Materials, Trash & Recycling
Project Reflection
From this project, I learned about the detrimental effects of skateboarding on the environment. I dove into how skateboarding is currently ravaging the world's maple tree population and how the unsustainable methods of the industry are showing their effects. I also researched why skateboards are so tricky for recycling. This lead me to the discovery of catalysts. A catalyst in the context of a skateboard is an added substance to the glue which accelerates a reaction causing the glue to dry faster. While this makes production easier it makes the skateboards unrecyclable by industrial plants. This is because to recycle a skateboard you have to heat up the glue and separate the plys, but when this is done a deadly gas is released from the catalyst making recycling efforts expensive and complicated. The main issue is skateboarding corporations that are unwilling to change. The catalyst also makes biodegradation nearly impossible. It's fascinating to see how one chemical change can alter the fate of a product entirely.
The world revolves heavily on economic prosper and when we as consumers buy and use these single-use products we make it ok for corporations to mass-produce these single-use items. In recent years there has been a massive pushback against single-use plastics. For example; starting in march all single-use plastic bags will be banned in the state of new york. While the ban will be starting in new york no new laws have been put in place in Colorado. Now as consumers with this recent pushback there have been numerous changes such as paper straws and reusable grocery bags showing that our choice as consumers is very vital.
Through my research and exploration of other projects I have learned that recycling and pollution issue is going to take the effort of the entire world to solve. The problem is so extensive because nearly everyone on the planet has contributed. To come to a solution everyone needs to be eco-conscious and be aware of recycling. Another major takeaway that I had was how extensive the process of extracting raw materials and transforming them into consumer goods. It showed me how extensive the efforts go just so we can live our normal consumption-based lives.
From this project, I learned about the detrimental effects of skateboarding on the environment. I dove into how skateboarding is currently ravaging the world's maple tree population and how the unsustainable methods of the industry are showing their effects. I also researched why skateboards are so tricky for recycling. This lead me to the discovery of catalysts. A catalyst in the context of a skateboard is an added substance to the glue which accelerates a reaction causing the glue to dry faster. While this makes production easier it makes the skateboards unrecyclable by industrial plants. This is because to recycle a skateboard you have to heat up the glue and separate the plys, but when this is done a deadly gas is released from the catalyst making recycling efforts expensive and complicated. The main issue is skateboarding corporations that are unwilling to change. The catalyst also makes biodegradation nearly impossible. It's fascinating to see how one chemical change can alter the fate of a product entirely.
The world revolves heavily on economic prosper and when we as consumers buy and use these single-use products we make it ok for corporations to mass-produce these single-use items. In recent years there has been a massive pushback against single-use plastics. For example; starting in march all single-use plastic bags will be banned in the state of new york. While the ban will be starting in new york no new laws have been put in place in Colorado. Now as consumers with this recent pushback there have been numerous changes such as paper straws and reusable grocery bags showing that our choice as consumers is very vital.
Through my research and exploration of other projects I have learned that recycling and pollution issue is going to take the effort of the entire world to solve. The problem is so extensive because nearly everyone on the planet has contributed. To come to a solution everyone needs to be eco-conscious and be aware of recycling. Another major takeaway that I had was how extensive the process of extracting raw materials and transforming them into consumer goods. It showed me how extensive the efforts go just so we can live our normal consumption-based lives.
Writing Components
Skateboard Deck
Raw Materials
When skateboards were first being used in the early 70’s the decks were much smaller. These boards were made with metal and plastic. This was so the decks were very lite. Now, skateboards are much larger and made out of thin plys of maple. Since the ’70s skateboarding has become immensely popular. The demand for skateboards is much higher than it’s been in recent years. Upwards of 100,000 skateboards are made monthly. Because so many skateboards are being made it is having its effects on the environment. Skateboarding is currently the number one cause of maple tree deforestation. The current method for making skateboards is extremely unsustainable. Maple trees have to be 50 to 80 years to be mature enough to make a skateboard out of. When a full-grown maple tree is harvested they are only able to make three skateboards. This is a tremendous issue in the Skate community. I personally go through about 12 to 11 skate decks a year, and that's a lot of waste and deforestation that I’m contributing to. Using 12 skateboards a year is equal to cutting down four full-grown maple trees. With the growing popularity, Industries are beginning to realize that the current method is very unsustainable. There are a few companies that are leading the way for sustainable skateboard design. One company known as bamboo skates uses bamboo to make their decks opposed to maple. This is far more sustainable because bamboo takes about three years to be fully grown. Another company paving the way for sustainability is iris skateboards. Iris makes there skate decks out of completely recycled skateboards. They also make surfboards and furniture out of completely recycled skateboards. While these two companies are making great strides toward sustainability skateboard giants such as DLX and NHS need to think sustainably.
