Top Green Gear for Skiing & Snowboarding
By Mike Chino (from Inhabitat) on November 17, 2011
Climate change has many skiers and snowboarders sweating in their boots over the prospect of warmer winters and melting ice caps. Fortunately, there's a great crop of winter gear purveyors working hard to preserve the environment by offering eco skis, snowboards, and accessories made from sustainable materials. Whether you prefer storming straight downhill on skis or carving up powder on a snowboard, read on for our top picks for eco-friendly winter outdoor gear!
Jones SnowboardsJones Snowboards are built to last from the best eco-friendly materials around. All of their boards feature FSC-certified wood cores, natural linseed fiber and basalt components (instead of toxic fiberglass and resins), recycled base materials, and sustainable wood sidewalls. The boards are also beautiful works of art that showcase the raw wood they're made from, and Jones Snowboards donates 1 percent of all sales to the 1% for the planet initiative.
Liberty Skis has a history of blazing trails - both on the slopes and across the field of sustainability. They were the first company to feature bamboo cores throughout their entire line - this rapidly renewable material gives their high-performing skis light weight, exceptional strength, and a lively pop. Liberty Skis is also an independent Colorado company that runs its facilities on 100% wind power.
Soul Poles' line of beautiful trekking and ski poles are handcrafted in Utah from strong, sustainable, and light bamboo. They're available in an array of colors ranging from natural finishes to brilliant sunbursts, and Soul Poles partnered up with Recycle Utah to educate and spread awareness for the recycling of old poles and ski products.
After a season of heavy winter riding your snowboard or skis are sure to need a tune-up and a fresh coat of wax - however most waxes contain nasty chemicals like perfluorocarbons and teflon. Enter Beaver Wax - a Vancouver-based company that creates high-quality natural waxes from environmentally friendly ingredients. Each bar of wax is hand poured and easy to apply - so you'll be sliding down the slopes in no time.
Nau Insular JacketWhen it comes to cold-weather protection, a technical shell like Nau's Insular Jacket will give you lots of versatility while keeping weight and material use to a minimum. This streamlined 100% waterproof parka is insulated with a recycled polyester/COCONA material made from coconut husks, and it's flexible enough to be worn on its own on warmer days or layered under for blustery mountain peak conditions.
A pair of warm winter gloves is an essential when you're tackling the icy slopes - so unless you're a fan of frostbite we recommend picking up a pair of REI's Recycled Fleece Grip Gloves. These cozy mittens are designed to keep digits toasty, and they're made from at least 50% recycled polyester fibers.
How do you plan on ripping it up this winter?
See More From Inhabitat:
Top 10 Energy-Saving LED Desk Lamps
Get in Shape While You Work - 5 Exer-Desks
Top 7 Solar Powered Bags
Top 5 Green Gadgets To Save You Time & Money
5 Apps To Stop a Temper Tantrum in its Tracks
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Inhabitat is an online magazine devoted to the future of design, tracking the innovations in technology, practices and materials that are pushing architecture and design towards a smarter and more sustainable future. Written by a young tech-savvy team designers and design journalists, Inhabitat delivers fresh content daily, showcasing emerging work from the cutting-edge of the global design community. Mike Chino is a writer, researcher, and musician based in San Francisco. He left sunny UC Santa Cruz with a B.A. in French and Modern literature and delved into publishing through a stint at ReadyMade Magazine. Inspired by the impact that forward thinking can have on the present, he has cultivated a voracious appetite for developments in sustainable architecture, design, and technology. Mike likes to bike, blog, and build things, and in his spare time he also cooks, produces music, and rocks out.
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