The Northern-California based XBoards was founded in 2010, and has focused on innovative engineering, and has looked to create both sustainability and enhanced rider performance. The BioBoard promises both via a FlaxFlex technology, which is meant to reduce leg fatigue by ensuring consistent flex for the rider, while the also ensuring lower density to provide vibration dampening as well.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fanBoWAVG8o

On the sustainability front, the BioBoard is made from Lineo’s 100 percent biodegradable and renewable flax fabric, which has earned a JEC Composites Winner of 2010 Innovation Award. The material has been used in surfboards, tennis rackets and racing boats and now it could be hitting the slopes too!

XBoards Official Website

The company showed off its new line of garments at last week’s SIA Snow Show in Denver, and in addition to providing UV shielding and anti-odor properties, the clothing should help wearers stay warm. Unlike bamboo, which provides a breathable fabric, Coffee Char can be used to trap heat close to skin, making for an excellent base layer when the weather outside is frightful.

Virus Official Website
[Via Gizmag: Keeping warm with recycled coffee beans]

And this certainly isn’t as big of news as bringing a ski slope to Dubai. But there is an interesting twist on this one. The ice is actually flown in to Delhi in panels. And it technically isn’t real ice. Ice Age is using “Reel Ice,” which offers all the ice properties such as gliding and sliding of real ice but is far less expensive. It is as ecological and non-toxic, while still being recyclable and for novices better as well. It is far more impact-absorbing than actual real ice, which can help reduce injuries.

Reel Ice is used in the United States in Disneyland and even in the NHL training centers in Florida. But now it is on the subcontinent too.

Ice Age Skating Café Official Website

The drinking cups (they make utensils too) are made of natural fiber composites mixed with thermoplastic – basically 50 percent pine fiber wood mixed with 50 percent plastic. The result is one that doesn’t absorb smells, are insensitive to humidity and are dishwasher safe. But they are also recyclable, so if it should crack or break it can be ground down and casted again. Plus they offer a rugged look for those who would like to endure the great outdoors, just like the Finns!

Kupilka Official Website

But at the Consumer Electronics Show this year some companies are doing something about it. These include GreenSmart, which is introducing a line of stylish and very eco-friendly computer sleves and bags. The company notes that more than 800,000 bottles have been recycled already – and in all honesty after this year’s show they’ll likely have a lot more. So it is good to see a company like GreenSmart being smart about what can be done about it!

The line includes MacBook and laptop sleeves, backpacks, messenger bags and even wine and water carriers. And the latter ones can even help reduce how many water bottles end up in the ocean!

GreenSmart Official Website

Let’s face it – Apple notebooks aren’t cheap, so when it comes to protection, you want more than just a plastic sleeve with a funky design. Enter the Blackbox Bamboo Case for the MacBook Pro and iPad. These cases will have your MacBook running with the very best rugged laptops.

Handcrafted from solid bamboo, the cases were made to protect your Apple kit at all costs giving it hardshell protection from falls, scratches, and dents. Each case is also treated with a water-resistant finish to guard your laptop from rain or the accidental splash of coffee. Design-wise, the cases fit snugly around your MacBook/iPad and each case features a laser-cut leather strap and wool-felt liner. The cases do add a little bulk to your device, and a small portion of your device remains exposed (the portion surrounding the leather carry strap), but with prices starting at $99, it’s a small grievance for what could be a life-saving shield for your MacBook or iPad.

Blackbox Case Official Website
[via Gigaom: Blackbox bamboo MacBook Air case is beautiful and takes a beating]

Green Guru’s business model is based on trash. They collect discarded inner tubes and worn out wetsuits to use as the basis of an extensive line of fashion bags and wallets; bike panniers; backpacks; travel cases; laptop sleeves; and even key chains made from old climbing rope. Over 25 different products make up their line, each product using at least one old piece of used gear. All assembled in America and ranging in price from under $5 to well over $100.

Along with creating new products out of trash, Green Guru has a network of retailers who will actually collect old tubes and wet suits from those individuals not wanting to throw them away. They are certainly not the first company to reuse old bike gear and turn it into a new product, but they are one of the few with a network of collection locations for this old gear. Unfortunately at this time, those retailers collecting old gear are only based in Colorado and California, but these two states have a large number of cyclists so there are certainly plenty of tubes to collect.

Having personally handled the ‘new’ products from Green Guru, I can attest to the quality. Though it may be made from old gear, it certainly does not appear or feel old. The bags that I have examined are top quality and show no noticeable evidence of being used. They look brand new.

It should be noted that though Green Guru labels their products “Made in the U.S.A.”, they technically may not be according to the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) guidelines. Almost every bicycle inner tube is made in Asia, so the products that use tubes can not be classified as such. The appropriate classification would be “Assembled in the U.S.A.” As for the wet suits, they are some that are U.S. made so it is correct to label those products as “Made in the U.S.A.” if the wet suit was labeled appropriately.

