Burlington, VT (April 22, 2013) In honor of Earth Day, Burton is proud to announce stepped-up efforts in support of Protect Our Winters (POW), an athlete-focused foundation whose mission is to unite the winter sports community against the effects of climate change. Together, Burton and POW will focus on building awareness and taking action against global warming in the snowboard community through social media campaigns, global team rider activation and events.
“Burton has a deep responsibility to the sport we helped pioneer and to the people and environment that sustain it,” said Burton President Donna Carpenter. “We are riders, and we take climate change personally because snowboarding is our life, our livelihood and our passion. By working more closely with POW, our hope is to encourage snowboarders to get involved with the very important work the organization is doing. Together, we can protect our winters.”
Burton and POW have strong ties already as Burton team riders Nicolas Muller, Danny Davis and John Jackson are actively involved with the POW Riders Alliance, a community of professional athletes committed to environmental leadership. And many Burton riders also signed a climate change petition last week that urged President Obama to take action on climate change and clean energy.
Moving forward, Burton plans to encourage more riders to join POW’s efforts through social media campaigns, and the company will actively promote POW at marquee events like the US Open Snowboarding Championships. To kick things off today, Burton and POW are launching an awareness campaign on Instagram where riders can share how they protect our winters and in turn win cool prizes from Burton and POW. To get involved, riders simply upload a photo and caption that shows how they protect our winters to @burtonsnowboard on Instagram and tag #HowYouPOW. Each month, a new winner will be randomly selected and recognized for their fresh take on making a difference.
“We’re absolutely thrilled about our partnership with Burton,” said Chris Steinkamp, Executive Director of Protect Our Winters. “Our ability to unite the snow sports community, build grassroots advocacy and take a strong economic message to Washington is being taken to another level now.”
Burton’s expanded relationship with POW is just a part of its extensive commitment to sustainability. Since 2008, Burton has actively increased its focus on sustainability by working to ensure a healthier future for all riders through efforts like the Green Mountain Process, where Burton seeks to improve not just the use of sustainable materials, but also the production process as a whole. In addition, through a continued collaboration with Mountain Dew, Burton has gained a consistent supplier of high-grade fabrics woven with recycled plastic soda bottles. Burton also has a department focused on sustainability that reports directly to Burton President, Donna Carpenter. The group has stepped up social and environmental responsibility in the supply chain with restricted substance and code of conduct policies. And last year, Burton became a bluesign® system partner to ensure select softgoods and bags meet the highest standards of environmental responsibility, consumer safety, and resource conservation.
For more information on all of Burton’s sustainability efforts, check out www.burton.com/sustainability. And to get involved with Protect Our Winters, head to www.protectourwinters.org.
