Sunday, 01 August 2004
X Games: Featuring Skateboarding and Bike Ramps Made of FSC-Certified Materials
ESPN’s X Games, the world’s premier action sports competition, has “greened the games” this year, including the use of a significant amount of FSC-certified wood.
ESPN partnered with Ecoresolutions, of El Sobrante, CA, to make sure this year’s games are eco-friendly. The games will make use of a number of environmentally friendly features, including solar stages, vegetable oil powered generators, and on-site recycling.
A big part of that initiative was to use as much FSC-certified wood as possible in the construction of the ramps needed for the skateboarding and bike courses, as well as the “interactive park” where children learn to skate and bike from the professionals. The Home Depot supplied the FSC-certified wood. Ron Jarvis, VP of Merchandising for The Home Depot, said, "The Home Depot is proud to supply FSC wood to the X Games. We want younger audiences to understand how we are committed to supplying certified wood and that sustainable forestry is important to their future."
Frank Scoura, CEO of Ecoresolutions, was delighted at the partnerships developed between ESPN and The Home Depot in order to make this all possible. He said the partnership and coordination of the FSC-certified wood materials was “equivalent to an action sports oriented Amish barn raising.”
Earlier this year, a “skatepark” constructed with FSC-certified wood, supplied by Hayward Lumber, was used at the annual LOHAS (Lifestyles of Health and Sustainability) Forum in Marina del Ray, CA. After the conference, the park was donated to the Salvation Army Youth Center in South Central Los Angeles.
Now in its tenth year, the X Games will take place August 5th-8th at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. More than 110,000 people are expected to attend. The games will be televised fully on ESPN, as well as some prime time coverage on ABC. The ABC coverage will feature the popular “Mega Ramp” event, which was constructed of 85% FSC-certified materials.
For more information about X Games, visit www.expn.com