Arbor

We started Arbor in 1995 convinced that there was a need for brands willing to take responsibility for the impact their products have on the environment. For us, time spent riding had always provided a direct understanding of what's at stake. We all need clean air to skate, clean water to surf, and snow to ride. For those of us who pursue boardsports, protecting the planet is about the environments we use everyday. It was becoming obvious that the boardsports industry, which relies on a healthy environment to succeed, needed to get more involved with protecting the planet.

To this end, Arbor was founded to design products around the goal of replacing as many environmentally harmful materials as possible, with functional, ecologically based alternatives. The mission is to deliver performance, durability, and style in the most responsible way possible. The result must be quality and reduced environmental impact.

As of right now, it is not possible to deliver a totally "green" product. Reality is about taking steps towards that future. Those steps are what drive the Arbor Collective. Having said that, we feel that you can't be "green" just for the sake of being green. Customers expect performance and relevance, even when choosing a sustainable alternative. So, we select only those eco-materials that allow us to deliver better looking, higher performing, more durable products. Form still follows function, and this balance must be achieved if alternative products are to succeed in today's fickle marketplace.

Arbor has evolved through the years into a growing collective of artists, designers, and friends that snowboard, skateboard, and surf. We remain focused on finding solutions for a more sustainable future through a blend of art, technology, and eco-materials. This allows us to deliver the most successful line of snowboards, skateboards, and apparel possible.

The Company is headquartered in Venice, California, a place at the root of much of what we do. If you're in the area, I invite you to visit our showroom at 102 Washington Boulevard, Venice, California 90292. Stop in and check out what we're up to...

It is important to note that Arbor is committed to supporting groups that work to protect and restore the planet. We annually donate at least 5% of our profits to these organizations. In the past we have supported The Nature Conservancy, The Surfrider Foundation, The Rainforest Action Network, and American Forests. Currently we are working with True Offsets, www.trueoffsets.com. True Offsets allows Arbor to help restore forestlands in the Hawaiian Islands and offset more carbon emissions than our operation is responsible for. That's right, we are a less-than-zero carbon emitter!

Even the basics are incredibly important to Arbor. We print on recycled paper only, use soy-based inks; recycle all office waste; and build out retail/office space and point of purchase displays with recycled and/or sustainable materials.

It is clear that many of us who snowboard, skateboard, and surf are changing the face of environmentalism. Today, all types, even the hardest kid you know, can be conscious of the planet at their core. But you don't have to broadcast it to live it; it's not about identity, rather it's about choice and personal values. We see this as a critical change if saving the environment is to remain important to future generations.

Thank you for taking the time to learn about the Arbor Collective. Now, get out and enjoy this planet of ours and all the shredding possibilities it provides...

The Ecological Benefits of Using Bamboo as a Raw Material

Renewable - The bamboo used for apparel production is the fastest growing plant known to man, growing up to 4 feet (122 cm) per day, and rapidly reaching heights over 40 feet. Because of this rapid growth rate and the amount of vertical biomass created, bamboo is able to deliver far more usable raw material per acre than any other alternative, which makes it today's most renewable resource. Bamboo is also self-regenerating, so it can be harvested and, in most cases, will simply re-grow without replanting.

Sustainable - Bamboo cultivation requires zero pesticides or chemical fertilizers to achieve its amazing growth rate and renewability. Hence, it is inherently organic. In contrast, it takes 1/3 of a pound of chemicals to produce enough conventional cotton for one t-shirt. Cotton production is responsible for 16% of the world's insecticide use, more than any other single crop, while covering only 2.5% of the world's cultivated land. Many of these chemicals run off into our waterways, harming humans and the natural environment. In addition, bamboo requires much less land and water (as a ratio to usable fiber produced per acre), than cotton, organic cotton, and other alternative fibers. In fact, it takes 15,000 liters of water to grow 1 kg of cotton or organic cotton. Some of this water is piped in from critical watersheds, as cotton is typically grown on arid lands. In contrast, bamboo requires only natural rainfall.

Additional Eco Benefits - Bamboo propagation prevents erosion and adds nutrients back to the soil, while conventional, transitional, and even organic cotton cultivation strip the land of nutrients. Bamboo is hand picked using traditional methods that have a much lower impact on the environment than modern machine-based harvesting practices. It's also important to note that bamboo is not planted on cleared forestlands; it is sustainably selected from naturally occurring bamboo stands. In addition, bamboo absorbs more carbon dioxide and emits more oxygen than equivalent stands of trees. Oh � and the "timber" bamboo used for apparel production is not a source of food for pandas, nor is it harvested from panda habitat.