Being Eco is an area the action sports industry is surprisingly falling behind. Recently SIMA held a green boot camp and Board Retailers Association had their annual conference. The trigger word played like a broken record “green”.

Lets start with SIMA. First, awesome that they have taken a lead in helping raise the importance of green awareness in our community. The panel was heated like a Jerry Springer episode and one not to miss. Some attendees were pissed that they felt the big dog panelists including Billabong and Volcom used being green more as a marketing ploy than actually caring about our very fragile earth. But lets be real. Everyone has their own initiatives. If at the end of the day action was taken small or large by people and companies to be Eco considerate that’s better than nothing at all.

At Board Retailers Association Frank Scura founder of the Action Sports Environmental Coalition spoke with his newly formed entourage including Quiksilver alum, Hurley, Element, and pro skater Bob Burnquist. He addressed “How sustainability and cause association will help your business to survive and thrive in a volatile economic climate.” I think he may be onto something. I’m not going to give away his secrets but if I were a shop I’d contact ASEC. He blew me away with his marketing and revenue strategies. Plus we’re only as strong as our team behind us right? He put together a team with all the expertise needed to actually make change happen effectively.

The challenge is IF not enough action is taken to impact both consumers and companies alike then all sides aren’t moved to either manufacture green, sell green or to buy green. So in order for the action sports community to really “save the world” we all need to be on the same page. Companies must step up to the plate and educate consumers how important and awesome it is to make eco minded purchases. They need to demonstrate to consumers that it is cool to be green. You don’t need to be a hippie. It’s as easy as reusing a water bottle. And consumers, start thinking about the powder you want to be riding, or perfect wave and how much it would suck if they were gone. The more we make eco purchases the more companies will be motivated to manufacture environmentally conscious products.

After all Stefanie Sekich from Surfrider Foundation pointed out that every piece of plastic since 1950 still exists. And a ton of it can be found in the middle of the ocean. So as you’re riding those sweet barrels in the morning enjoy tasting that ever so delicious plastic water.

Check out the full photo gallery from Zexsports.

Tags: Bob Burnquist

Posted by ZexSports on Wednesday, May 6th, 2009 in Industry.

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