Tuesday Jun 28, 2022

E15: Anatomy of an outdoor gear library

** HEADS UP: The podcast audio for this episode has been reuploaded to correctly refer to Dee, Caroline and Lauren as racialized women, since not everyone identifies as Black. The error in the show notes has also been corrected. Catch Me Outside Podcast (a.k.a. Megan) apologizes for the mistake. This is why it's important not to make assumptions! **

Gear libraries have been popping up in communities across North America for a few years now, creating opportunities for people to get outside and go on potentially life-changing adventures.

At the same time, a growing number of organizations is working to make the outdoor community safer, more welcoming and more representative of Black, Indigenous, POC, queer, disabled and otherwise underrepresented folks.

In Guelph,* Ontario, the BIPOC Outdoor Gear Library is doing both, by making gear available for free to people who identify as Black, Indigenous or People of Colour.

For this episode, I’m joined by Dionne “Dee” Daley, Lauren Burrows and Caroline Rodgers, the three avid outdoor adventurers who launched the gear library.

They share their perspectives as racialized women in a white, male dominated industry. They talk about what inspires them, what it takes to get a gear library off the ground, how the library works, who can use it and what they hope the library will achieve.

If you want to help support the BIPOC Outdoor Gear Library, check out their website bipocoutdoorgearlibrary.com to make a donation or learn about volunteer opportunities.

*So-called Guelph, which was given its current name by white colonizers, is situated on the occupied territory of the Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation of the Anishinaabek Peoples.

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E15: Anatomy of an outdoor gear library

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