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Skis are bad for the environment?

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BEagle
Posts: 330 - Karma: 59
So i was in one of my business lectures the other day, and the teacher was talking about business ethics and the responsibilities of product managers. She said, "Product managers have to be thinking about consumers in many more ways than just how to please them. The environmental issues that society is aware of today are partly their responsibility. So it raises the question of whether we should even produce environmentally harmful goods like skis..." and i was like hold on, skis are bad for the environment? Well shit, can anyone elaborate on this?
Dec 19 2009 10:30AM
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titsLOL
Posts: 7485 - Karma: 396
skiing in general is pretty fucking awful for the environment if you think about it. Gas for the lifts, slaying trees to make runs, driving big cars to the mountain all the time, pumping energy into massive resorts... oooops it's still fun!
Jan 4 2010 10:34PM
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pmills
Posts: 7162 - Karma: 59
even if i follow all your other points, how the hell do you jump to THIS conclusion?

Jan 4 2010 10:39PM
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GotamaBCshredder
Posts: 5062 - Karma: 424

Like I said you cant just say its bad, in comparison with everything else in the world its not.  You dont judge people based off the perfect life, you get compared to other people.  You dont judge your food from the best food ever made, then say the rest is bad.  You make a common basis then you compare to see what is bad and good.  It may have a negative impact, but people could bE doing much worse.  Thats the point.

Jan 4 2010 11:31PM
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pmills
Posts: 7162 - Karma: 59
no, we really can't be doing much worse; as the cause of the current mass extinction coupled with our collective ignorance and denial of the problem, short of total global annihilation (something that could happen literally overnight thanks to the cold war) we're heading straight for the dumps.



Jan 4 2010 11:57PM
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HeathR
Posts: 4359 - Karma: 1,382
nice positive outlook. I think you are being a little overdramatic. Although, the attitude of we could be doing worse is just a way to justify anything. There could always be something worse but that doesn't mean what your doing is not bad.
Jan 5 2010 12:07AM
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fujarome
Posts: 8630 - Karma: 1,561
well, when you think about it, skiing is purely an entertainment form. That is unless of course you're out there killing some moose, then you slid your boots into your leather bindings on your wooden skis, and slide down to your log cabin.

So being that so few truly need skiing in order to survive (face it, we all say we'd die without it, but truth be told, none of us would just drop and die because we aren't able to ski a sick pow line through some trees) it's an extreme luxury. When you also think of the costs of running hotels, shuttle buses, keeping local business open....it all adds up. It's great for us-we get to ski, and the communities get jobs, and skiers coming through. But for the environment....not so much.
Jan 5 2010 12:11AM
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Corben
Posts: 710 - Karma: 49
Just send me your old ones when your done and I'll recycle them into some dope wine racks....
Jan 5 2010 12:35AM
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Drail
Posts: 14012 - Karma: 10,010
see, i've been thinking the past few years, and every ski hill should invest in a wind turbine on top of their peak and solar panels on all the lift shacks. you could probably generate enough power to run most of the lifts, and maybe the day lodge? with the combination of the two.

i mean, it's a start.
Jan 5 2010 2:12AM
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Commonwealth
Posts: 3729 - Karma: 11
https://newschoolers.com/web/forums/readthread/thread_id/501956/

We are just seeing the beginning, my friend. Drail, I do remember your thread about this topic from awhile ago, couldn't find it though.

This is what I want to do with my life. For everyone that wants to be involved in the ski industry, consider this...
Jan 5 2010 12:45PM
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teleak
Posts: 2251 - Karma: 105

shouldn't you want future generations to enjoy what we all love too?

Jan 5 2010 1:07PM
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Commonwealth
Posts: 3729 - Karma: 11
Yep. But we also need to think big picture: what can we do as a community to preserve the world as whole?
Jan 5 2010 1:09PM
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jibbinc.
Posts: 3355 - Karma: 2,497
I dont give a shit if its bad, ill be dead before the enviroment effects me.
Jan 5 2010 1:19PM
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GotamaBCshredder
Posts: 5062 - Karma: 424
wow, You are slightly extremist I would say.  Do you have nightmares about this stuff?
Jan 5 2010 8:04PM
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pmills
Posts: 7162 - Karma: 59
do you know:

our lifestyle (the idea that the earth was 'made for us' and we have an exclusive right to it) is causing the 6th mass extinction

we have created a flotsam of toxic plastic mass, the size of texas, in the middle of the pacific because it's easier to use throw away spoons than to wash them

did you hear that a single blue fin tuna (threatened species) was sold for £170,000 in japan over the weekend.

