1. Burton
1. Burton
Burton is the big boarding company many people love to hate, but we actually love Burton. Not only do they have a super awesome women’s range that’s technical AND cool, they have also managed to make good use of neon coloured, sugar-fest energy drink, Mountain Dew. Burton take used plastic Mountain Dew bottles and use them to make threads for their waterproof clothing. It still means people have to drink Mountain Dew, but at least they’re making an effort.*
That may be their most recent adventure, but Burton have been in the process of going green since 2008, making sure they take the most ethical route of production in the making of all their products and using materials which aren’t harmful to the environment. Since 2011, the Burton factory has worked towards only using Bluesign approved materials, and as a result, in 2012 they produced a list of restricted substances for all their factories and sub-contractors to adhere to (see super sciencey PDF).And a bit more on the factory: Burton use one factory (the Kiel Ski factory in Austria) which is contracted to exclusively make Burton products. This allows Burton to have more control over the production methods of their products and have more influence on the materials they use.
Burton are currently working on auditing all of their their outside contractors and getting their material suppliers to agree to their code of conduct and list of restricted substances so that they can be 100% harmful chemical free.
Burton like to get environmental on the mountain, too, with the introduction of all-wood, all-natural Stash parks in resorts across the globe, and with the more recent addition of Riglet Parks (in the above video) aiming to help get young kids into snowboarding. They also organise a series of chairlift free events each year in the US.
So turns out Burton are pretty good after all, and the list doesn’t end there, check out what else they do to look after the planet HERE.
*As fellow humans, we can only advise you never to drink Mountain Dew – it’s REALLY bad for you.