Read some thoughts of Starboard’s chief Svein Rasmussen on the current coronavirus crisis and its environmental and economic consequences.
Coronavirus has been spreading rapidly across the world. The head office of Starboard is located in Bangkok in Thailand, where authorities have ordered a shutdown of public facilities like shopping malls, playgrounds, etc. until April 30 to control the spread.
Svein Rasmussen – Pic: Starboard
Words by Svein Rasmussen
One would always like to look at the positive side of any challenge, as that creates good energy and new ideas. Most people in our last generations have lived in a “golden age” of growth, consumerism and many of us including me, have maybe not taken time to appreciate what a precious time we put our feet on the planet.
Now us earthlings have a common challenge, one that is terrifying for those of us who may loose family and friends, but otherways perhaps a good learning session.
Economy certainly is important, and this incident showcases that there are more important parts to life than the $, namely life itself and the appreciation of it. Is it even possible that the current willingness of sacrificing the $ over future life on the planet can set a trend of how we act on the larger environmental threats that our planet are faced with?
It now seems governments actually are able to act and that the people follow. So after this crisis is over, let’s escalate environmental issues to a new level where the politicians feel that they have the backing of the people to act steadfast.
The reason for the Covid – 19 according to scientists, is that we still are ignorant enough to terrorize and kill our animal friends because of our taste buds. I was stuck with that habit for the most of my life, we are all in this together and need to take our role as humans with more dignity and responsibility.
Here in Thailand we are in a soft lockdown, so we can still wingboard, windsurf and paddle, basically living the Tiki life at out lake Taco. I for the first time Wingboarded to work, a little scary with my 2 lap tops and a mobile phone.
But yes, our own little business is surely suffering badly, but again, now is a time for us to value more important things, work super extra hard, make good decisions, treat people well and appreciate our nurses. When Starboard gets through the crisis, then it’s perhaps because of the attitude we share with our friends, riders, co workers, partners and our “planet first” strategy.
Have a look at https://blue.star-board.com and go to the documentary section, loads of very inspiring movies like “Game Changers”.
And this is Chocolate our Starbord HQ security guard, let’s treat our fellow species better.
Svein: „This is Chocolate our Starbord HQ security guard, let’s treat our fellow species better.“
Starboard is the perfect example for green washing!! Shame on you
I`m sorry, but I think I agree with you 🙁 too much ads and not really product or behavior change
I really like the approach to make gear more eco and I think it’s not right to pick at that too much. It should be common sense to try to use eco materials and make them boards durable. I agree that there’s a big part of good marketing in it, but also appreciate the effort. Nevertheless the discussion about sustainability / use of eco-materials is quite useless – Our so beloved sport is so so bad for the environment that I feel like it doesn’t make a big difference anyways: 99,9% of us need to get to the spot by… Read more »
Hello. Yes, we are stuck in the middle of a complicated puzzle, and we choose to spend time/resources on first of all finding out our own impact, secondly doing something about it. While being one of the “worst” company’s in terms of building many boards and supporting riders travels world wide , we felt it was interesting to calculate it all and do something about it. Arguably we are 10 X Carbon/ climate net positive, so for any flight or any board made, we are through our Climate park engagement sequestrating 10 times the emissions. It would be really cool… Read more »
Agreed. This sport is very damaging for the environment, for a variety of reasons, of which I believe travel is the most prominent one. And no, it’s not the same for every action sport, because good conditions for WS are so difficult to find, and the gear is so heavy and bulky. Mountaineering, biking of any sort, climbing (just to name a few), are all much easier to practice all over the world, and without a car. Even surfing, if you live close to the ocean. So yes, I do believe this talk about sustainability on part of the brands… Read more »
Hi, not sure how I missed this discussion for so long. But better late than never, I guess. As this is a complicated topic, I’ll apologize in advance for long post. I’ll try to condense my thoughts as good as possible. Those of you bored by anything longer than an insta post, this is a good time to tune out 😉 At this point it seems to me that the questions about durability (good boards) and environmentally friendly (good for the environment) are two facets of a similar problem: sustainability. Environmentally, higher sustainability is achieved if a reduction in generated… Read more »
I have no connection with Wtchcraft whatsoever, but this man Bouke imho is right because he follows his common sense : durability means sustainability.Period. Everything else is blah-blah. Like distancing is the only working measure against Covid. But maybe I will consider making my own boards rather than using even a screw “made in china”. If my boards turn out to be crap I will rather go riding a bench plank or give up everything.
Come on Starboard! Do some of us have to feel guilty that like a T bone steak from time to time…I know people(quite a few btw) that have disrupted sleep and immunity deviations from trying to be vegan… Or maybe we should switch to bats instead.. The poor Husky Chocolate was born in Thailand-oh, how very cute. Just be yourself and produce good boards, no appologies needed.