VOLCOM GIVING BACK BLOG

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1/23/2010

The Spring/Summer 2010 Volcom Give Back Series will help to support the Boys and Girls Club of Hawaii and Kapa'a High School Foundation when you purchase any of these products, available only in Hawaii.



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1/20/2010

Just a quick update that we've all collected more than 5000 pairs of jeans for the Give Jeans a Chance campaign, which is great news.

95% of all stores have been matched up with a homeless shelter and a lot of the jeans have already been donated to local homeless shelters. The National Coalition of the Homeless is super busy with the whole Haiti disaster, so there might be a short delay with the pick up of the remaining jeans at some stores.

Some of the jeans will get donated to Haiti because 1.5 million people lost their homes. All the remaining jeans should get picked up at participating stores within the next 10 - 14 days.

The winners will also be announced soon...

Thanks for all your help.





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1/4/2010

From our friends at Anvil Knitwear...

Happy New Year from your friends at Anvil Knitwear! As we enter 2010, Anvil would like to say thank you for your continued partnership and business. As a token of our appreciation we have purchased 1 ton of Carbon Offsets in your company’s name.

Please accept the attached certificate with a “ton” of thanks from Anvil. May 2010 be a prosperous year.



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11/16/2009

You can help us clothe the homeless and win Volcom Jeans for a year when you Give Jeans a Chance! Just drop off any old jeans in wearable condition (no rips/tears) into the bin at your local participating store and be entered to win a years supply of Volcom Brand Jeans. All jeans donated will be distributed locally by the National Coalition for the Homeless.

You can enter as many times as you like. Winners will be picked at random, no purchase necessary. All entries will receive a free Volcom Brand Jeans hat while supplies last! Click below to watch the video, get all the rules and for all participating retailers!



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9/24/2009

This summer the Volcom V.Co-Logical Series presented: "Recycle Your Old Boardshorts For a Good Cause". All you had to do is drop off any old boardshorts into the bin at any participating shop to be donated to a local charity. We are super stoked to announce that 1,091 boardies were collected across all participating stores.


The boardshorts will be donated to the following charities: Florida Department of Children and Families, Friendship Shelter, Hospital Del Nino, Daniel Kids, Boarding House Mentors, LA Surf Bus, Hidden Waves Foundation, Open Hearts, Surf Nicaragua, Surf Sanctuary and Clothes to Kids.

In October, Volcom team riders Gavin Beschen and Alex Gray are flying down to Nicaragua to donate hundreds of boardshorts to kids in need. This will be fully documented so keep checking the Volcom website for updates.

Everyone who donated their boardshorts entered to win great prizes. The Grand Prize Winner to be V.Co-Logically outfitted for a year is: Max Mertens from Jupiter, FL (entered at Ocean Magic Surf Shop).

The following ten runner up winners will receive a pair of Volcom V.Co-Logical Boardshorts and a pair of Volcom V.Co- Logical Creedlers:

-David Phillips from Hermose Beach, CA (entered at Spyder)
-Brice Stillman from Costa Mesa, CA (entered at Surfside)
-Manuel Valentin from Manati, PR (entered at Surf Zone)
-Dave Jurusik from San Diego, CA (entered at Pride)
-Todd Gilbert from Deerfield Beach, FL (entered at IWS Deerfield)
-Matt Kerns from Clearwater Beach, FL (entered at Double Barrel)
-Kevin Wallis from Newport Beach, CA (entered at HSS)
-Matt Dimedio from Solano Beach, CA (entered at Sun Diego)
-Carlos Vargas from Hcao, PR (entered at The Room)
-Kyle Parker from Atascadero, CA (entered at Central Coast Surfboards)


