We started Arbor in 1995 convinced that there was a need for brands willing to take responsibility for the impact their products have on the environment. For us, time spent riding had always provided a direct understanding of what’s at stake. We all need clean air to skate, clean water to surf, and snow to ride. For those of us who pursue boardsports, protecting the planet is about the environments we use everyday. It was becoming obvious that the boardsports industry, which relies on a healthy environment to succeed, needed to get more involved with protecting the planet.
To this end, Arbor was founded to design products around the goal of replacing as many environmentally harmful materials as possible, with functional, ecologically based alternatives. The mission is to deliver performance, durability, and style in the most responsible way possible. The result must be quality and reduced environmental impact.
As of right now, it is not possible to deliver a totally “green” product. Reality is about taking steps towards that future. Those steps are what drive the Arbor Collective. Having said that, we feel that you can’t be “green” just for the sake of being green. Customers expect performance and relevance, even when choosing a sustainable alternative. So, we select only those eco-materials that allow us to deliver better looking, higher performing, more durable products. Form still follows function, and this balance must be achieved if alternative products are to succeed in today’s fickle marketplace.
Arbor has evolved through the years into a growing collective of artists, designers, and friends that snowboard, skateboard, and surf. We remain focused on finding solutions for a more sustainable future through a blend of art, technology, and eco-materials. This allows us to deliver the most successful line of snowboards, skateboards, and apparel possible.
The Company is headquartered in Venice, California, a place at the root of much of what we do.
It is important to note that Arbor is committed to supporting groups that work to protect and restore the planet. We annually donate at least 5% of our profits to these organizations. In the past we have supported The Nature Conservancy, The Surfrider Foundation, The Rainforest Action Network, and American Forests. Currently we are working with True Offsets, www.trueoffsets.com. True Offsets allows Arbor to help restore forestlands in the Hawaiian Islands and offset more carbon emissions than our operation is responsible for. That’s right, we are a less-than-zero carbon emitter!
Even the basics are incredibly important to Arbor. We print on recycled paper only, use soy-based inks; recycle all office waste; and build out retail/office space and point of purchase displays with recycled and/or sustainable materials.
It is clear that many of us who snowboard, skateboard, and surf are changing the face of environmentalism. Today, all types, even the hardest kid you know, can be conscious of the planet at their core. But you don’t have to broadcast it to live it; it’s not about identity, rather it’s about choice and personal values. We see this as a critical change if saving the environment is to remain important to future generations.
Thank you for taking the time to learn about the Arbor Collective. Now, get out and enjoy this planet of ours and all the shredding possibilities it provides…
Bob Carlson
New Arbor longboards have arrived at momentum. The city has been cleaning the streets. It’s time! Get yours and get outside.
