Over 20 years ago, Astral was born on a biodynamic farm a few ridges over from the Green River. Since then, we’ve been designing high performance gear built to run the shit, in the lowest impact way.
In 2021, we continued the evolution of our popular Limited Edition (LE) series of life jackets with the introduction of the Heron LE GreenJacket™, honoring the Green River and the communities served by its waters. The design reduced its environmental impact by repurposing fabric and materials leftover from previous PFD productions. A heron embroidered on the back panel of the jacket honors the true keepers of the river and the spirits they represent.
At launch, Astral pledged a portion of the sales of that Heron LE GreenJacket™ to the Green River Access Fund (GRAF), because they, more than anyone else, enable the Green River community to continue to access and love Mamma Green.
We’re proud to announce that Astral has donated $13,810.50 to the Green River Access Fund. This is “the largest amount of support we’ve ever seen from our industry” according to the Green River Access Fund Board of Directors.
Thank you to the Astral and Green River communities! This support of GRAF’s work would not be possible without this community and supporters of the Heron LE GreenJacket™.
Founded in 2003, Green River Access Fund is a non-profit corporation with a mission of maintaining and securing permanent access to the Green River located in Henderson and Polk Counties, North Carolina. For more information on the organization, or to make a donation, visit greenriveraccess.com
“In the beginning the Green was considered one of the hardest runs done. Now it’s one of many training grounds for what is considered hard,” said Shane Benedict, co-founder of Liquidlogic Kayaks and President of the Board for the Green River Access Fund. “The significance of that is that at some point you will see just about anyone who has ever committed to paddling in a large way come through the Green River at some point in their life. The Green River Community is home because so many of us committed everything to the river, the area and the people that made that same commitment.”