The bottom line is that Green Guru is doing their part to keep a little of our trash from entering the landfill. So whether it is “Made in the U.S.A.” or “Assembled in the U.S.A.”, Green Guru has made the right decision to create a business around “reducing, reusing, recycling.”

Green Guru Official Website

The skateboards are actually made of corn stalks and husks exclusively by Stalk It Longboards! Kind of an interesting twist on what might otherwise just end up in the trash!

Stalk It Longboards Official Website
Corn Board Manufacturing

Burton Snowboards and Mountain Dew formed a partnership, the Green Mountain Project, late last year that will show more green than the soda’s bottles. As part of the partnership Burton will use recycled Mountain Dew bottles to manufacture a number of its products. The goal is to create sustainable fabrics out of recycled plastic bottles.

We’ll see products roll out throughout the 2012 and 2013 seasons. Among the first pieces to come out will be a hand-crafted line of t-shirts made from 50 percent recycled plastic bottles and 50 percent organic cotton. The first t-shirts from Burton’s Green Mountain Project will be a line of limited edition Burton x Mountain Dew tees. Three styles include Apparatus, Flake and Chairway to Heaven. Each t-shirt retails for $27 and is available exclusively at Burton US Flagship stores.

Burton Snowboards Official Website
[via ESPN: Burton, Dew create recycled fabrics]

And why not? Bamboo is a fast growing grass that offers a great deal of rigidity and strength. And unlike other materials it is quick growing and makes for a nice natural look. It’s been used for floors for years, and now is hitting the slopes.

Among those using the material is California based Arbor, which has been using the material to make clothing. By integrating bamboo in the process the company can reportedly reduce the reliance on chemically treated fiberglass and petroleum-based resin by up to 20 percent, making a board that is better for the environment but also lighter in the process.

Across the country, Boston-based Bean is looking to produce a board with no plastics at all, made just from bamboo. It seems to be a trend that is likely only going to grow fast – kind of like bamboo!

Arbor Official Website
Bean Official Website
[Via Boston.com: Snowboards made in Boston]
[Via Transworld Business: Arbor Snowboards: 2012/13 Snowboard Preview]

We’ve seen skate decks that have taken advantage of recycled materials, and even skate decks that have found life after they’re seen one too many spills. Now the 99.9 percent American made NewWood material, which is reportedly flexible, durable and all weather-resistant, will be used by OC Ramps as a skating surfaces – with plans to eventually use it on all surfaces. In the future we could even see old skateboard decks recycled with other wood and plastics to make NewWood surfaces!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gbF-aAwA1b8

NewWood Official Website
OC Ramps Official Website
[Via KBKW: Santa Crams NewWood Into Skater Stockings]

Fortunately Waste-Not Recycling, which is located in Loveland, is there to lead the pioneering efforts to both recycle and reuse skiing equipment. The company, which works with the national trade group Snowsports Industries America, is currently in the testing stage to break down the used equipment and find what can be reused or repurposed.

As with other industries, hopefully where there is a will there will a way to make this happen.

Waste-Not Recycling Official Website
Snowsports Industries America Official Website
[Via North Colorado Business Report: Ski-equipment recycling outfit hopes for a lift]

Zoobombing

The US city of Portland in Oregon is home to a unique weekly cycling event known as zoobombing. Take a look at this BBC news story.

How to make a Carbon Fiber Violin

Carbon fiber is used in many sporting applications from tennis rackets to nearly every component for high end bicycles. Now a Do-It-Yourself enthusiast from Australia has created a violin made of carbon fiber.  The complete details on making the violin can found  at Instructables,  a website dedicated to DIY builder plans. The violin is a painstaking 10 month project and is entered in the Instructables ShopBot Challenge. The winner will receive a CNC router machine, aka ShopBot.  Do you have a DIY project you would like to show off? Contest entry is open into February.

In a somewhat related story, Dr. Steven Sirr has performed CT scans on a 307 year-old Stradivarius violin. Sirr says he “was amazed at the anatomy.” He took the CT info and created a wooden violin. Since carbon fiber can be layered into nearly any shape, I can’t help but wonder about the resulting violin if the carbon fiber builder was to join forces with Dr. Steven Sirr.

Indonesian chocolate factory is world’s largest commercial bamboo structure

From a World Architecture News story, “With a tensile strength higher than mild steel and greater compressive strength than many mixtures of concrete it is no wonder that bamboo continues to be the construction material of choice for many longstanding building projects.

Few are quite as ambitious with the material as Big Tree Farms however, who have recently completed the largest bamboo structure in Southeast Asia in Sibang, Bali. ”

Researchers Develop World’s Lightest Material

A team of researchers from UC Irvine, HRL Laboratories and the California Institute of Technology have developed the world’s lightest material – about one hundred times lighter than Styrofoam. Their findings appear in the Nov. 18 issue of Science.

This is a weekly digest of web links I think are worth checking out. Please comment on what you find interesting. If you have something to share, please submit links of interest to mike@kineticshift.com.