Bamboo SK8 Decks

A few weeks ago, when browsing around at the town’s local skate shop, I had discovered something very interesting and new to the skateboarding world. My eye had caught a skateboard deck hanging off the rack, I asked the clerk to get a closer look. I could not believe it. The skate deck was made of bamboo!

The skate deck is made by a new company called Bamboo SK8, specializing in sustainable bamboo skateboard manufacturing. The company manufactures 70% bamboo skate decks in different designs and are currently working on 100% bamboo skate deck models. Their reason for choosing bamboo is because of the environmental impact of producing skateboard decks from trees. Unlike Canadian Maple trees, which take around 40-60 years to grow, bamboo grows much faster because it is a grass, so it grows like a grass. Bamboo is a renewable resource, once harvested bamboo does not need to be replanted, it will grow new shoots from its extensive root system. When harvested, bamboo is cut with a hand axe, not a chainsaw like maple trees, so there is no air pollution. Bamboo also produces 35% more oxygen than the equivalent to standing trees.

You maybe thinking “Well, how do these decks perform?” After running the bamboo decks through some tests, they outperformed many maple tree skate decks. The bamboo material has the ability to absorb much of the impact when jumping and resists breakage, making it much stronger than many maple tree skate decks. The bamboo is also very elastic and has a natural rebound resulting in the best pops for tricks. The price range for these decks is also very inexpensive ranging from $20-$30, which is much more reasonable than regular skate decks going from $50-$60.

Bamboo SK8 takes much pride in their product. They are changing the world of skateboarding with their brand new sustainable bamboo skate deck design.  I love the design and concept of using bamboo as a sustainable resource to create a message of environmental awareness, so I had to buy one for myself!


Credits: Bamboo SK8

Trash Cleaning Trash

In the past, designers were only concerned with functionality and creating products with materials that best fit the need. But now realizing the impact of our existence on the environment makes us rethink of how we must change the way we life our lives. Our relationship with design has changed the way designers must design. Designers must now think and question where the design will end up in the future and how it will affect society. In our ever-changing society, the new constraint of design must not only be functional but also has to be sustainable.

A company called Electrolux AB is sparking a conversation about being more environmentally friendly, with their new design of vacuum cleaners. The vacuum cleaners are fully functional and can suck up dirt from carpet and rugs like any other vacuum, but these vacuums are special in they are made of plastic trash collected from the Indian Ocean and the Mediterranean, North and Baltic seas.

The design may seem very ironic at first, in that it is an object that cleans up dirt and garbage, and yet it is made out of something that was once garbage. People may question and wonder how something that was once considered garbage able to be something that is now so functional and useful. And then the conversation becomes about Design. Design is ephemeral. As the world changes, there will always be new problems to solve, new constraints to over come, and the role of the designer is to keep designing products that will help improve our lives and society. 

Credit: http://www.mb.com.ph/articles