A huge THANK YOU to all the participating stores:
EAST COAST: (click on each name to see the shop websites)
* Sunrise Surf Shop
* Waterboyz
* MTB Surf Emporium
* Ocean Magic
* Island Water Sports Deerfield
* Double Barrel Surf & Skate
* Special Sauce
* Warm Winds
* Island Sports
* Pioneers
* Main Beach
* 17th Street
* Whalebone Surf Shop
* Surf City
* Village Surf Shop
* Parrot Surf Shop
* K-Coast Surf Shop
* Chauncey's Surf Shop
* Heritage Surf Shop
* Wild Ocean
* Farias Surf Shop

PUERTO RICO:
* Playero
* Tiendas/The Room
* Recuerdo Marino
* Los Mahones
* Surf Zone

HAWAII:
* Town and Country
* Tropical Rush
* Blue Hawaii
* Local Motion
* Hawaiian Island Creations

CALIFORNIA:
* Frog House
* Surfside Sports
* LSS-Laguna
* LSS-Aliso
* HSS
* BC Surf
* Katin
* Oneway
* Spyder
* Revolution
* CCS
* Pacific Wave
* Proof Lab
* Aqua Surf Shop
* On The Beach
* Sun Diego- Carlsbad
* Sun Diego- Belmont
* Sun Diego- Solana Beach
* Hanger 94
* Pride

TEXAS:
* Dockside
* Covered Up
* On The Beach
* Ohana Surf & Skate
* Underground Surf

THE VOLCOM STORES:
* Los Angeles, Ca
* San Diego, Ca
* Santa Barbara, Ca
* Lahaina (Maui), Hi
* New York City, Ny
* Las Vegas, Nv
* Boulder, Co
* Whalers Village (Maui), Hi
* Waikiki (Oahu), Hi
* Berkeley, Ca

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9/9/2009

Well, Labor Day weekend has come and gone and it really seems like summer is coming to an end.

We decided to do a little end of summer beach clean up at lunch today to pick up after everyone that came to the beach for the weekend. We decided to do a little stretch of the beach between Newport and Huntington Beach where a lot of us surf in the summer. This small stretch of beach is in between the two cities and is not cleaned by either so it was an absolute mess this afternoon. If you ever wonder where all the foam from your cups, plates, coolers etc. goes, I think we found out. Take a look at the pictures and you will see, hopefully this makes you think twice before using any of these products.

Thanks to everyone that came out, see you out there next time.


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9/3/2009

Bad News...SIGG Bottles and BpA!
Well this is a real bummer to have to report. If you haven’t already heard SIGG has acknowledged that the liner in their water bottles made prior to 2008 do indeed contain BpA (Bisphenol A – a chemical that is continuously being banned in many parts of the world) and that while they are confident that there is no leaching, the chemical is there and that, to me is problematic.

There are many options out there, EcoUsable (stainless steel) and MIZU Life (stainless steel) are partners of ours, so make your choice wisely when choosing a personal water vessel.

If you do own a SIGG, they are willing to take it and exchange your old one with a new, BpA free one up until Oct 31, 2009.

More details at: http://www.mysigg.com/bulletin

BASIC NEEDS Summer Speaker Series at The Ecology Center
Well we finished up our series this past Thursday with a panel that included me, Roian Atwood of Sole Tech, and Johnny Shillereff of Element. I was very stoked to be up on a panel with those two and between the three of us, I think we were able to articulate the current state of eco-business in our industry as well as opportunities and challenges that continue to exist in the marketplace.

If you didn’t have a chance to attend any of the events, please keep Ecology Center events on your radar. Ask anyone who has been to one and you’ll hear the same response: The place is awesome, the vibe is great and you will always leave with more (info, passion, inspiration, motivation, good food, etc.) than you came in with!

Volcom Continues Ban on Single Use Plastic Water Bottles (Save on MIZU bottles!)
Speaking of new water bottles...don’t forget if you still do not have a killer re-usable water bottle, check out the product from some friends at MIZU. They’ve got a great product range and it just so happens they’ve teamed up with POW (Protect Our Winters – one of our 1% for the Planet donation recipients for 2008) for a cool, co-op bottle.

