13918282:tcurle said:
I'm on your side on this, but are you only going to ski tour via your Tesla? Chairlifts and resorts are also pretty fucked when you think about. Imagine how much fuel is burned to make a half pipe let alone groom a whole mountain. Mass producing most things really isn't good by any environmental aspects. Do you have any realistic ideas for ski factories to help the environment?
Environmentalism through capitalistic systems is short sighted and still incredibly problematic because of the inherent contradictions. However, something should still be done, right? You can compare what is effective and what is less effective all day long but it is missing the point that in a holistic ecological view, everything matters and should be approached with an environmentalist outlook. Even the most nihilistic ecology still arrives at being environmentally conscious as ethical and therefore necessary.
So yes, you can nit pick and say "but you probably eat meat" like that one guy did above, even though I'm vegan and don't, but in the whole scheme of things, that type of argument holds no weight. It is as silly as people who say "you hate society but you still participate in it" as if there is a choice. What I'm trying to say is that I acknowledge my own positionality, one of priveleged individualism that is frought with ecological problems that I simply can't control. But what I can control, I try my best to, whether it's recycling, not using animal products, or using public transportation as much as possible. That approach is the best we have at the moment.
All that reasoning aside, what should ski companies be doing? I don't design skis so as far as the precise details go, I don't know. All I can espouse are ideals because they're the only power I have as a consumer. An ideally environmentally conscious brand would: use completely renewable sources of energy and material, use their platform to spread awareness, politically align themselves with environmentally aware companies/politicians etc.
A fine example is patagonia. While they're far from perfect, their continued efforts towards renewable sources and taking a clear, well expressed ethical stance (bears ears for example) is what should be expected from all outdoor brands. I just scoff at how little I see in the ski industry and especially the amount of support from the consumers of ski equipment, given the fragility of the climate zones that can even support the sport