![Is this what game-changing insulation looks like? [Photo] Nancy Hayden](http://backcountrymagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/milkweed_embed_1.jpg)
Is this what game-changing insulation looks like? [Photo] Nancy Hayden
The Coast Guard works in partnership with Encore3, a manufacturing company in Québec, to prototype parkas, gloves and mittens made with milkweed insulation. And the appeal of the pod is threefold: it’s roughly five times lighter than synthetic insulation, is hypoallergenic and helps out monarch butterfly populations—milkweed is the primary food source for monarch caterpillars.

John Hayden poses with his latest crop yield. [Photo] Nancy Hayden
This year, the Haydens harvested 500 pounds of milkweed, and the funds generated will go toward pollinator education. A new spin on insulation that’s lightweight and wholesome? Outdoor industry, take note.
Milkweed is also an important ally of the respiratory system in Medical Herbalism.