Ecomaterials Labs: Bouncing back with Comet's soy-based skateboards

Kiley Lambert ( Bio  /   Posts )  |  Tuesday, March 08, 2011 UTC

(NOTE: This is a corrected version of yesterday’s post. We incorrectly reported that Comet was currently producing skateboards using a degradable, soy-based polymer resin. This is currently being prototyped.)

PopTech's weekly Ecomaterials Labs series is part of our ongoing, focused look at next-generation sustainable materials innovation.

With a freak dump truck accident and a fire in its new production facility, 2010 was a rough year for Comet Skateboards. These setbacks, however, could not crush the Comet team’s collective spirit:

"Like an interstellar Comet, we rolled with all the cosmic forces only to return full force." Totally.

The Ithaca, NY-based Comet prides itself on its sustainable ethos.  The team makes its boards from FSC certified maple with formaldehyde-free glue, and water-based inks and clear coat.  The team uses about 20 or so 5-gallon plastic buckets worth of glue every month. Rather than being sent to landfill, the used buckets are re-purposed by sustainable entrepreneur Tom Shelley for his Sustainable Chicken Project.

Shelley gives the buckets to Ithaca residents to collect compostable kitchen scraps that he then brings to his farm. The compost helps generate food for his chickens that lay eggs, which he then resells to the community.

Comet also has a deal with designer L.L. Hammond who takes the off-cuts from the Comet CNC production process for use as heating fuel for their shared production facility and as raw materials for his high-end furniture.

In addition, Comet has plans this summer to prototype a skateboard made from a degradable, plant-based polymer resin developed by Ecomaterials Lab participant Anil Netravali's team at Cornell University.

As Comet co-founder Jason Salfi put it: “It is not just one novel solution that makes us tick but an ever evolving symphony of intelligent moves.”

Since last October, Comet has rolled out the Grease Shark and the Ethos, and they recently announced new graphics from artists Arlo Chapple and Kadie Salfi. After 2010, here's hoping 2011 is all downhill.

Meet the Comet team this Friday, March 11 at the Longboard Expo NYC.

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