Eco entrepreneurs Ben Kneppers, David Stover and Kevin Ahearn have created Bureo Skateboards, a company that makes the world’s most sustainable skateboards.
Their product is called The Minnow, and it is the first skateboard deck made out of recycled fishnets collected along the coast of Chile.
To collect the plastic needed to make these boards, Kneppers started building relationships with Chilean fishing syndicates early last year to set up net recycling programs funded by the New England Aquarium.
At first, we were really perceived as these crazy gringos coming in here picking up the trash
The idea came to them as they discovered more about ocean plastics and the waste that the fishing industry carries.
“At first, we were really perceived as these crazy gringos coming in here picking up the trash,” Kneppers says. “Now that we actually have this board and can show them that this was made from the [discarded] materials, they’re really getting behind it. Our vision is to create this material as a commodity for this community.”
Ride your footprint
The name ‘Bureo’ comes from the language of the Mapuche, the native Chileans, and means ´the waves’. Selected in honor of the Chilean people, the name represents our mission. Just as a wave originates from a disturbance of wind along the ocean surface, Bureo is starting with a small change in an ocean of plastic. Through time and energy, the waves of Bureo will develop the force required to cause real change.
Watch their story.
via Design Taxi
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