Additionally – they are offering a 30% DISCOUNT off the total order. Simply type in vcological in the coupon code area and you’ll save $$! Learn more and shop at www.mizulife.com.

Inside the Outdoors
This is an amazing program that works mostly with kids to get them out and into nature as part of their school curriculum. Their headquarters is out at Rancho Sonado in Silverado Canyon, and if you’ve been out there you know how roots that place is.

Check out their community calendar as there are some cool workshops and events (like and Astronomy & Stargazing Family Hike) that are open to the community. Some are there on site, some are at other locales in the area. Either way, it’s worth checking out!

Transition Laguna.com Movie Night
Check out What Will We Eat? And The Story of Stuff at either Yoga Works or Oasis Child in Laguna Beach. This program has been screening some really good, ecologically focused films so have a look and learn more at transitionlaguna.com.

Green TV?
These are some good ones – check out:
• Eco Trip at sundancechannel.com and explore the REAL cost of living.
• TOXIC at VBS.tv : Environmental coverage (as they put it) without a bunch of preaching or sobby string music.

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7/30/2009

Hot August Night, Saturday August 1st at the Environmental Nature Center, Newport Beach!
Come on out for cocktails and hors d’oeuvres and in support of Mammoth Lakes Geothermal Education & Outreach Program. Remember the Mayor of Mammoth (Tony Barrett) who helped pushed the Brother’s Skate park through? Well, he’s part of the organization that is intent on “educating the general public about the viability and value of geothermal heat as an energy source, and to establish a "living laboratory," heated by geothermal sources, for the study of agriculture and other applications in a high altitude environment.” Learn more at www.mammothgeo.org. Tickets are $60 per person with opportunity raffles for trips to Mammoth, Hawaii and Canada (and lots of other stuff!).

BASIC NEEDS Summer Speaker Series at The Ecology Center
We’ve had two events so far and they’ve been awesome. Noted speakers have come out to discuss and answer questions on our most essential topics: FOOD, WATER, SHELTER and APPAREL.

On August 7th, we (along with a list of other eco-sponsors, New Belgium Brewing Co. being one of them) present: Matthew Miller from Appropriate Architecture. He’ll be discussing Architecture as community activism, community design centers and Architecture for the other 90%.

Additionally, be sure to save the date (on Thursday, August 27th) and come on out to the last event of the series and one that will hit close to home: CLOTHING.

Our own Derek Sabori will be on a panel with Erik Joule of Levi’s, Johnny Schillereff of Element Skateboards and Roian Atwood of Sole Tech discussing whatever gets thrown their way and hopefully fostering a dialogue that will encourage continued change and progress in our industry. Learn more at www.theecologycenter.org.

Volcom Bans Single Use Plastic Water Bottles (Save on MIZU bottles!)
Love it! If you still do not have a killer re-usable water bottle, check out the product from some friends at MIZU. They’ve got a great product range and it just so happens they’ve teamed up with POW (Protect Our Winters – one of our 1% for the Planet donation recipients for 2008) for a cool, co-op bottle. Learn more and shop at www.mizulife.com.





Are You Ordering/Purchasing Office Products and/or CD Cases?
If so, you may want to have a look at some of the products that are available at www.sustainablegroup.net they’ve got a great collection of binders, folders, note pads, pens, etc, all made with either paper from well-managed sources, and/or recycled products. Additionally, most everything they make is recyclable! Good choices here for sure...remember we cast a vote for what we support with every dollar we spend. You can also contact: justin mckibben 425.761.5019 | justin@kibbinc.com

Green Your Commute!
If you’re able to ride your bike to work (or to the market, or to check the surf, etc.) and are in the need for a new, very stylish and well made ride, check out the guys at The Flying Pigeon in LA. They’re putting a great spin on what’s out there to ride... Learn more and shop at www.flyingpigeon-la.com.

Landscaping? Installing a Sprinkler System
I really like the idea of this and it looks like it’s definitely worth looking into...imagine, no run off, no evaporation, efficient water usage. All makes sense to me – Thanks Pat Field for the lead on this. www.kisssusa.com.

