Newsflash
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Not all skate shirts are black! Check out the Silverfish Gear Page . There are new men's, women's and kids' shirts! (Some are even black.)
We're using "spreadshirt", so you order straight from them. Dig through the listings and you'll find some classic 'Fish designs, including shirts with art taken from member Ryan's art-pen drawings. Check back for new designs, as we prepare to release the Fall Line (soon as Armani signs off...) |
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Front Page  Press Releases Arbor Green List
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Written by Jessica Ng
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Monday, 05 November 2007 |
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[Jessica from Arbor sent this over to us, we thought you might find it interesting. So read on to check out what goes in and on at Arbor and why it's green]
Using environmentally friendly, natural materials to improve the performance and style of snowboards, skates, and apparel since 1995...
Arbor’s long-standing assertion is that solutions to many of today’s most difficult snow, skate, and apparel design challenges exist in the natural world. Since 1995, we’ve built Arbor around this belief - replacing, environmentally harmful materials with ecologically based, natural alternatives. The goal is to create a higher level of function and relevance, in the most responsible way possible. The result has been improved style and performance, with significantly reduced environmental impact.
Through it all, Arbor has remained a rider owned and operated company. After 12 years of hard work developing and distributing the greener option - we're proud to be known as the pioneer of ecologically-driven, rider-oriented design. In the end, it is our unique approach that has allowed Arbor to develop an independent voice and arrive at today’s fusion of green innovation and expanded environmental awareness.
As we look to the future - a commitment to the original mission will continue to drive the brand: develop products using the conscious approach to design that has defined the Arbor tradition; always source the most sustainable materials, improving our products without damaging the environment; donate to groups working to protect and restore the planet.
In the following tables you will find a list of the environmentally friendly materials and practices that Arbor has developed and/or implemented over the years, and currently employ.
Longboard Materials
| MATERIAL or PRACTICE | USE | ECO-STORY | ADDITIONAL CUSTOMER BENEFITS | | HARDROCK MAPLE | BASE PLYS: The Complete Line | All of the Hardrock Maple used in Arbor's skate line is accessed from suppliers who produce their wood products sustainably. | Hardrock Maple still provides customers with the best combination of lighter-weight performance and durability; with a workability that permits our affordable price point. | | NATURAL WOOD VENEER | FINISH PLY: All HawaiianKoa Decks | All of the timber used to produce our Hawaiian Koa finish plys is purchased from landowners who use sustainable harvesting practices and work with the State of Hawaii to manage their land in a manner designed to actually improve Koa forest ecology. | The natural variance of Koa wood provides customers with a custom, one-of-a-kind grain pattern on each and every skate. Koa also adds heritage - it was originally used by the Hawaiians 1,000 years ago to build the first surfboards. In addition, Koa's dense natural fibers add structure for enhanced durability. | | BAMBOO | POWER PLY: All Bamboo Decks | A remarkably sustainable resource that is naturally organic, requiring no pesticides, fertilizers, irrigation, or detrimental cultivation and harvesting practices to grow in an incredibly fast, self-propagating way that makes it today's most renewable material. | Bamboo creates a clean, Zen flavor that sometimes overshadows the fact that bamboo is one of the strongest materials known to man. It provides 40x the effective life of carbon fiber and 60% more return than traditional materials, with a tensile strength superior to steel. By adding it as a power-generating deck-side ply we give customers improved return and lasting durability. | | POST PRO-DUCTION REMNANT WOOD MATERIALS | n/a | Reclaimed - this material goes to companies that turn it into other wood products. Stretching this resource, which reduces the strain on timber lands, while keeping the by-products of skate production out of land fills. |
| Snowboard Materials
| MATERIAL or PRACTICE | USE | ECO-STORY | ADDITIONAL CUSTOMER BENEFITS | | NATURAL WOOD VENEER | TOPSHEET MATERIAL: Abacus Element A-Frame Crossbow Wasteland Cadence | All of the wood materials used to produce Arbor's exclusive wood top and inlay technologies are accessed from suppliers who produce their wood products sustainably. | The natural variance of real wood grain creates a unique, one-of-a-kind look. In addition, during construction the dense wood fibers are locked in place by resin, creating a composite element that structurally enhances a board - providing customers with added return, resilience, and weight reduction. This active component works like a 3rd layer of fiberglass in our full wood-topped boards. In contrast, the Draft's, "shaped" inlay tunes the flex to meet the needs of JIB specific riding - a "Butter-Beam" that provides customers with improved longitudinal pop, while allowing for a progressively softer torsional flex toward the tip and tail. This application is similar to how carbon fiber is used - targeting to affect specific zones within a boards flex pattern. | | INLAY MATERIAL: Draft | | NATURAL BAMBOO VENEER | TOPSHEET MATERIAL: ALT Roundhouse Push | Bamboo is a remarkably sustainable resource that is naturally organic, requiring zero pesticides, chemical fertilizers, irrigation, or detrimental cultivation and harvesting practices to grow in an incredibly fast, self propagating manner that makes it also the most renewable material available today. | Our Bamboo topsheets create a clean, Zen flavor. In addition, during construction the dense bamboo fibers are locked in place by resin, creating a composite element that structurally enhances a board - providing customers with added return, resilience, and weight reduction. This active component can be looked at as working like a 3rd layer of fiberglass in our full bamboo-topped