Any serious skateboarder can tell you just how dangerous a board can be, but did you know that skateboards also pose a serious threat to our environment? According to The Science Channel, skateboards have replaced furniture as the leading contributor to the Canadian Maple’s deforestation. This unique tree takes 40 to 60 years to mature before it can be cut and harvested to make skate decks, and with its growing popularity, this sport is a tree hugger’s nightmare. While casual skateboarders and long boarders may keep the same board for years, professional and amateur skateboarders can break and discard multiple skateboards in one day. Not to mention the oil based glues, fiberglass layers, and urethane wheels used to manufacture the vast majority of skateboards. However you slice it, skateboarding and going green have always been incompatible, until recently.

 

Inventions and Innovations

 

A few smalltime, environmentally conscious companies have began using new methods and technologies to cut down skateboarding’s drag on the environment. Comet Skateboards and Bamboo Sk8 are some of those companies. By using sustainably harvested bamboo and new non-toxic resins, Comet is producing some of the most eco friendly skateboards to date, but they aren’t stopping there. Comet Skateboards designs and manufactures these eco-friendly skateboards “in the world’s only solar powered skateboard factory, in downtown San Francisco. They’re also working with manufacturers and universities worldwide to help develop ‘green’ epoxies, reinforcements, and coatings,” according to a post by Joel at Life Goggles. Comet’s manufacturing plant also uses a 10KW solar panel array to power the production of these eco-friendly bamboo boards, saving about $12,000 per year and offsetting 20,000 pounds of carbon gas emissions.

 

According to Bamboo Sk8, the world leader in sustainable bamboo skateboard manufacturing, “bamboo is not a tree – it’s a grass, and it grows like one. Many species of bamboo can grow up to 18” in one day.” But that’s not all; bamboo once harvested sprouts four to five new shoots from its roots, meaning it doesn’t require replanting and is endlessly renewable. While comparative materials like Canadian Maple take 40-60 years to mature before harvesting, bamboo matures in as little as three years. Bamboo also produces 35% more oxygen, absorbs four times more carbon dioxides, and removes more atmospheric green house gases than an equivalent size stand of hardwood trees. Bamboo is also one of the strongest “woody” plants on earth with the strength to weight ratio nearly the same as graphite. Bamboo Sk8 also recycles their production waste into other bamboo products and donates broken and worn-down bamboo decks to local artists and charities. Since “skateboarding is the #31 contributor to deforestation in North America and #1 contributor to maple in particular,” the new practices these companies committed to have already began making a world of difference for both skateboarding and the community at large (www.skateboardworks.com).

 

However, it seems odd that given all the benefits only a few companies have taken to these eco-friendly resources and production methods. As Bamboo Sk8 explains:

 

Prior to 2007, other companies had tried using bamboo in skateboards, but none had been successful and quite honestly, the industry as a whole just wasn’t interested in pursuing a resource that would benefit the environment, because it’s bread and butter was banked on using Canadian maple; status quo! After discussions with a host of other skate factories and consulting with top board makers, we started the initial building and testing – 86% bamboo hybrids and 100% bamboo models.  Unfortunately, the hybrids didn’t match the strength and consistency that the 100%’s were demonstrating at that time so we pulled the plug on them. 

Although Gravity Skateboards has opted not to go down the bamboo board path, they do offer a new technology that takes scrap, left over wood from the manufacturing process and converts it into an even more resilient new skateboards. In essence, Gravity found a way to recycle normally discarded materials back into an even better skate product, creating a win win by improving skateboard quality and saving more trees from being cut. “Our commitment at Gravity since day one was to a fun-filled green environment,” (www.gravityboard.com). In doing their part to make skateboarding a healthier and cleaner sport Gravity Skateboards created new green technologies like “Earth-Fibe.” As a 100% natural replacement for fiberglass, Earth-Fibe is made from hemp and is biodegradable over time. According to Gravity Skateboard’s website, “this leads to less landfill with no harmful airborne fiberglass particles to breathe in. Earth-Fibe has been proven strong enough to take the pounding of the street, yet equally more flexible than traditional fiberglass, without any of the drawbacks.” Gravity has also produced a new decking formula made entirely from ground up and smoothed down recycled bottles. It is applied using water-based urethane “to help insure safe riding and a healthier environment.”