Eco-Modular Furniture – A substitute for IKEA?
I like it when companies are putting good, sustainable minded designs to work and are giving back. Check out Way Basics, you might find something for the home or office and a purchase will contribute to a few good causes. – Thanks KC for the lead on this. www.waybasics.com.

Eco-Info (and more info...)
A few inquiries came our way over the last few weeks and if you’re feeling so inclined and/or are looking for some fun eco-audit reading this evening, check out the inquiries and our responses to learn a little about what goes into what we make and what we’re doing about it:

When considering products made from recycled PET ( Polyethylene terephthalate ) rather than from conventional, virgin polyester, you can expect to find the following eco-advantages:
More marketing will lead to more incentive to recycle plastic bottles in turn keeping more out of our landfills. I’ve read that 8 bottles go into a tee with recycled PET blends and approximately 25 go into a jacket – I would imagine that boardshorts fall somewhere in between that.
Lessens our need for and reliance on oil as plastics are petroleum based.
Less energy spent in the production of raw materials (i.e. Polyester)

Be sure to make note of the Great Pacific Ocean Garbage Patch - talk about the need to reduce and recycle!

According to Patagonia’s Footprint Chronicles the manufacture of a standard nylon boardshort:
Consumes approx. 70 megajoules of energy
Goes through approx. 10,000 miles of travel time (start to finish)
Produces 18 lbs of CO2 (approx 43X the weight of the actual short)
Creates about 3 oz. of waste (approx 1/2 the weight of the actual short)
Uses approx 30 gallons of water

Some other facts:
* 4 million tons of textile waste are discarded each day.
* Americans throw away 2.5 million plastic bottles every hour.
* The average American throws away about 68 pounds of clothing and textiles per year.
* Cotton production accounts for 25% of the pesticide used in the world.
* To grow enough cotton for one 250g cotton t-shirt it takes 300 gallons of water.

1. "Don't Overlook Textiles!" 1997. Council for Textile Recycling. 11 Jan. 2008 www.textilerecycle.org/
2. Clean Air Council (2006), Waste Reduction and Recycling: Waste Facts and Figures. Retrieved from www.cleanair.org/Waste/wasteFacts.html
3. Factsheet. Secondary Materials and Recycled Textiles Association. Council for Textile Recycling. 2008. Retrieved from www.textilereycle.org
4.Allen Woodburn Associates Ltd./Managing Resoures Lt., "Cotton: The Crop and its Agrochemicals Market," 1995.
5. American Crop Protection Association, "1997 Total U.S. Sales by Crop Protection Product Type and Market," 1998 ACPA Industry Profile
* Thanks to www.playbackclothing.com

A challenge: Learn what goes into the production of things, how they’re made and what effects those items have on the environment. Every time we purchase, we are casting a vote and whether it’s in the apparel we buy or the food and other products we buy, it’s up to all of us to stop and consider what we are supporting (and perpetuating). If you haven’t already, check out www.storyofstuff.com it’s a great little tale about what it takes to “fuel” our lives...

Lastly, we’re teaming up with organizations like ASEC (Action Sports Environmental Coalition), SIMA and The Ecology Center to promote and participate in events that are geared towards educating kids and adults on the fact that the purchasing decisions they make, directly drive what is offered in the marketplace. We’re letting them know that there are alternatives; that we offer product that is made from recycled materials, organic cottons, reclaimed materials, etc, etc. You’d be surprised (or maybe you wouldn’t be) how much education and awareness still needs to happen out there. By the way, check out one of our Industry’s first “Green Rooms” at here.

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7/7/2009

Volcom is proud to be a partner with The Ecology Center in San Juan Capistrano, CA as the BASIC NEEDS Summer Speaker Series rolls out for a whole summer’s worth of great speakers, topics and discussions.


