The GLIDE Lotus Board

A lot of thought and consideration went into purchasing the fleet of boards for Salty Buddha. Stability, durability, and adaptability for yoga were all important factors. But what about the environment, sustainability, and keeping it local? All the bases are covered with GLIDE, and that's why Salty Buddha only uses Glide boards. Meet the Lotus, below :) 

Made in the U.S.A

GLIDE HAS THE LARGEST AND GREENEST SUP FACTORY IN THE AMERICAS. NESTLED IN SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH, GLIDE IS COMMITTED TO MANUFACTURING HIGH QUALITY, ULTRA DURABLE, ECO FRIENDLY BOARDS RIGHT HERE IN THE USA.

Eco- Friendly & Truly GREEN

Globally conscious. Paddling allows us to enjoy the stunning beauty of this world, and connect with the natural environment. Without clean, healthy waterways and oceans, we have nothing. Many companies use unknown processes and products to manufacture their boards overseas, without a single employee or agent at the production factories. Simply put, there is way to know what harmful materials are used in the construction of their boards. At Glide we strive to test and develop new products and processes that lessen our carbon footprint. We do this by; limiting fossil fuel consumption, using sustainable resins, reducing waste by recycling our EPS foam, development of safe coatings, and eliminating use of harmful epoxy paints.

Recycling. No other American SUP company recycles their EPS scrap as efficiently as Glide. When our EPS supplier, ACH, delivers our foam, we reload their truck with all of our foam scraps and sanding waste to return their facility for recycling.

All SUP boards start as blocks of raw EPS foam. Like so many other man-made raw materials this EPS foam is toxic at its base level and has a half-life measured not in hundreds of years but in thousands. The reality of the manufacturing process—no matter how efficiently it’s done-- is that there will always be excess foam for the planet to absorb. As SUP production increases globally, this has become a significant environmental issue. 95% of SUP boards are made overseas where disposal of these harmful materials is unregulated and lacks oversight.

Glide is different. We consciously chose to locate our factory a few short miles from ACH - the largest foam manufacturer in the entire country. This choice not only reduces our carbon footprint in shipping, but more importantly, enables ACH to pick up our foam remnants to recycle them into our next order of foam. The result is zero waste and not a single ounce of foam biodegrading in a landfill over the course of millennia.

NO VOCs (Volatile Organic Compounds). The use of our GSS and Entropy resin improves the work environment for our employees by eliminating airborne carcinogens, and protects waterways by eliminating the risk of leaching, chipping, and flaking from heavy, toxic paints and resins.

As harmful as excess foam is to the environment, the biggest ecological dangers posed by SUP boards are the toxic resins and paints used by many of our competitors. Many of our competitors use highly toxic auto paint to coat boards. The result is a board that’s beautifully shiny, and lethal to our fishy friends below the surface. As paint chips and flakes, these heavy metals disrupt the ecology and are ingested by marine life, resulting in polluted waterways and death for the fishes. Glide refuses to use low cost, highly toxic Polyester resins, and have taken adherence to green manufacturing principles to an unprecedented level in SUP manufacturing. Glide is proud to use exclusively 100% non-toxic Entropy Bio resins, reducing potential harm to our employees, the environment, and over overall carbon footprint.