put fish and toxins together and you hear about Native Alaskans; because of a primarily fish diet they are told not to breast feed their children (mercury content in the fish.) You can tell me how the mercury gets into the ocean.


this is what we've come to:

Click for larger image

Click for larger image

the tsar bomba explded 2.6 miles above the earth -- the fire ball touched the ground.

perspective Click for larger image



how is what i'm saying anything but rational
Jan 5 2010 10:30PM
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GotamaBCshredder
Posts: 5062 - Karma: 424

Are you trying to prove that you have a normal outlook on the world?  I would say you are just tragically over informed.  I caught a 300lb bluefin tuna 2 months ago, took 3 hours and 2 were driving the boat.  Do you realize there has been high prices on GIANT bluefin tuna for a long time?  Either way I dont care. I skiied a couple feet of pow today and Ill continue to do so until Im dead. Have fun worrying.

Jan 5 2010 10:45PM
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pmills
Posts: 7162 - Karma: 59
worrying? sound's like denial and projection all wrapped up together.

i'm simply aware of what's out there, what's going on, and willing to do something different.
Jan 5 2010 10:50PM
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T-Holt
Posts: 5020 - Karma: 639
Yay, I just got a pair of Liberty LTEs.
Jan 5 2010 10:54PM
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GotamaBCshredder
Posts: 5062 - Karma: 424
denial and projection in the same sentence.  Impressive, you sound like a liberally educated know it all.  Have fun "doing something" about those nukes.
Jan 5 2010 10:58PM
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pmills
Posts: 7162 - Karma: 59
and you sound like a self-serving relativist ninny; what do you think of them apples?
Jan 5 2010 11:05PM
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GotamaBCshredder
Posts: 5062 - Karma: 424
LOL Theres another one.  I own a construction business that builds LEED homes, we also worked in YNP building one of the largest LEED projects in the US.   I dont litter,  my family owns 6500 acres of crp turned water fowl refuge land.  Also working on a few seperate multi million dollar wind deals on our property in NE Colorado.  I have a furnace that cost me an extra 3 grand so it would be more effieceint.  My home has radiant heating in the floor that cost me about 20k to make my home more effiecient.  I only have high efficiency light bulbs in my home as well.   I am not some kid that had a prof press a bunch of BS in my head and know a bunch of fancy words to call you that I would have gained from being an extremist in either way.  I still dont worry at night about nukes or global warming.  I do my part, therefore I am comfortable with my own life.  It takes alot of people to turn the world around.  It doesnt help acting like you are. I will still ski, and not feel guilty.   
Jan 5 2010 11:20PM
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pmills
Posts: 7162 - Karma: 59
my previous post was supposed to be my last one, but i can't leave things hanging so sarcastically. I just lost my real rebuttal in an unfortunate back button slip up -- since it's probably what you want anyway; here's the abridged second version

go back through my posts and you'll see all i was attempting to do was provide true examples of "How skis are bad for the environment"

eg. the use of fluorocarbons in ski wax

i do not believe in a relativistic approach that allows you to say that skiing is good for you and it is bad for be based on the efficiency of our furnaces. There are merely truths that need to be recognized.

in all, a basis for action needs to come from an understanding of what we have done, and what we can do.
Jan 6 2010 12:11AM
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Pinguu
Posts: 1581 - Karma: 49
Skiing can be fine for the environment though. I agree that at this point skiing is not sustainable. But people can buy skis that use sustainable design concepts (Liberty, Slant, Moment, and Surface are some), waxes like PURL wax are eco friendly, edges can be recycled, and instead of taking a lift or heli up the mountain people can just do the sickest thing and hike up and find your nirvana in the mountain. Skiing can be as eco friendly as you want it to be.
Jan 6 2010 11:33AM
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pmills
Posts: 7162 - Karma: 59
i completely agree with this, there are many ways you can make sure you enjoy the sport responsibly. It's a matter of understanding and recognizing what is bad and how bad it is.
Jan 6 2010 12:03PM
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