Production
After a maple tree is cut down it is separated into centimeter thick plys. These plys are what a skateboard is made of. After the plys are separated they are sent to various different companies. The plys are dyed for aesthetics then glued together under immense pressure in a skateboard press. Then after the skateboard is hand-cut and sanded into the desired shape. While on the surface the means of production seems eco-friendly, but in reality, there are many sustainable flaws. The main issue with production is the glue that is used during manufacturing. The Glue that is used is a polyvinyl assembly adhesive. The catch with skateboard glue is that it is filled with a catalyst. A catalyst is a separate substance mixed into the glue that causes a chemical reaction to occur at an accelerated rate. For example, the catalytic converter in a car converts carbon monoxide which is poisonous, into carbon dioxide with an accelerated reaction. The catalyst in skateboard glue is to accelerate the drying time of the glue. While catalyst makes production quicker and cheaper, they are very toxic and harmful to the environment.
Recycling
Skateboards and recycling have always had a relationship but not in an industrial recycling way. The community of skateboarders have always been conscious of the issues with recycling skateboards, that's why there are so many alternatives than traditional recycling with skateboards. If a skateboard is at the end of its life span but not broken it is highly encouraged to donate it to your local skate shop. Nearly every skate shop I have been to has a free bin full of used skateboards up for grabs. You can also donate full or broken skateboards to numerous companies for them to be repurposed. They can be made into anything from furniture, fingerboards and even surfboards. Companies like Goo fingerboards and isle and skateboards allow you to ship them your old skateboards. While non-traditional methods of recycling are very prevalent industrial recycling still remains a problem for skateboards. Decks are currently unrecyclable because of the catalyst in the glue. The toxic mixture allows no adequate method of recycling. People in the community are aware of this issue and a solution has been provided. A company called Multibond Sk8 has developed a wood glue that comes premixed with no catalyst. This glue allows skateboards to be completely recyclable, but there are a few issues. Skate corporations such ah NHS and DLX, which produce nearly all of the professional skateboards aren’t willing to use this glue. Multibond is extremely expensive compared to traditional industrial glue. Skateboard production is making positive strides toward sustainability but there is still a long way to go.
Skateboard Wheels
Raw Materials
In the early days of skateboarding wheels were made of old roller skate wheels. These wheels consisted of completely clay. These wheels were soon disregarded and replaced with wheels made of plastic. As skateboarding progressed so did the technology. In the late 80’s bones wheels came out with a new type of wheel on that consisted of polyurethane. Polyurethane is a typical production polymer. It’s most common form is foam. Polyurethane in a skateboard wheel has a nearly Identical chemical make up as the foam in your mattress and in your sponge, The only difference is that the substance is condensed to be nearly rock hard. This substance provides an optimal grip on concrete while also allowing you to slide to mitigate your speed. Polyurethane is a man made substance so it is somewhat sustainable environmentally sustainable.
Production
To make a skateboard wheel the polyurethane has to start in a liquid form. To get the substance into a liquid form you have to heat it to 194 degrees Fahrenheit. When heated the compound releases a toxic gas making production dangerous and harmful to the environment. After reduced to liquid from the urethane is poured into molds and then sent to a cooler to be freeze-dried.
Recycling
The only way to repurpose the polyurethane is to melt it down to its liquid state and reuse is for other purposes. The recycling process doesn’t require much manpower. The one flaw is the gas that is released when the urethane is melted. This gas makes the recycling process extremely expensive. There is an awareness of this issue in the skateboard community and a company has provided a solution. Satori skateboard wheels is a company that makes their wheels out of completely recycled skateboard wheels. They take old wheels and melt them down and repurpose them in new wheels. A satori wheel consists of 70% recycled urethane, Whis is 70% less non-biodegradable urethane in a landfill.
