Manufacturers explore greener side to ski gear
Brief by Allen Best
Recreation – February 2008 – Colorado Central Magazine
Ski and other manufacturers and retailers are exploring how they can make their products and operations more “green,” reports the Summit Daily News.
In a program that in some ways mirrors Sustainable Slopes, the program sponsored by the National Ski Areas Association, the retailers and manufacturers are working on such things as recycling old skis and snowboards. David Ingemie, president of the Snowsports Industries of America, told the newspaper it’s not as easy as recycling newspapers.
The various materials must be separated, and the plastic can be shredded for reuse in materials like flooring. But doing this is not the easiest thing, said Ingemie. “They’re engineered to stay together, not to come apart,” he said.
The group is also pondering whether recycling efforts might, in fact, produce a greater carbon footprint than landfilling the old items.
