We don’t do Black Fridays but wanted to give you a heads up on how we at Stranda Snowboards are doing our best to keep fridays green and our winters white.
At Stranda our philosophy is to maximize performance and the lifespan of our boards and minimizing environmental impact. That means that we’re not jumping on trendy “ecomaterials” that leads to board delamination or choosing a cheaper solution with an higher impact on the environment. Performance and sustainability goes hand in hand.
VOC FREE EPOXY
As one of few snowboard brands in the world we use an VOC free epoxy in our snowboards. VOC stands for Volatile Organic Compounds and can have long-term health effects.This means less pollution and an improved working environment in the workshop. But there’s a performance side that was as important as it’s induces elastomers as the resin cures, adding a significant dampening to the snowboard without adding weight. That’s why our boards ride so well on hardpack and ice.
BAMBOO INSTEAD OF GLASSFIBER
Another of our cornerstones is using a bamboo topsheet instead of plastic. Bamboo is fast-growing and plentiful. Our boards are sealed with a thin lightweight veneer. And, in addition to being environmentally friendly, bamboo is a beautiful, natural material that adds strength to the board like an added layer of glassfiber.
CASTOR BEANS INSTEAD OF OIL
On our splitboards we use plastic topsheets for added durability due to the abrasions when skinning. The polyamid is manufactured out of castor beans instead of mineral oil.
“Polyamide 11 is a green material, so it requires less energy and results in lower carbon dioxide emissions than oil-based plastics”
GOOD WOOD
Using high quality wood also reduces the need for composites. We use ash combined with poplar, a hardwood with three times the tensile strength of cheaper wood cores. When we want to go really lightweight we use paulowniain parts of the core. This means our boards will last longer and ride better, using no kevlar and less carbon.
We’re constantly auditing the materials and methods we use to make our snowboards and we have some promising good stuff up our sleeves for coming season to protect our winters for future generations.
All the best
Mats Drougge
Founder/shaper