 

Creativity and Recycling

 

Comet Skateboards, Bamboo Sk8, and Gravity Skateboards have created a vision of harmony between skateboarding and our environment, but these sustainable skateboards account for less than 1% of the skateboards manufactured in the $4.8 billion industry per year. With this in mind, a very reasonable question should arise: What happens to the other 99% of skateboards after production? Sadly, many of these boards are trashed once broken. But, thankfully a few companies out there came up with some creative alternatives. Grove, the maker of wood and bamboo cases for iPhones and MacBooks, recently teamed up with MapleXO, a company that makes recycled skateboard jewelry, to begin producing and selling the “SkateBack” (shown below) for iPhone 4, 4s, and 5. These cases are made from the waste material from skateboard factories and old skateboards, which means every case is unique and environment friendly.

 

“If you’ve already decorated your iPhone with a recycled skateboard back panel, then there’s only one accessory you need to complete your look: a pair of sunglasses made from the same stuff,” (Gizmodo.com). Diamond Supply Co announced shades constructed from recycled, multicolored layered wood taken from old skateboard decks. Although shaping the frames is much more complex than the iPhone backs, the design makes them seem well worth it. As mentioned, Maple XO has also created a whole jewelry line made from recycled skateboards. This lineup includes rings, bracelets and even “Skate ‘Stache’ Pins.”

 

 

 

Even a small family from Phoenix Arizona has taken to this creative recycling trend. “Devin and Lisa Kelley take thrown out or defected manufactured skateboards and recycles them into useful things. So far, they’ve made belt buckles, rings, bracelets and earrings out of the boards,” (McMacken). It all started when these parents used the stacks of old skateboards lying around their home to make their kid a birdhouse for a kindergarten assignment, and then they expanded to other new and unique products. The response to their products was so positive that they began selling them and even started their own company -- Recycled Skateboards International. Although they have only been on the market for about a year, the Kelleys are already selling their products in stores from the U.S. to Germany.

 

Although skateboarding still has a long way to go before it can be in complete synchrony with the environment, many people, companies, and products have proven that skateboarding has far more potential for sustainability.

 

Works Cited

 

Condliffe, Jamie. "Rad Sunglasses Made From Recycled Skateboards." Gizmodo.com. Gizmodo, 9 Aug. 2013. Web. 3 Feb. 2013. <http://gizmodo.com/5933200/rad-sunglasses-made-from-recycled-skateboards>.

 

"Environmental Efforts." GravityBoard.com. Gravity Skateboards, n.d. Web. 3 Feb. 2013. <http://www.gravityboard.com/pages/environmental/environmental.html>.

 

Golson, Jordan. "Grove Introduces IPhone Case Made from Recycled Skateboard Materials." MacRumors.com. Mac Rumors, 4 June 2012. Web. 3 Feb. 2013. <http://www.macrumors.com/2012/06/04/grove-introduces-iphone-case-made-from-recycled-skateboard-materials/>.

 

Joel. "Eco-Friendly Skateboards." LifeGoggles.com. Life Goggles, n.d. Web. 3 Feb. 2013. <http://www.lifegoggles.com/794/eco-friendly-skateboards/>.

 

McMacken, Marcy. "Local Family Recycles Skateboards." Azfamily.com. Belo Corp., 7 Oct. 2012. Web. 3 Feb. 2013. <http://www.azfamily.com/news/Local-Family-Recycles-Skateboards-173050171.html>.

 

Oppenheim, Leonora. "Sustainable Skateboards." TreeHugger.com. TreeHuggerTV, 4 July 2006. Web. 3 Feb. 2013. <http://www.treehugger.com/culture/treehuggertv-sustainable-skateboards.html>.

 

Paranjpe, Anjelika. "How to Rock a Recycled Skateboard." Brit.co. Brit + Co., 24 Aug. 2012. Web. 3 Feb. 2013. <http://www.brit.co/how-to-rock-a-recycled-skateboard/>.

 

"Skateboard Manufacturing Finding New "wood" Sources." Skateboardworks.com. N.p., 25 Nov. 2008. Web. 3 Feb. 2013. <http://www.skateboardworks.com/2008/11/25/skateboard-manufacturing-finding-new-wood-sources/>.

 

"Why Bamboo?" BambooSk8.com. Bamboo Skateboards, 2007. Web. 3 Feb. 2013. <http://www.bamboosk8.com/bamboosk8/green.php>.