As for bamboo, something like more than 70 somethings genres of bamboo, those there panada's most probably only eat a certain type that only grows in a certain place at a certain time of year, when the wind blows in the right direction...
you can buy bamboo in ikea to make your flat look "trendy"...
"When we connect leaving the lights on to energy shortages and pollution rising, when we connect our trash to landfills and disease, and when we connect the things that we buy and use to the places they come from, we more fully understand the importance of being mindful. Ignoring the causes and effects of what we do and how our actions impact our world will eventually come back to haunt us. When we examine issues through an environmental lens, consciousness is raised and the opportunity for change occurs."
Thanks Abma for trying to make a difference. A few points:
-Someone commented above, "Nice idea, but it goes much deeper than that." I believe Mark fully understands this; that's why his project is called "One Step" and created to advocate more ecological thought within the industry. "A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step."
- Re: the price to build a "biodiesel converter": you can make one with a pair of old jeans and a 55-gallon drum. The whole idea is to be resourceful and use what's available to you; hence re-using waste vegetable oil as a fuel.
-Proponents of biodiesel/vegetable oil-fueled propulsion know that it isn't a comprehensive answer to the energy crisis, but must be a part of a bigger solution.
Meadows you sound pretty smart. Do you realize if you take your finely tuned calculation and 100 people do the same thing then it will delay global warming by .00001
Now that is progress.
Thanks for keeping it real and being the most enlightening moment of my day.
Love the attitude that we should just all do nothing because we are just one person. Luckily there seems to be some more intelligent people in this mix that are not a bunch of sheep.
All for this. I have mad respect for what he is doing, we didn't pollute the environment over night and were not going to fix it overnight, but it needs to start somewhere and im glad hes opening the doors to the skiing community.
he's startinig something. that's more all of u ever will do.
yes, it's just a small step. but if at least some of us would follow and convince our friends to do the same, and our friends convince their friends and so on...
for all us non-sledders: public transport would be a start to get anywhere...
aren't we just too lazy to leave our cars in the garage?
Biodiesel isn't the solution, because it is not a zero-emission fuel, meaning it releases waste into the air when it is burned. But it is a much better alternative to the heaping amounts of gasoline used by pickups, snowmobiles, snowcats, and helicopters. It's a step in the right direction, but only the first of many. As for the other stuff (recycled plastic, bamboo skis, etc.), these are all great ideas and each one helps decrease one's carbon footprint significantly. Props to Abma for being proactive. We should all jump on the bandwagon.
And for everyone who is saying he's playing to too small an audience:
We all know that skiers are innovative, forward thinking people. If we weren't, freeskiing wouldn't look anything like it does today, would it? Abma may be playing to a small audience, but that audience is very likely to get up and do something about their carbon footprints, unlike the vast majority of the American population. Maybe the ski community can set an example for the rest of the world about the changes that can be made when a group of people decide to get together and fight as one against the devastating effects of climate change.
hell ya...effective fuels rock as well as keeping the enviornment clean..global warming may be over exaggerated by the media(like swine flu)but helping the enviornment is a wonderful idea...good to see a pro athlete actually doing something good with fame
He is doing exactly what i want to do. we should concentrate less on where global warmin is now and more on what we can do to pollute less while at the same time still make everyday tasks convienient. Essentially being environmentally aware or cautious should just be everyday normal living. bio diesel is a good idea to use for snow cats, especially at big resorts because you know they have resturants that are just throwing away excess oils. Although the ski industry may seem like a small audience, it is just as important as something on a larger scale because every aspect of our daily lives at this point has an effect on the environment. Anyway, i could write 30 pages about this topic right now, its what i am studying at school, so i will stop now.