The castor oil plant, Ricinus communis, is a species of flowering plant in the spurge family, Euphorbiaceae. Castor oil is a vegetable oil obtained from the plants seed, the castor bean – which, despite its name, is not a true member of the bean family. Castor oil itself is a colorless to very pale yellow liquid with mild or no odor or taste. Industry uses yearly six to eight hundred million pounds of castor oil and its derivatives have applications in the manufacturing of soaps, lubricants, hydraulic and brake fluids, paints, dyes, coatings, inks, cold resistant plastics, waxes and polishes, nylon, pharmaceuticals, perfumes, Arbor snowboard topsheets and more.

The Lucid Grip on Arbor skateboards is a crushed recycled glass and is applied using a water based sealant. It allows the beautiful top ply of your skateboard to shine through while making sure you have enough grip to keep your feet locked on.

Now you can now get patch kits of Lucid Grip so if your grip wears down on your skateboard, you can easily patch it up.

You can feel good about taking another small step for the environment with Arbor Skateboards.

I had planned on talking about the reforestation work we’ve been supporting in Hawaii with the groups True Offsets and Rock ‘n Renew, but lately there has been so much interest in the apparel we’re making from bamboo that I decided to cover this first.

As many of you know, the mission at the Arbor Collective is to use environmentally friendly, natural materials to improve overall performance and style.  Fifteen years ago, we launched our snowboard line with this philosophy.  Four years later, we introduced skateboards designed with the same idea in mind.  Then, three years ago, thanks to the development of bamboo-based fabrics, we created a stand-alone streetwear line around this same core principle.

For us, form still follows function and only bamboo allows us to deliver contemporary design attributes while offering ecologically responsible fabrications.

Today, there are no 100% “green” solutions for creating fabrics: organic and transitional cottons require large amounts of land and water; recycled P.E.T. (polyethylene terephthalate) is still a chemically driven, petroleum-based material; and many hemp and bamboo fabrics require a less-than-ideal pulping process.

When looking at the current options for environmentally “friendlier” fabrics, our choice came down to the material that provided the best blend of ecological and performance benefits.  That was bamboo; a material we’ve come to see as today’s most promising alternative.  Below are some of the facts that drove our decision to use bamboo as the principle raw material in our line.

The Ecological Benefits of Using Bamboo as a Raw Material

Renewable – The bamboo used for apparel production is the fastest growing plant known to man, growing up to 4 feet (122 cm) per day, and rapidly reaching heights over 40 feet.  Because of this rapid growth rate and the amount of vertical biomass created, bamboo is able to deliver far more usable material per acre than any other raw material available, making it today’s most renewable alternative.  Bamboo is also self-regenerating, so it can be harvested and, in most cases, will simply re-grow without replanting.

Sustainable – Bamboo cultivation requires zero pesticides or chemical fertilizers to achieve its amazing growth rate and renewability.  Hence, it is inherently organic.  In contrast, it takes 1/3 of a pound of chemicals to produce enough conventional cotton for one t-shirt.  Cotton production is responsible for 16% of the world’s insecticide use, more than any other single crop, while covering only 2.5% of the world’s cultivated land.  Much of these chemicals run off into our waterways, harming humans and the natural environment.  In addition, bamboo requires much less land and water (as a ratio to usable fiber produced per acre), than cotton, organic cotton, and other alternative fibers.  In fact, it takes 15,000 liters of water to grow 1 kg of cotton or organic cotton.  Some of this water is piped in from critical watersheds, as cotton is typically grown on arid lands. In contrast, bamboo requires only natural rainfall.

Additional Eco Benefits – Bamboo propagation prevents erosion and adds nutrients back to the soil, while conventional, transitional, and even organic cotton cultivation strip the land of nutrients. Bamboo is hand picked using traditional methods that have a much lower impact on the environment than modern machine-based harvesting practices.  It’s also important to note that bamboo is not planted on cleared forestlands; it is sustainably selected from naturally occurring bamboo stands.  In addition, bamboo absorbs more carbon dioxide and emits more oxygen than equivalent stands of trees.  Oh – and the “timber” bamboo used for apparel production is NOT a source of food for Pandas, nor is it harvested from Panda habitat.