Skateboard Trucks
Raw materials
When skateboarding first became commercialized trucks were made of plastic. Soon after skateboarding evolved into more advanced territory. Trucks are the large metal piece of the skateboard that joins the wheels and the decks. The main purpose of the truck is to allow the skateboard to turn and also grind for various tricks. Trucks are arguably the most important part of the skateboard. Trucks are designed to slowly wear down over time. This allows groves to form making tricks performed with the trucks less difficult over time. Since trucks are designed to wear down they have to be made of a softer less dense metal. The metal of choice is aluminum. Aluminum provides adequate durability while also being very light. Aluminum mining is where our main source of aluminum today. Aluminum mining is somewhat sustainable compared to other means of mining but not completely. MIning for aluminum has the usual environmental effects such as greenhouse gases and slight pollution. It mostly depends on the method of extraction. With aluminum being a natural depleting resource it makes the process all the more non-eco-friendly.
Production
Since skateboarding has transitioned over to metal trucks the trucks and the manufacturing process really haven’t changed. To make trucks manufacturers start with eight iron ingots. These ingots are heated to 1,300 degrees Fahrenheit and reduced to liquid form by a furnace. Then the liquid aluminum is poured into various different molds for each part of the truck. Each time a mold is used, it has to be broken to extract the pieces of the truck making production unsustainable. After the pieces are extracted they are hand-assembled. There are various different molds for different types of trucks causing more waste.
Recycling
In traditional recycling facilities, metal objects such as cans are separated on a conveyor belt with a high powered magnet that creates an eddy current. Aluminum is nonmagnetic it needs these eddy currents to be separated. The objects that these magnets pick up tend to be very light. This tends to be the main issue with recycling skateboard trucks, otherwise, they would be totally recyclable considering they are made of pure aluminum. The eddy current doesn’t provide enough energy to separate the aluminum trucks from the other metals. Right now this is the only issue preventing trucks from being recycled. Unlike other parts of the skateboard, there are no independent recycling companies for trucks. So the issue still remains unsolved.
Raw Materials
When skateboards were first being used in the early 70’s the decks were much smaller. These boards were made with metal and plastic. This was so the decks were very lite. Now, skateboards are much larger and made out of thin plys of maple. Since the ’70s skateboarding has become immensely popular. The demand for skateboards is much higher than it’s been in recent years. Upwards of 100,000 skateboards are made monthly. Because so many skateboards are being made it is having its effects on the environment. Skateboarding is currently the number one cause of maple tree deforestation. The current method for making skateboards is extremely unsustainable. Maple trees have to be 50 to 80 years to be mature enough to make a skateboard out of. When a full-grown maple tree is harvested they are only able to make three skateboards. This is a tremendous issue in the Skate community. I personally go through about 12 to 11 skate decks a year, and that's a lot of waste and deforestation that I’m contributing to. Using 12 skateboards a year is equal to cutting down four full-grown maple trees. With the growing popularity, Industries are beginning to realize that the current method is very unsustainable. There are a few companies that are leading the way for sustainable skateboard design. One company known as bamboo skates uses bamboo to make their decks opposed to maple. This is far more sustainable because bamboo takes about three years to be fully grown. Another company paving the way for sustainability is iris skateboards. Iris makes there skate decks out of completely recycled skateboards. They also make surfboards and furniture out of completely recycled skateboards. While these two companies are making great strides toward sustainability skateboard giants such as DLX and NHS need to think sustainably.
Production
After a maple tree is cut down it is separated into centimeter thick plys. These plys are what a skateboard is made of. After the plys are separated they are sent to various different companies. The plys are dyed for aesthetics then glued together under immense pressure in a skateboard press. Then after the skateboard is hand-cut and sanded into the desired shape. While on the surface the means of production seems eco-friendly, but in reality, there are many sustainable flaws. The main issue with production is the glue that is used during manufacturing. The Glue that is used is a polyvinyl assembly adhesive. The catch with skateboard glue is that it is filled with a catalyst. A catalyst is a separate substance mixed into the glue that causes a chemical reaction to occur at an accelerated rate. For example, the catalytic converter in a car converts carbon monoxide which is poisonous, into carbon dioxide with an accelerated reaction. The catalyst in skateboard glue is to accelerate the drying time of the glue. While catalyst makes production quicker and cheaper, they are very toxic and harmful to the environment.
