The world’s first PFC-free, recycled, waterproof-breathable jacket hits shelves this week. A hip-hop star is singing its praises.
Columbia Sportswear’s OutDry Extreme ECO Shell jacket swept the awards at the Outdoor Retailer trade show this summer, and for good reason. The brand calls it “the most environmentally responsible performance jacket Columbia has ever made.”
And it is groundbreaking. Beyond the eye-raising environmental back-story, the jacket works great. In our testing, it stood toe-to-toe with other, more expensive options.
So, to launch the product in grand fashion, Columbia signed Ben Haggerty, better known as Grammy-winning artist Macklemore.
Columbia And Macklemore
“For decades, rain jackets were made with perfluorinated compounds, a.k.a., ‘The devil of the forest,'” Macklemore says in the video.
Macklemore, along with Ryan Lewis, rose to the top of the music charts with the song “One Love” in 2012. The Seattle duo champion a variety of activist causes, including environmental responsibility.
At this point, the OutDry Extreme ECO Shell jacket is as environmentally responsible as a jacket can be. Columbia makes the coat entirely without PFCs. It’s made of 100 percent recycled plastic—the equivalent of 21 plastic bottles—and no dyes.
REI is currently the exclusive retailer of the $199 Outdry Extreme ECO, which landed in stores this week.
