The Ecology of Skateboarding, Part 1
Or the environmental impacts of becoming a shred god
I stand quietly on a plank of recycled wood and bamboo, about to drop in on a steep grassy hill. Rocks and knots of grass are strewn about erratically, and I’ve specifically placed myself in such a position that allows me to avoid them. My first attempts at dropping down these hills were unsuccessful - as most first attempts are - but my third attempt was a success. My confidence grew so much that I decided to try a steeper area of the hill.
I dropped in. The front of my board slid to the left, leaving me to twist my ankle in an attempt to stay on the board and I fell down the hill.
Sincerely, I should not have been skating a hill in the first place. Better yet, if I wish to remain injury free, I should just quite skating now. But my desire to skate outweighs my care for injuries, so I’ll continue putting my almost anorexic body at risk until I get bored with it. I think even skaters themselves can admit that skateboarding is kind of dumb. Sure, it’s cool, but a sport based entirely on throwing yourself at high speeds on a wooden plank with wheels and doing tricks is nearly absurd. But who cares, it’s fun.
Due to COVID-19 forcing us all into the bubbles of our isolated houses, many bored and unemployed people have been trying to find something to do that doesn’t involve staring at a screen. Now that the kids of the nineties and early two thousand’s have grown up, gotten jobs, gotten laid off those jobs, and have nothing better to do - it only makes sense that these bored twenty somethings will go out and buy whatever suits their interest. Because of this, skateboard companies have noticed a higher sale of hard goods.
Marina Skatepark’s Dogbowl, taken in 1978
Environmental issues started skate culture. In the 70’s, when a drought hit California that left swimming pools empty, the small wooden boards that surfers would skate on the sidewalks started to be used to surf these cold, concrete bowls. This ended up evolving skateboarding from a way for surfers to ride a board during times of low-waves, to its own sport itself. Fueled by punk culture and an aggressive stance against suburban development, skateboarding has emerged as a culture of post-capitilism. It has emerged aware of its wrong-doings towards the environment, an expression of nihilistic angst against the system that created it.
It’s no secret that skating is inherently dangerous. You could break your ankle, permenantly damage your brain or in the case of P-Splif, you could die. Besides injuring yourself, however, you could also injure your board.
Skateboarding is currently one of the leading causes of maple deforestation. I don’t need to explain why. If you’ve seen any skateboarding film, skateboards go through a lot of abuse. Maybe the skater had to kick out to stay safe during a bail, perhaps the board snapped when a skater landed his el toro wrong, or the skater performed a celebratory breaking of their skateboard when they finally landed that trick. As skaters, we go through a lot of wood. We’re essentially throwing that wood in the trash by skating it.
This isn’t going to stop us from skating. It’s not going to stop me, either. But that doesn’t mean that we should be more respectful and mindful of the negative impact that we as skaters have on our earth. It’s bad enough that we’re sucking the oil from the planet, depriving wildlife of their homes, killing billions of animals and contributing to the development of more pandemics. We need to skate responsibly.
So I’ve made a list of skateboard brands with a sustainability initiative:
Arbor Collective: This brand acknowledges that skateboarding has an intimate history with the Hawaiian art of surfing. To show their appreciation, they donate money to help preserve the sacred koa forest of Hawaii, where the original surf boards were shaped. They call this their, “Returning Roots program.” Money is donated to the Hawaiian Legacy Reforestation Initiative, the Conservation Alliance, Surfrider Foundation and the Arbor Day Foundation.
If you’d like to learn more about these organizations, click on the names to check out their websites.
Not only do they donate to these beautiful organizations, they also use recycled and sustainable materials when possible. My Cucharon Legacy came from a sustainable source of hardwood maple, with the waste from the board being used in other projects. They choose to use mostly renewable sources, especially bamboo, in their products. Once they have decided upon a material to use, they make sure that the forestry stewardship council has approved of its sustainability. While creating their products, they use as much as the material as possible, to avoid waste. The wood that cannot be used, is reclaimed for use by Arbor or by other companies - which prevents that wood from going into the landfill.
My only complaint about their boards is that the trucks were a bit tight. That’s all. Other than that, their skateboards are pretty sick and easy to control. The biggest con to this brand is that their products sell-out super quick. So act fast if you want them.
Bamboo Skateboards: Yeah, I know what you’re thinking, “Bro, even if you’re harvesting trees sustainably, you’re still killing trees.” I get that. Some of you may want to avoid maple entirely. Fortunately, that’s where Bamboo Skateboards comes in. Unfortunately, bamboo skateboards are rather heavy. As a result of this, they use a hybrid 6-ply bamboo and maple decks. Either way, you’re killing a tree. Only difference between the arbor boards and this one is that you get more bamboo compared to tree.
I fully support this companies efforts, but I have yet to see any mentions of donations to organizations like Arbor. The bamboo is sustainably harvested, but I don’t know if the maple they use is harvest sustainably. I do however know that bamboo is much more renewable compared to maple trees. So maybe in time they’ll perfect the bamboo only board.
I haven’t tried this brand, but I do plan on buying a board eventually due to my Arbor skateboard being specifically for vert, cruising and downhill rather than flat-ground.
So, even with this brand we’ll still be killing off some trees. Just not as much as we used to.
Satori Movement: Produces wheels made from recycled skateboard wheels. If you live near a local business that works with this company, you can donate your old wheels and they’ll be turned into new ones for the company to sell. There websites not very good, and right now they seem to be out of their recycled EcoThane wheels that they’re known for.
Their recycled wheels are 70% old wheels, and 30% new material. Due to COVID-19, they’ve been sold out for awhile, and I last saw them for sale online on some sketchy skateboard shop.
I hear the minority of you thinking, “Man, I don’t want to support these companies!” Oh well, too bad you can’t buy yourself a better set of morals. In the meantime, you can at least support core independent skate companies by shopping through Parade World. Sure, some of the products they sponsor don’t help the environment, but at least your money is going to actual skaters and not some snakes in suits trying to add fuel to their bank.
By supporting mindful companies like this we can help to destroy the companies that rape the planet of her lives. We can destroy the horrible capitalist mentality of taking without giving. We can destroy habitat loss, helping to end the seventh mass extinction. Skate and destroy, so that we may be able to create a better future for us, and the world.
Be mindful, keep skating.