boards. | | SOLID BAMBOO | CORE MATERIAL: Mystic Westmark | Bamboo is one of the strongest materials known to man. It provides 40x the effective life of carbon fiber and 60% more return than traditional materials, with a tensile strength that is superior to steel, based on weight. We use solid bamboo in our high-end freestyle boards as a core-reinforcing element to provided customers with radically improved power and durability. | | POPLAR | CORE MATERIAL: The Complete Line | All of the poplar used in Arbor's wood cores is accessed from suppliers who produce their wood products sustainably. | Natural wood still provides customers with the best combination of lighter-weight performance and durability, with a workability that keep production costs affordable and our price point reasonable. | | PAULOWNIA | CORE MATERIAL: Abacus A-Frame Roundhouse Element | Paulownia is an ecologically cultivated tree species that is exceptionally renewable due to its fast growth rate. | Paulownia is an ultra-lightweight, balsa-like species. Unlike balsa, it has the tensile strength of poplar and Aspen. When we build cores for our highest-end boards, we blend paulownia 50/50 with poplar. Poplar adds important compressing strength. As a result, customers get maximum weight reduction, with absolutely no decrease to board durability. | | DIAMOND-WOOD® | CORE ELEMENT: Crossbow | Diamondwood® is made by taking renewable, sustainably grown poplar and increasing its density with pressure in order to make it perform better than endangered hardwoods, such as Ebony. | Diamondwood is the hardest wood material available today. By replacing the outside laminates of a full-length wood core with Diamondwood, we create load beams that provide customers with quicker initiation and return, while reinforcing the sidewall for much improved impact resistance. | | CORK | DAMPING MATERIAL: Crossbow | Cork is a renewable material that is harmlessly harvested off the "Cork Oak" tree every 9 years, for the life of the tree. | Cork is an incredible natural insulator. By inserting tip-to-tail cork stringers between a core's laminates, we create a system that dissipates vibration in the frequency that generates chatter. As a result, customers can expect a much damper ride, without any reduction of energy, return, or pop. Instead of chatter - riders get usable, loadable energy. | | SINTRUDED POLY-ETHYLENE | BASE MATERIAL: Cadence Draft Westmark | Made by extruding the remnant material that is leftover from the production of sintered bases into a new type of base material, rather than throwing this petroleum-based waste into land fills. | Provides customers with some of the best of both worlds - the user friendly properties of Extruded Bases, and the durability and speed qualities of Sintered Bases. | Clothing Material
| MATERIAL or PRACTICE | USE | ECO-STORY | ADDITIONAL CUSTOMER BENEFITS | | BAMBOO FABRIC | The Principal Fabric Used in Our Apparel Line. | A remarkably sustainable resource that is naturally organic, requiring no pesticides, fertilizers, irrigation, or detrimental cultivation and harvesting practices to grow in an incredibly fast, self-propagating way that makes it today's most renewable fiber. | Technically superior to other natural fabrics. Bamboo is amazingly soft. It's more breathable, better at wicking perspiration, and provides superior UV protection, all of which help regulate body temperature. Bamboo is Hypoallergenic, with natural anti-bacterial, anti-fungal properties that eliminate the need for additives, reducing skin irritations, odor, and underarm discoloration. | | ORGANIC COTTON | Blended w/ Bamboo and Used in a few Non-Bamboo Based Pieces | Organically produced with no pesticides, fertilizers, irrigation, or detrimental cultivation and harvesting practices including: aerial spraying, genetically modified seeds, and defoliators. | Blended with bamboo as a stabilizer. Blending also helps us deliver bamboo's benefits more affordably. As with bamboo, organic cotton is an important alternative to conventional cotton, the most toxic crop grown today. Conventional cotton farming uses over two billion pounds of synthetic pesticides a year, and accounts for 25% of the world’s total insecticide use. | | DYES AND INKS | The Whole Apparel Line | All of our apparel is made with low impact reactive dyes. We have also just about reached a total reliance on more environmentally friendly, water-based inks. | | | REMNANT WOOD VENEER | Accessories and POP | Reclaimed - this material goes into other Arbor products, stretching this resource, which reduces the strain on timber lands, while keeping the by-products of skate and snowboard topsheet production out of land fills. | The ability to get Arbor's natural look, feel, and message on additional products. The remnant wood and bamboo veneer is used as belt buckle inlays, wood accents on hats and hang tags, and in zipper pulls and snaps. | Operations
| MATERIAL or PRACTICE | USE | ECO-STORY | ADDITIONAL CUSTOMER BENEFITS | | DONATING PROFITS | n/a | We donate to groups working to protect and restore the planet. Last year we gave 5% of our profits to the Nature Conservancy's Hawaiian-based efforts. We've also supported: The Surfrider Foundation, Rainforest Action Network, & American Forests. | | | PRINTING ON RECYCLED PAPER | Catalogs Dealer Kits Mailers Posters | We print exclusively on recycled paper stock that is made from 50% pre-consumer fiber and 25% post-consumer fiber. | | | PRINTING WITH SOY BASED INKS | Catalogs Dealer Kits Mailers Posters | Soy inks are much more sustainable to produce. Compared to petroleum based inks, soy inks are better for the environment, especially the air. Soy inks also make our catalogs more biodegradable and easier to recycle. | Brighter, longer lasting color. | | WIND POWER | At Arbor's Venice Head-quarters | Arbor's buys wind credits to completely offset our fossil fuel based electrical needs at our headquarters in Venice, CA. | | | CON-STRUCTION | Retail Shop Offices POP Racks | Built with as much sustainable materials as possible including: bamboo, recycled wood, and reclaimed materials from snowboard and skate production. | | | RECYCLING | Trash | All the trash generated at Arbor is collected by a company that sorts and recycles anything that is recyclable. | | |
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Last Updated ( Sunday, 30 December 2007 )
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