder and it's a chance to get out on Pearl Street and talk to people about Trek Light Gear and always results in a busy sales weekend.  I get to see a lot of people heading home with smiles, eager to enjoy the rest of their long weekend from the comfort of a hammock.    

While I'm working, there's always a million great things going on all around me in Boulder every Memorial Day.   One of those great things is the Bolder Boulder 10K Race which is now in its 30th year.   Over 50,000 people take part in the race, from professional athletes to  small children walking the race with their parents.   It brings people from all over the world to train for the high altitude conditions and it's hard to even imagine the scene it brings to Boulder until you see it firsthand.  Thanks to a rainy day which meant I couldn't even open up the Trek Light cart, I was finally able to do just that after all these years.

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We're proud to announce our official alliance with Team Extreme, the inventors and practitioners of a great new 'sport' known as Extreme Hammocking! You can read all about them on their website extremehammock.com, but suffice to say they're right up our alley and we're proud to have them on board. They've been featured on MTV Live, Gizmodo.com, and various other blogs, radio and TV stations across the planet.

Owning a Trek Light Hammock gives you the ability to leave your backyard behind and enjoy the comfort of a hammock wherever you are. While these guys are certainly bound to take it to a whole new level, we're proud to see that they've got the right idea.

Keep reading for more great pictures after the jump...

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