On June 18th, the series was kicked off with an inspirational evening revolving around the topic of FOOD, one of our obvious “Basic Needs”. Michael Besancon, the Senior Global Vice President of Purchasing, Distribution and Marketing took a low key approach as he briefly spoke to his past 40 years in the natural foods industry and then opened the floor up for questions. Topics revolved around the size of Whole Foods Markets, access to organic foods, the battle of the giants in the organic sector, pricing, the history of organics and natural foods and then what’s next; what’s beyond organic? According to Michael B., that’s the next step and the question we should all be asking. He spoke passionately about traceability and transparency, fair labor, and the idea that every time we spend a dollar, we cast a vote. A vote for organic, fair trade, local or not, but every dollar is a vote. That can be hard to swallow sometimes.

The setting was perfect, outdoors amongst the native plants and edible gardens, The Ecology Center makes any event somehow, somewhat magical. Beer and wine were served as were appetizers from Whole Foods Market and other organic suppliers and as the sun set, you could tell that people were buzzing. Happy they had just heard such inspiration and motivational words and discussions and excited about next month’s event.

Join The Ecology Center (and all the sponsors) on Thursday, July 9th as Emily Pilloton from Project H Design comes San Juan to discuss a very serious topic: WATER.

Specific to the Action Sports Industry, we invite you to also join for what’s expected to be a serious look at what goes into (and out of) the clothes we purchase and wear:

August 27th: Clothing
Erik Joule, Levi’s
Johnny Schillereff, Element Skateboards
Roian Atwood, Sole Technologies
Derek Sabori, Volcom V.Co-Logical Series

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6/12/2009

Volcom’s Give Back Series proudly supports Mitch Froelich and Friends:

One of our Featured Arists (Mitch Froelich) is doing something awesome... Through a course at school, he and some other students in his group are on a mission to raise money for New Hope for Kids - a great organization that is doing some great things for kids in Central Florida:

Their goal is to raise $1250 by June 29th for Joshua - He is thirteen years old and fights to control the high risks of Diabetes Type I. This is an incurable disease, and Joshua will forever be insulin-dependent. He is now learning ways to prolong life by reducing symptoms and preventing diabetes related complications such as blindness, kidney failure, heart disease, and amputation of limbs. His wish is a computer system with a printer and software for his favorite activities; math and Star Wars.

Join Mitch and his friends for this day of Ping Pong for Good! Plenty of prizes and giveaways!



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6/9/2009

This summer we are supporting The Ecology Center as they present the Basic Needs Summer Speaker Series.

The purpose of the series is to provide a foundation for making decisions that have a positive ecological impact. Evan Marks, founder of The Ecology Center, says “My hope is that the speakers will inspire action surrounding these issues to combat a small piece of the ongoing environmental needs in our local communities and around the world.”



Beginning June 18th, there are some great speakers lined up focusing on just that, our Basic Needs: Food, Water, Shelter and then Apparel. The line up of speakers looks like this:

June 18th: Food
Michael Besancon, Whole Foods

July 9th: Water
Emily Pilloton, Project H Design

August 13th: Shelter
Matthew Miller, Appropriate Architecture

August 27th: Clothing
Erik Joule, Levi’s
Johnny Schillereff, Element Skateboards
Roian Atwood, Sole Technologies
Derek Sabori, Volcom V.co-logical Series

Get your tickets now for any one (or all) of these great events – taking place 6:30-9PM. Wine, beer and a light fare will be served.

Registration for these unique events is $15/members, $25/non-members. Guests can sign up via the web – www.theecologycenter.org/basicneeds, or call 949.442.4223.

For more info email: info@theecologycenter.org

If you’re not familiar with The Ecology Center in San Juan Capistrano, check them out – they’re doing some great things in the community.



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5/15/2009

Occasionally, we get letters from kids and/or students asking what we’re doing about the state of our environment. The latest is this letter from Camille, a sixth grade student inquiring about our current V.Co-Logical affairs. Camille’s letter is just like the others – and in a nutshell, here’s what we’re doing:


Dear Camille,

Thanks for taking the time to write us and to inquire about our position on the environment.

