Brews, Bikes, and Empowerment with MiiR

We’ve been fans of MiiR at Hipcamp for awhile. They have a pretty amazing model, where, when you buy a water bottle, they EMPOWER A PERSON WITH CLEAN WATER FOR ONE YEAR. What we didn’t know until recently connecting further with them regarding our bikes, brews, and camping campaign is that they also make a pretty rad line of bikes and that same philanthropic model applies to their bicycle line. Buy a bike, someone in need gets a bike. To add in a bit of a fun twist, they make a reusable stainless steel growler (which you can MOUNT on your bike with a growler cage!) that you can fill up with coffee or beer at their bikes and brews flagship in Seattle.

Are you as intrigued as we are by this awesome company? Find out more about MiiR below, and why we partnered with them for our recent AleTrails campaign. Cheers.

When we launched our urban bicycle line in 2012 people scratched their heads; everyone thought we were just a bottle company. But our passion for bikes and helping others was stronger than the critics. No one had ever sold a bicycle and then, in turn, empowered one person with access to another bicycle from that purchase. We know why: it’s hard to do. But we also know nothing good comes easy. Since our launch, we have designed 6 styles and part of our line is sold in all REI stores across the U.S. We’ve made fleets for amazing companies like Toad & Co and Patagonia Provisions. All because we truly believe bicycles can help change lives.

Our a-traditional launch into bicycles is similar to how our flagship store design rolled out. We wanted to create a retail experience that extended our passion for community and good design.

We’ve made tumblers and growlers for years and thought serving coffee and beer in these would be the best way to sell them. So we have a full espresso bar and 28 beers on tap for growler fills and pints. It’s an absolute blast to merge product and service, welcoming customers into our story and a better way of purchasing.

While MiiR gives back in an impactful way through each product, we focus on designing the best product first then layering in empowerment pieces. Each vessel we sell empowers one person with clean water for a year, every bike another bicycle to one person, and each beer and coffee with clean water for a day. We strategically invest in empowering others through handups, not handouts. This happens through co-investment of recipient communities to increase sustainability of project, whether a well, a mechanic program, or a classroom. Empowerment means providing people with resources to change their own lives. We believe business can be used to do this. This is why we design to empower.