Recycling
Skateboards and recycling have always had a relationship but not in an industrial recycling way. The community of skateboarders have always been conscious of the issues with recycling skateboards, that's why there are so many alternatives than traditional recycling with skateboards. If a skateboard is at the end of its life span but not broken it is highly encouraged to donate it to your local skate shop. Nearly every skate shop I have been to has a free bin full of used skateboards up for grabs. You can also donate full or broken skateboards to numerous companies for them to be repurposed. They can be made into anything from furniture, fingerboards and even surfboards. Companies like Goo fingerboards and isle and skateboards allow you to ship them your old skateboards. While non-traditional methods of recycling are very prevalent industrial recycling still remains a problem for skateboards. Decks are currently unrecyclable because of the catalyst in the glue. The toxic mixture allows no adequate method of recycling. People in the community are aware of this issue and a solution has been provided. A company called Multibond Sk8 has developed a wood glue that comes premixed with no catalyst. This glue allows skateboards to be completely recyclable, but there are a few issues. Skate corporations such ah NHS and DLX, which produce nearly all of the professional skateboards aren’t willing to use this glue. Multibond is extremely expensive compared to traditional industrial glue. Skateboard production is making positive strides toward sustainability but there is still a long way to go.
Skateboard Wheels
Raw Materials
In the early days of skateboarding wheels were made of old roller skate wheels. These wheels consisted of completely clay. These wheels were soon disregarded and replaced with wheels made of plastic. As skateboarding progressed so did the technology. In the late 80’s bones wheels came out with a new type of wheel on that consisted of polyurethane. Polyurethane is a typical production polymer. It’s most common form is foam. Polyurethane in a skateboard wheel has a nearly Identical chemical make up as the foam in your mattress and in your sponge, The only difference is that the substance is condensed to be nearly rock hard. This substance provides an optimal grip on concrete while also allowing you to slide to mitigate your speed. Polyurethane is a man made substance so it is somewhat sustainable environmentally sustainable.
Production
To make a skateboard wheel the polyurethane has to start in a liquid form. To get the substance into a liquid form you have to heat it to 194 degrees Fahrenheit. When heated the compound releases a toxic gas making production dangerous and harmful to the environment. After reduced to liquid from the urethane is poured into molds and then sent to a cooler to be freeze-dried.
Recycling
The only way to repurpose the polyurethane is to melt it down to its liquid state and reuse is for other purposes. The recycling process doesn’t require much manpower. The one flaw is the gas that is released when the urethane is melted. This gas makes the recycling process extremely expensive. There is an awareness of this issue in the skateboard community and a company has provided a solution. Satori skateboard wheels is a company that makes their wheels out of completely recycled skateboard wheels. They take old wheels and melt them down and repurpose them in new wheels. A satori wheel consists of 70% recycled urethane, Whis is 70% less non-biodegradable urethane in a landfill.
Skateboard Trucks
Raw materials
When skateboarding first became commercialized trucks were made of plastic. Soon after skateboarding evolved into more advanced territory. Trucks are the large metal piece of the skateboard that joins the wheels and the decks. The main purpose of the truck is to allow the skateboard to turn and also grind for various tricks. Trucks are arguably the most important part of the skateboard. Trucks are designed to slowly wear down over time. This allows groves to form making tricks performed with the trucks less difficult over time. Since trucks are designed to wear down they have to be made of a softer less dense metal. The metal of choice is aluminum. Aluminum provides adequate durability while also being very light. Aluminum mining is where our main source of aluminum today. Aluminum mining is somewhat sustainable compared to other means of mining but not completely. MIning for aluminum has the usual environmental effects such as greenhouse gases and slight pollution. It mostly depends on the method of extraction. With aluminum being a natural depleting resource it makes the process all the more non-eco-friendly.
Production
Since skateboarding has transitioned over to metal trucks the trucks and the manufacturing process really haven’t changed. To make trucks manufacturers start with eight iron ingots. These ingots are heated to 1,300 degrees Fahrenheit and reduced to liquid form by a furnace. Then the liquid aluminum is poured into various different molds for each part of the truck. Each time a mold is used, it has to be broken to extract the pieces of the truck making production unsustainable. After the pieces are extracted they are hand-assembled. There are various different molds for different types of trucks causing more waste.
Recycling
In traditional recycling facilities, metal objects such as cans are separated on a conveyor belt with a high powered magnet that creates an eddy current. Aluminum is nonmagnetic it needs these eddy currents to be separated. The objects that these magnets pick up tend to be very light. This tends to be the main issue with recycling skateboard trucks, otherwise, they would be totally recyclable considering they are made of pure aluminum. The eddy current doesn’t provide enough energy to separate the aluminum trucks from the other metals. Right now this is the only issue preventing trucks from being recycled. Unlike other parts of the skateboard, there are no independent recycling companies for trucks. So the issue still remains unsolved.