Alright, so I've reached a major snag in my morals last night. You see, I am trying very very hard to be as little of a consumer as possible. My only flaw with that is my need to ski. Now, normally this wouldn't present a problem. A pair of skis, bindings, boots, goggles... In the most extreme sense, that is all you need to buy that has non-renewable products in it. All other items needed to ski (pants, hat, jacket, gloves, etc) can be made from hemp and other materials that aren't harmful to the planet and humans alike.
My problem is: This season I bought a new pair of skis along with bindings to go on them. Yesterday was my third day (third half day) skiing on them and the binding broke. The binding broke in such a way that the whole binding needs to be sent back so I can get new ones. I have a couple problems with this. The first (and most obvious) problem is the durability of the binding. Why would a company make a binding that breaks so easily? The other problem I have with this, is how the binding is designed so that when one piece breaks the whole binding is rendered useless. There's all this plastic and metal that was harvested from the earth to create this binding that had a lifetime of less than 12 hours of use. Now look into the resources that went into not only harvesting the materials and turning them into said binding. But the packaging and shipping to the store from the factory, now from the store back to the factory so they can send me out yet another pair of bindings that will most likely break again. And what is to happen with the broken binding? Seams like a waste of resources to me.
I have been a advocate for such actions in the past, but at the time I was young and didn't even care to think about such a thing in this light. It was during the first few years that twintip skis were being manufactured and sold. I shit you not, I went through 4 or 5 NEW skis in one season because they would break on me.
This problem now goes spiraling out of control when looking at the industry as a whole. Unlike snowboarders we are stuck with the bindings on the skis. So every pair of skis you want, you need bindings to compliment them. Back before "freeskiing" everyone had one pair of skis. Now-a-days everyone is talking about a quiver. Urban skis, Park skis, Pipe skis, Rock skis, Inbounds powder skis, BC Booter skis, Slackcountry skis, Touring skis. The worst part about all of it is our need to fit in. Everyone (well, almost everyone) is under the mentality that if you don't have the newest gear you're somehow not as cool as those that do. So even though your jacket is still functional you go out and buy a new jacket because you heard that purple is in this year.
This problem goes right to the top where you have pro's preaching about "Keep Winter Cool" and "Protect our Winters" etc... Lets look at these pro's that are behind the "POW" movement. They have pro models that are new every year, each year they have a new pro model jacket, if they're not out in the backcountry all winter riding around in their sleds it's because they're flying heli's around everywhere... What are they actually doing to change things? That being said, there are some companies that are making small improvements towards a smarter future. Travis Rice and Quicksilver made a Jacket that is made from non-carcinogenic, renewable, organic materials. Planet Earth and Holden are making organic outerwear that is a better alternative, and some board companies like Arbor are making boards out of more sustainable materials such as bamboo. Ski Video production companies such as Absinthe and PBP who use 100% bio-degradable and recyclable materials for their casing.
Earlier this winter (I guess you could say it was in the fall) I came to the realization that if that small small chance of making it in the skiing world comes along I will in fact say NO. I do not want to take a sled out, I would much rather skin places than destroy them (hopefully on less harmful skins than the ones available today), the only time I will ever get into a helicopter is if I'm being sent on a treeplanting mission. I am beginning to actively try and make the main street in my town a "no idle zone" as well as looking into what it will take to make a free shuttle to bring people to the hill and back so everyone doesn't have to drive. Last week my jacket fell apart (zipper fell off, cuffs fell apart, pockets were coming undone) and instead of going out to buy a new jacket for $250+ I brought it down to the dry cleaners where they fixed it and cleaned it for $35. Sure, the jacket is three years old, but does that make me any less cool? Who cares. Cool isn't real.
I feel as though I have lost most of you, because normally when I wrote a thread that is long almost all of you who reply didn't actually read my post. I guess I'll do spark notes?
spark notes: in a world of needs and wants, you must be very careful in deciding what it is you really need, or what "they" tell you what you want.
