Six sustainable kitesurfing companies worth noting

Production of kitesurfing / boarding equipment can have a rough impact on the environment. Oil must be drilled and extracted from the earth for kite, sail, and board production. Then it must be converted to plastic and other petroleum based materials. The energy used to produce the chemical components of plastics, fibers, foams, polyesters, and nylon increases the size of our carbon footprint, especially when you factor in transport and shipping logistics. However there are three kiteboarding equipment companies that put effort in decreasing their carbon footprint.

CrazyFly
CrazyFly was founded 21 years ago by Jozef Bukovčák. Based in Nemšová, a small town in northwestern Slovakia. CrazyFly is a family business that operates all of their production from a single facility, hence cutting back on the damage transport takes on the environment. They selflessly ignore fiscal cutbacks in order to produce high quality kites that last longer. This means you get the most use out of them as possible before needing to replace them.

Kold
Kold firmly believes that many things can be done differently regarding sustainability without sacrifice. First, they use zero plastic in packaging. They incorporate material from their scrap pile ensuring little as possible goes to waste. However, their most innovative approach is that they use environmental friendly material for their boards such as organic resin and flax fiber which actually makes them lighter and easier to control proving that thinking green can even enhance the quality of your product.

Moses
Based on the Adriatic coastal city of San Mauro Pascoli, Italy, Moses was founded 12 years ago and has positively impacted the industry by sourcing their materials solely from within Italy. This lowers the carbon footprint of international transport. They create equipment for kiteboarding, windsurfing and standard surfing expanding their sustainable approach to other related sports as well.

ECOBOARD
The ECOBOARD Project is focused on reducing carbon footprints, increasing the use (and reuse) of renewable, recycled and up-cycled inputs, and reducing toxicity within the surfboard manufacturing process. The ECOBOARD Project helps the board-riding community to build, buy and ride high-performance sustainable boards. The ECOBOARD Project educates people about the environmental impacts of their board-riding lifestyle.

Dutone
With sustainability principles in mind, Dutone looks at new methods that lessen the environmental impact of the process, while remaining commercially competitive. Today, Dutone kites, bars, twintips, surfboards, click bar and foil wing are climate neutral, which is acknowledged in three steps: calculating emissions, offsetting emissions and tracking the carbon offset. 

Kitenation
An estimated 380 tons of wetsuit waste are dumped every year. This company has set out to come up with a solution to this problem by inventing the world's first fully recyclable wetsuit.

Kitesurfing / boarding is a sport that relies heavily if not entirely on nature. It’s great knowing which companies return their appreciation.