We are very concerned about the state of our planet and the affect that our business has on it. That said, we are doing many things here at HQ and beyond to lessen our impact on the environment and to give back in general. Please go to our Giving Back blog at www.volcom.com/givingback to learn more about what we’ve been up to.

More specific to your questions, please be sure to keep any eye out for (and request if you can’t find it) our V.Co-Logical product line. These are all items that have a lesser impact on the environment than conventional pieces. Things like:

• 100% organic cotton tees and tees with a 5% organic blend
• No chemical wash jeans
• Recycled PET (plastic bottles) polyester boardshorts and snow outerwear
• Hemp and recycled materials in select accessory items
• Lower impact packaging on select items
• Volcom Creedlers (sandals) made with recycled rubber and petroleum-free EVA.
• A working/developing relationship with the Carbon Trust
• Use of recycled/recyclable/biodegradable packaging
• Backpack Initiative – Our new backpacks are now lined with TPE (thermoplastic elastomer) rather than the traditional PVC (polyvinyl chloride). TPE contains no dioxin or toxic metals and is considered much better for our health and the environment.

Anything you see in the stores with the leaf logo:
is more eco-friendly than it’s conventional counterpart.

We’re really pushing to have this become a bigger and bigger part of our entire collection and we’re really proud of the array of products that are being offered. Check out our current Volcom V.Co-Logical line to see what we’ve got out there in the stores right now!

Additionally, we have partnered up with 1% for the Planet which means that 1% of the proceeds from our V.Co-Logical line go to an environmental cause of our choice. This year we donated to:

• Save the Waves Coalition
• The North Shore Community Land Trust, Hawaii
• Alaska Wilderness League
• The Ecology Center
• Protect Our Winters
• Orange County Coastkeepers

Check out some of these organizations, I think you’ll like what they’re up to!

We hope this helps to give you an idea of what we’re doing here at Volcom. Additionally, we have an in-house program called The Volcom V.Co-Logical Society that helps to promote our eco-initiatives and to keep our team here educated and excited about issues that concern the planet. We recycle our plastic, our cardboard, and of course, all our plastic & metal containers.

Check this out too…we just issued a Company Ban on Single Use Plastic Water Bottles. If you and your friends weren’t already drinking from a re-usable container, I’d encourage you to do so. You can get awesome water containers at:

• www.mysigg.com
• www.ecousable.com

We’re out there trying to fight the good fight Camille – sounds like you’re doing the same! Keep it up; we salute you for your concern and passion.

Best regards,


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4/23/2009

If you missed it yesterday, here are some (well quite a few) photos from the Earth Day event yesterday. Thanks to all who made it out... note the sequence and how at the end, we basically left nothing behind. And, you know what else, that route home was pretty much spotless on the way back – thanks to all involved in the trash clean up on the way back to the office!



















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4/23/2009

This past Wednesday (EARTH DAY) Granger Clark and I the Daktal set out on a mission to clean up two beaches. Juno Pier in South Florida and 1st Street In Virginia Beach. Mission complete!! With over 40 people at each event we set out and picked up everything from cans and bottles to cig butts and old bodyboards. Thanks to everyone who came out to help keep these two beaches clean. If you didn't get the chance to do your part on Earth Day thats OK, everyday is Earth Day and picking up trash starts with YOU! Keep it clean!!



































Thanks
-Daktar

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4/6/2009

Volcom has teamed up with TACA (Talk About Curing Autism) in order to raise awareness and hope for curing Austism. The "Rocky TACA tee" is in our Summer 2009 line and is now available in stores. A portion of the proceeds from the sale of the t-shirt will go to the TACA organization to support the fight to cure Autism.



To learn more about TACA, go to www.tacanow.org.

