Updated May 7, 2019. Free soloist Alex Honnold has partnered with performance product company Momentous to launch a range of vegan protein.
For the first few weeks of availability, a percentage of the profits from the range were donated to the Honnold Foundation.
Founded by Honnold — who climbs rocks for a living without the aid of ropes or harnesses — the foundation is working to increase access to sustainable energy and end energy poverty in countries such as Malawi and Zambia.
For every bottle of Momentous AbsoluteZero plant-based protein sold up until the beginning of May, $12 was donated to the foundation — the equivalent of donating two solar lanterns to vulnerable families.
According to Momentous, the lanterns “allow adults to cook, children to do their homework, and families to gather after sundown, free from the dangers of kerosene-burning lamps.”
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Kerosene-burning lamps pour toxic smoke into the atmosphere, notes the Honnold Foundation. The smoke is not only harmful to the environment, but it’s also harmful to human beings.
An Instagram post from the organization notes that burning one lamp is the same as inhaling one pack of cigarettes a day. It explains, “with a solar light, everything changes. No more pack-of-cigarettes-a-day, no more toxic black smoke, and a lot more time for children to study.”
Honnold believes in living life as sustainably and simply as possible; he follows a mostly plant-based diet and has spoken out against animal agriculture in the past.
In June 2016, he uploaded an image of pigs on a Swiss factory farm to Instagram. He wrote, “stumbled upon these pigs while on a rest day hike in Switzerland. Kinda cute, but mostly just gross and sad.”
He added, “nothing like the stench of sewage and the squeals of jailed pigs to remind me why I don’t support the meat industry.”
It was this view that led him to partner with Momentous to create AbsoluteZero, says Honnold.
“I appreciate the clean, high-quality recovery products that Momentous is producing and wanted to get involved,” Honnold says on the website.
“My approach to nutrition is influenced by environmental impact,” he adds. “I try to think about how my food choices impact the world as much as I think about how they affect my body.”