How to Recycle Your Old Snowboard
How to toss out your old gear responsibly
Image: yellowj, Adobe Stock
Are you getting a new snowboard this season? Sick. Have you put any thought into where your old one will go when you’re finished with it? Snowboards are made from various materials that make them difficult to recycle through your local recycling center (and don’t even get me started on what happens to them in a landfill). Here are a few ways to toss your snowboard and feel good about its end-of-life impact on the environment.
Take to your Local Outdoor or Sports Consignment Shop
If your old snowboard is in good condition, you can take it into a consignment store or donate it to a local charity that provides access to snowboarding in underserved communities.
Turn it Into a New Snowboard
Jones Snowboards’ Re-Up program is a newly launched program by Jones Snowboards to reduce end-of-life impact. Any snowboard can be returned to Jones through collection locations or by shipping your board to them. The old boards then take a boat ride to their factory (the least carbon-emitting way to travel the globe), where they are broken down and inserted into the wood core of new boards as performance stringers. 95% of the material from old boards can be recycled or upcycled through their recycling program. Plus, when you send your board in for recycling with Jones, you get a $50 credit towards a new board.
Launch Snowboards also has a Rip and Recycle program which upcycles new boards —contact Launch for more information.
Turn it into a Bench
If you don’t want to ride your board anymore, but aren’t quite ready to let your board go, you can always have it made into furniture for your home / yard. Companies like Colorado Ski Chairs make benches out of old snowboards that could be perfect if you’re looking for some ride-the-mountain-themed decor. They also accept donations, in which case your old board could become a seating area in someone else’s home.
End-of-life disposal is an important conversation when it comes to sustainability. Products that end up in the landfill take a long time to break down (like, hundreds of years), and creating new materials is resource and emissions-intensive. The most conscious way to toss your board is to give it a new life when you’re finished.
