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Ask the expert
Jason Salfi
In the 90s, skateboarding was a trend for California beach bums and misfit kids. Today, it could be a response to our current energy crisis. Jason Salfi, CEO and co-founder of Comet Skateboards, talks about producing high-quality skateboards such that anyone would want to hop on and ride into a greener future.
How are Comet Skateboards green?
We started the company that way back in 1998. I graduated from Cornell in '93 with a background in natural resource management. I wanted to combine sustainable business with something I was interested in and skateboards made sense. Traditionally, skateboards are made with maple, laquer, and petroleum based ink. I rethought that on a basic level and started using sustainable maple and water-based ink. Forty percent of maple harvested goes into making skateboards. At first, we made a carbon composite-based skateboard that lasted longer, and cut down on the necessity of manufacturing the current abundance of boards. The goal was ultimately to make a bio-based composite. A couple of years ago, we joined forces with a glue company E2E out of Cornell and now we don't use anything with petroleum and have 100% biodegradable boards. We also compost the scraps.
In San Francisco, our factory ran on solar energy. We just opened a new factory in New York to be closer to our raw materials. Our goal is to use reusable energy in our new factory as soon as possible.
Why is this important to you?
It's all about legacy: We are only on this planet for a brief amount of time. I have a child and want to preserve the planet for future generations. I'm not just talking about humans, but also biodiversity. It is wonderful for many things to coexist.
Where do you get your materials from?
We get the maple from forests around the Northeast. We source mostly within a few hundred miles of the factory. We are trying to build a regional supply chain.
Is there anything that's not green about your company?
By nature, most companies that mafacture have improvements to make. Right now, we compost scrap materials, but how about a way to cut down on scrap all together? We compost, but could rethink manufacturing so that we don't create waste or have a need to extract from the environment. From an energy standpoint, we could use less. Solar power is really great, but it is important to find ways to reduce use of energy.
A lot of companies are portrayed as having the world's problems solved, but I never want to sound like I have it all figured out. The way we do business and interact with other companies is inefficient and could be improved. We are all in this together and so one company doing the right thing is never enough.
Why did you choose skateboards? Are you an avid skateboarder?
I like to skateboard a lot so I chose skateboard manufacturing because I knew it would keep me interested. The reality, however, is the busier I get, the less I skateboard.