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4/5/2009

On Saturday April 4th, Volcom and IWS Deerfield sponsored a beach clean up in Deerfield Beach. We met at IWS at 10:00 am and walked the short distance to the beach. A bunch of groms came to help along with Cheyne and Karley (the owners of IWS). We sent a group about a mile North of the pier and a mile South of the pier. It was amazing how much trash there was on the beach. Much of this trash you don’t even notice on a day-to-day basis. We provided water, trash bags, gloves, and sun block for the crew. We accumulated about 10 bags full of trash and when we got back to the store all who participated received a ton of Vco-Logical gear. A great time was had by all.

Stay tuned for the Juno Beach clean up on April 23rd, with Ground Swell and Ocean Magic and May 30th in Ft. Lauderdale with BC Surf and Sport.

-ricco



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3/19/2009

Volcom Recycling Report Card:

Wanted to share an exciting report with you. Check out our Recycling Report card. For the year, we recycled over 270,000 lbs of materials! What does that mean? Where did it all go?


Well, as you can see, most of our recycling came from cardboard (thanks intern Micah for the research here):

Corrugated cardboard is pulped and blended with new pulp from wood chips. The pulp is screened, rolled, and dried into two types of cardboard called medium (the ribbed inner layer) and linerboard (the smooth outer layers). Both are sold to a boxboard plant to be formed into new corrugated cardboard. The process of recycling to make new cardboard uses 23% less energy than the process of making brand new cardboard. Volcom recycled 256,119 pounds of cardboard in 2008, saving the energy it would have taken for the construction of 58,907 pounds of new cardboard.

Additionally, Volcom recycled 5,900 pounds of mixed paper, saving 48 trees from being cut down and processed into new paper!

Volcom recycled 3,300 pounds of plastic poly bags last year, which is approximately the weight of a midsize sedan (FYI, this is only a fraction of what we use. Imagine that...). It takes 500-1000 years for plastic bags to break down in landfills, so landfills normally incinerate them, which would have created 100 pounds of air pollution from what Volcom recycled.

Volcom recycled 5915 pounds of metals and aluminum that were processed into over 12,000 Kilowatt hours of energy in the form of electricity or heat. This is done by creating combustible fuels such as methane, methanol, and ethanol. That is enough energy to run 200,000 60-watt light bulbs or about 4,400 households.

In fact, the energy we saved overall could power over 200,000 households! Or In total, Volcom saved enough energy to run 9.25 million 60-watt light bulbs, and enough water to fill 58 swimming pools.

Boardshorts from Bottles?

We know you’ve heard of it, but check out Volcom’s collection of V.Co-Logical Boardshorts (made from recycled PET aka Plastic Bottles).

Why Recycled makes sense PET

PET stands for POLYETHYLENE TEREPHTHALATE and is usually used for water bottles. Basically, you grind down/melt down the plastic and turn it into a polyester-type yarn. Awesome, right? Look for the Recycled PET alternative next time you’re shopping for a polyester product (Boardshorts, Fleece, even blended tees now)

Approximately 31% of plastic bottles produced in the United States are made from a material called PolyEthylene Terephtalate, "PET" or "PETE." Usually clear or green, the plastic is mostly used for consumer goods such as soda bottles and food jars. According to the National Association for PET Container Resources (NAPCOR), in 2005 United States manufacturers produced 5.075 billion pounds of PET products. Such a high production rate makes finding uses for post-consumer plastics imperative. If the current rate of manufacturing and consumer recycling remains, 40 billion pounds of PET waste will be added to our landfills within only a decade.

Learn more at: www.reusablebags.com.

Drinking out of Plastic Water Bottles?

Sure it’s OK to drink out of a plastic water bottle...when you forget your re-usable! :) I don’t mean to be a broken record on this one, but check this out from Sustainable Dave:

“I'm kind of shocked that with all of the info out there, people still continue to use plastic water bottles. I've asked around and the two main reasons I hear are that it's cheap and it's readily available.

