Upcycler helps Kuma give old tents new life

Katrina Hillyer's living room is packed to the ceiling with camping gear, but not the equipment she uses on a summer weekend. Instead, these tents and camping chairs have minor manufacturing defects, and Hillyer will cut them up and turn them into tote bags and wood carriers.

Hillyer, the founder of Earth Warrior Lifestyle, had been doing corporate upcycling for a few years when she met Kuma Outdoor Gear founder Rob Gomme at a mutual friend's Christmas party in 2023. "I told him I was a local upcycler, and he told me, 'I just learned about textile waste at a summit I was at, and I think I want to create a program in (my company) — would you be open to something like that?'" Hillyer said.

"It just aligned so perfectly with my personal life, because when I'm not working I'm outdoors, and so it worked perfect."

Kuma is among the first outdoor gear companies to give a second life to camping gear through the ReDiscover Project, Hillyer said. Industry leaders Patagonia and Arc'teryx are well-known for their programs that offer repairs on clothing and backpacks, but Hillyer doesn't know of a company other than Kuma that's doing the same for larger gear like tents and chairs.

When Gomme first thought of starting an upcycling program, the Kuma team was small and didn't know how to transform returned items into new products, said Kuma's marketing manager Deanne Ferguson.

"We just want these products to have a second life in a different way. The items that we get back, some of them are sun damaged, or there is damage to the frame, but the fabric is still good, and we just didn't want all this textile waste going into the landfill," Ferguson said.

Currently, most of the gear that Kuma upcycles has manufacturing defects and never made it to a customer, but the company also accepts returns from customers who want to extend the life of their gear. Edmonton-based customers can return their gear to Breathe Outdoors or Lordco Auto Parts.

Although the upcycled products are only available on Kuma's website for now, the company aims to offer them in stores soon. "Our focus right now with this program is to also get it into our retailers's stores, just because they are such a one-of-a-kind item that (Hillyer is) creating, it's hard to sell online and it doesn't really translate very easily," Ferguson said.

Hillyer started Earth Warrior Lifestyle in 2013 after working in the fashion industry for many years. "I saw how much waste was made in manufacturing, and when the company I worked for went under, I decided to leave the industry because it just didn't sit well with me," she said. Her first corporate upcycling contract was with the Edmonton Convention Centre when it was rebranding from the Shaw Conference Centre. "They had all these vinyl signs that were going to go to the landfill, but they … wanted to find a way to upcycle them instead. So we took their signs and we turned them into bags."

Another contract Hillyer has aims to address single-use lanyards at networking events and conferences. Hillyer is working with non-profits, Green Drinks, and Sustain YEG to create a lanyard library. Hillyer sews two branded lanyards together, logos facing in, to create reusable lanyards, and the groups share among themselves instead of making new ones for each event.