Olympic Medals are Green

No they didn't change the traditional medals of Gold, Silver and Bronze to green, but they did use reclaimed metal for the first time in this year's Olympic and Paralympic medals. Vancouver-based Teck Resources extracted gold, silver, and copper from old electronics using a smelting process on cathode ray tube glass, circuit boards, and other computer parts. A total of 2.05 kg of gold, 1,950 kg of silver, and 903 kg of copper were reclaimed and used. Even though this is just a small percentage of recycled material in each of the 1,000 medals awarded, it is a start. The mining of gold and other metals is harmful to the planet, so reducing the amount of mined metals to any degree helps the planet. Hopefully future host cities will be inspired to build on this effort and increase the amount of reclaimed metals in future Olympic medals.

Sustainable Surfboards

A great Maine company has brought surfing back to its roots by constructing gorgeous wood surfboards. According to their website Grain Surfboards are committed to building, promoting and riding surfboards that have less impact on the environment and more impact on your surfing. Grain uses locally harvested, sustainably forested Northern White Cedar. They also reduce waste with their creative designs which use a third of wood in typical wood boards, they reuse waste products, and support small, family-owned sawmills in Maine. The wood boards are finished with zero-VOC epoxy, glass or bamboo cloth, and a high-gloss UV coating to protect the board.

Why make the switch to a wood surfboard? Traditional boards are made with petroleum based polyurethane foam which creates dangerous chemicals in the manufacturing process and after shaping the boards are glassed with toxic fiberglass laminate and polyester resins.

For more info on Grain Surfboards visit http://www.grainsurfboards.com