Cheap- OK, I may be cheap, but water bottles are not. Let's say that i drink 3 bottles worth of water every day 300 days out of the year. At $1 a bottle (averaging a bit) that's $900 a year out of my pocket. On the flip side, here in Los Angeles, the same amount of water out of my tap will cost me about $1 from the city. So the cheap thing doesn't really add up. A good metal water bottle will run you $15 or so, but will last about 10 years or more, so that won't put it over the top either. Even if you are one of those folks who thinks your tap water is not good, and want a filter for your house, you're still talking about less than $1 a day. Bottom line is that tap water is cheaper.

Readily Available - Here in the US there is excellent drinking water almost everywhere you go. We've got running taps in houses, businesses, public places and at the beach. In fact, there is water many places (your house) that bottles will never be sold at. So the idea that it is easier to grab a plastic bottle than grabbing your aluminum water bottle is truly ridiculous especially since there are so many places to fill them up.

Now let's look at what drinking out of plastic bottles have going against them.

• Most bottled water is not regulated (meaning you don't know what you are drinking) while tap water is.
• Manufacturing and shipping a bottle of water wastes 5 times as much as is in the bottle.
• Single use plastic bottles can leach BPA (Biphesenol a) which is a hormone disruptor in humans.
• While many bottles are recycled (actually downcycled), over 3 million bottles end up in landfills each day in California alone, and many more end up out at sea and in our rivers.”

Word of the Day: Sustainability

“Development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs; the ability to maintain a certain process at a certain state. For humans to live sustainably, the Earth's resources must be used at a rate at which they can be replenished.”

Examples of living a sustainable lifestyle:
• Eat Organically
• Purchase Recycled when you can
• Recycle what you can
• Consider Bio-Fuel
• Consider Solar
• Consider Wind

There are many, many more and many ways that we can all contribute to this simple (and profound) concept.

Plug for Change: Fuel, the Movie

If you haven’t already seen this movie, please make an effort to do so. Check it out, along with show times at: thefuelfilm.com.

1% For the Planet Donations

Great 2008! - We saw our V.Co-Logical sales more than double last year and that means that our donations to environmental causes around the world did too – super stoked! Great job to all of you out there supporting this program!

How does 1% for the Planet work?

Simple, for every sale from our V.Co-Logical line, we donate 1% of the transaction to environmental organizations of our choice. We align ourselves with 1% for the Planet www.onepercentfortheplanet.org knowing that the organizations that they authorize are effective in creating change towards a healthy environment.

Here then are the recipients of generous funds from our 1% FTP membership:
• Alaska Wilderness League - (Washington, DC) Protecting Alaska's most significant wild land from oil and gas drilling and other industrial threats. Learn more at www.alaskawild.org.
• Save the Waves Coalition - (Davenport, CA) Protecting and preserving the world’s surf spots & their surrounding environments. Learn more at www.savethewaves.org.
• North Shore Community Land Trust - (Oahu, HI) Protecting the open spaces of Oahu’s North Shore – Keeping the Country, Country. Learn more at www.northshoreland.org.
• The Ecology Center - (San Juan Capistrano, CA) Supporting their goal to educate, inspire and involve people in the stewardship of Southern California’s environment. Learn more at www.theecologycenter.org.
• Protect Our Winters (POW) - (Boulder, CO) Uniting and mobilizing the winter sports community to have a direct and positive impact on climate change. Learn more at www.protectourwinters.org.
• 1% FTP Film Project - (Waitsfield, VT) Supporting 1% FTPs first promotional movie; Spreading the word about this great partnership
• Orange County Coast Keeper - (Costa Mesa, CA) Protecting and preserving Orange County’s marine habitats & watersheds through education, advocacy, restoration, and enforcement. Learn more at www.coastkeeper.org.

We’re very excited about the diversity of this portfolio and encourage each of you to take a little time to get to know each of these organizations. They’re all doing great things in their own right and each of them protects our lifestyle (some more directly than others) in some form or fashion.

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2/10/2009

Volcom Stone's first all female art collection now showing through the middle of March at the Volcom Store 126 La Brea, Los Angeles, CA