Michael Koechlin
Snowboarding is all about being one with nature, so it's time for the snowboarding industry to make nature its primary focus. Stoke Snowboards is a snowboard brand that uses sustainable techniques to create the best product for the environment. By practicing what we preach, the goal is to change the culture on the mountain towards sustainability, in order to protect the environment and restore nature.
Website
This is an interactive website prototype. Take some time to click through and explore.
This is an interactive website prototype. Take some time to click through and explore.
Poster Series
Artist/Thesis Statement
As a lifelong snowboarder, I have surrounded myself with a very inclusive and forward-thinking group of individuals. As a community, snowboarders and skiers pay a good deal of attention to how they impact the environment individually. However, the problem I always seem to cross is that the industry as a whole is bad for the environment; through the transportation to the mountain, snowmaking that exhausts the water , production which has large amounts of waste, resort maintenance which results in deforestation to add more trails, ski lifts which constantly waste electricity, and wax that coats the bottom of every snowboard and ski.
In order for the sport of snowboarding to stay around for the foreseeable future, a change needs to happen. Winters are already getting shorter and warmer, which hurts the industry, but also adds to the pollution when snowmaking becomes the only option to keep snow on the mountain. Without a change soon, the damage will increase exponentially because mountain maintenance will increase snow making in order to lengthen the season, but increase the damage being done in a never ending cycle.
Stoke Snowboards is a snowboarding company that aims to change the entire culture on the slopes. To do so, we preach positivity that unites the community, while also shedding light on the harmful things happening behind the scenes. With a completely sustainable brand, our goal is to increase awareness and help put a stop to the pollution, while also creating an environmentally friendly product as well with our sustainable techniques and partnership with the Forest Stewardship Council. As a community, it is time to change so that the mountains can follow, and we can protect our environment.
Social Media
Process Book