The Performance Benefits of Fabrics Made Using Bamboo

Wearable – Bamboo-based fabrics are much softer and more comfortable than cotton, hemp, or other alternatives.

Functional – Bamboo-based fabrics help regulate body temperature.  Compared to cotton, they are more breathable; provide improved wicking of moisture; and deliver better UV protection. In addition, mechanically produced and nano bamboo blends dry quicker than comparable fabrics.

Anti-Microbial – Mechanically produced bamboo fabrics and nano bamboo infused fabrics retain bamboo’s natural anti-bacterial, anti-fungal properties.  This makes them resistant to mildew and odor retention and much less likely to cause skin irritations.

It is important to note that we work to make our efforts to replace non-sustainable fabrics with bamboo-based blends “seamless” for our customers.  To that end, we design our apparel to be washed in a manner similar to the fabrics that we’re replacing.  For example: our 70% Viscose from bamboo / 30% organic cotton blended t-shirts can be washed just like conventional cotton tees, while our nano bamboo infused polyester boardshorts wash just like other boardshorts on the market.

Thanks for taking the time to learn more about our bamboo-based apparel.  We believe it to be the best option for creating contemporary, performance-oriented, sustainably produced apparel, especially for those of us whose lives are based around skating, surfing, and snowboarding.  If you haven’t yet tried bamboo, give it a shot.  Be warned – it’s addictive…

Bob Carlson

Click Here To Read The Foundation Room 1.1

Here we go, my first attempt at a blog. For a while now, the marketing crew has been asking me to talk about Arbor’s 15-year commitment to creating rider-oriented products that are friendlier on the environment to produce. They’re hoping I can tell some of the stories behind our mission to deliver quality, performance, and style with significantly reduced environmental impact. I hope they know what they’re doing.”

Anyhow, I thought for this opener I would provide a little background on our environmental philosophy and how it drives our vision of the Arbor brand. Some of you may have read a bit of this before, but I think it’s worth touching on before we dive into specific initiatives, events, etc.

To begin, it was time spent riding that provided the motivation. The reality of protecting this planet for us is saving the environments enjoyed by people who ride. In the end – we all need clean air to skate, clean water to surf, and snow to ride.

Frankly, we came to the conclusion that companies that profit from a use of the environment should, at least strive to do no harm to the planet, and at best work to help repair the damage done. To that end, we founded Arbor in 1995 to take a more responsible approach to the development and production on boardsports equipment and apparel.

Arbor works to replace as many environmentally harmful materials as possible, across our complete line of snowboards, skateboards, and apparel, with functional, ecologically based alternatives. We also donate at least 5% of profits to groups working to restore and protect the environment. It is important to note that as of right now, it’s not possible to deliver 100% “green” boardsports products. Reality is about taking as many steps as possible towards that future. Those steps are what drive the Arbor Collective.

The funny thing is that we’re not into being “green” just for the sake of being green. With fifteen years of sustainable design experience under our belts, we’re sure about one thing; people expect performance and relevance, even when choosing a more environmentally friendly alternative. So, you can expect us to continue our efforts to combine the latest technology and most powerful art with those eco-materials that allow us deliver better performing products – form still follows function.

I think it’s also important to mention that we see the face of environmentalism changing. A range of perspectives has replaced the movement “hippy” past. Today, the hardest kid you know can be eco-minded at his or her core. Arbor sees this as a critical change if respecting the environment is to remain relevant for the next generation. You don’t have to broadcast it to live it – it’s not about identity – it’s about values.

OK, there’s a little background on how we approach the environment and its relevance to our design efforts and the brand. I appreciate your interest in what were doing and look forward to talking in more detail as this blog evolves. I think you’ll find the story behind the materials, methods, suppliers, and environmental groups that we’re working with or supporting to be pretty cool. I also hope to introduce you to some of the people I work with here at Arbor and give you a little insight into what they add to the collective. In my next post, I will be covering the group “True Offsets” who Arbor has been supporting for the last two years. I will be talking about their efforts to restore forest lands in Hawaii and establish a real, measurable carbon offset program.

More to come,

Bob Carlson