mountainFLOW eco-wax, a Colorado company that makes plant-based, biodegradable ski wax, launched a fluoro wax takeback program. The Carbondale-based company is working with outdoor industry MBA students at Western Colorado University (WCU) as well as a team of undergraduate students from Colorado Mesa University’s Outdoor Industry Studies Program as part of The Wright Collegiate Challenge. Together, they have developed a takeback program for fluorinated ski wax.
This month, the program provides the opportunity for people to get rid of their toxic waxes by visiting one of three retail partners in Colorado, or by using the mail for shoes outside the state.
Participants receive swag and discount codes in exchange for their wax. But, the incentive is to entice people to do their part in taking these harmful chemicals out of circulation and keeping them out of the snowpack.
Removing harmful fluorocarbons is one of the catalysts that led to the creation of mountainFLOW, and the takeback program is an extension of those values. Fluorinated wax contains polyfluoroalkyl substances (or PFAS) and is known as “forever chemicals” because they do not biodegrade.
PFAS are also carcinogenic to the user when applied and toxic for the environment, far superseding any short-term benefits.
Skiers typically apply a basecoat and then a topcoat of fluorinated wax to their skis to form a hydrophobic barrier that results in minimized friction, increasing the skier’s potential velocity threshold. However, the friction from the snow breaks off microscopic particles of the wax which end up in watersheds.
Compounding the problem – at least in Colorado – is that many of the west’s prominent rivers originate in Colorado, meaning these forever particles can travel much farther than where they started at the top of a ski run.
PFAS shows up in waxes used by Nordic and alpine skiers, as well as snowboarders. The program will accept wax from all three user groups.
The takeback program offers opportunities for wax drop-off at participating Colorado retailers: Salida Mountain Sports, Powder7 in Golden, and evo Denver. In addition to the retail partners, the WCU team will have a fluorinated wax deposit box at the Wright Collegiate Challenge table at the Colorado Outdoor Industry Leadership Summit in Crested Butte from May 19th-20th.
The team – which is following safe storage and disposal guidance from the Colorado Department of Public Health & Environment – hopes to broaden the reach of the program through the mail-in return alternative and a donation option with long-term goals of scaling the initiative much further.
Learn more about The Wright Collegiate Challenge and find more information on the takeback program, including participating collection sites and mail-in instructions here.
