‘Nets to decks’ – the journey to a sustainable skateboard
Cleaning the oceans and upcycling fishing nets while at the same time creating a sustainable product is this company’s mission.
Ocean waste seems like an unassailable task to fight, but thankfully, upcycling ocean waste is becoming increasingly popular. We’ve seen Adidas launch a shoe made from ocean waste and the company later went a step further with the introduction of a 3D-printed Ocean Plastic sneaker. We have also seen 11-time surfing champion, Kelly Slater, create a sustainable range of men’s wear using recycled fishing nets.
Our attention now turns to a group of three friends who had the aim of finding a solution for the growing issue of plastic pollution in our oceans. Bureo Skateboards was launched creating sustainable skateboards in Chile.
Bureo means ‘the waves,’ and comes from the Mapuche, the native Chileans.
Discarded fishing nets are a major threat to marine mammals and ecosystems and make up approximately 10% of the ocean’s plastic pollution. In November 2013, Bureo launched Net Positivia in Chile, the country’s first fishing net collection and recycling program. Since the launch of the recycling programme, more than 10,000 kg of derelict fishing nets has been recycled.
The Minnow skateboard was born
The collected nets are sorted, shredded and re-pelletized to be made into the Minnow skateboard’s deck. The board’s wheels are made from 30% vegetable oil and 100% recycled cores. The end product is not only a sustainable board, but a high-quality one. Each board keeps 9m² of fishing nets out of the ocean.
If you, or a loved one, are a skateboarder then why not buy a sustainable board that is making a difference to the oceans. The Minnow board comes in a range of four colours, green, blue, tangerine, and violet, and is available on the Bureo online store for $149 (approximately AU$202).
Check out the process of going from fishing nets to a skateboard in the video below.
