Does anyone know of the carbon footprint of gear in climbing??

Theree is organicclimber.com that is trying the grean route and the mags are recyled material.

What is the footprint of a cam???

I know Aluminum takes a lot of energy to produce. You can be pretty certain that the more kick-ass the material, the more heinous it is to the environment: Carbon fiber, spectra, dyneema...I have no clue what the carbon footprint is, but they all require nasty chemicals to produce. Composite layup is a very wasteful process with a large amount of material ending up in the trash.

Carpool to the crag!

Contact a few gear companies and ask if they have produced a corporate social responsibility report. If no, ask if they've done any environmental analysis on their production operations. If no, tel them you would very much like to see that kind of thing published.

Then do some research into the environmental impact of shipping. There should be some rules of thumb that give a rough impact-per-mile in units of carbon equivalent.

Next, consider the end of cycle use of the gear in question. Can it be recycled? Is it recycled? What are the impacts of that process?

Once your done with all that, remember that the non-GHG impacts are also potentially significant. What about particulate emissions? Economic considerations (e.g. job creation, living wage, etc)? Social considerations (e.g. employee quality-of-life issues at manufacturers, etc)?

I guess what I'm saying is that it's real complicated and if would be flipping awesome if you're seriously trying to look into it. If you just want someone to give you an answer, ask an easier question. Like, are Master Cams better than Aliens.

I'd say it's low enough that for Climbing Magazine to put out a "Green Issue" they had to focus on running it out above trad gear rather than clipping bolts. What do you think the carbon footprint would be of ending up in the ER being held together by pins and plates?

I don't have a dog so my offset there allows me to climb guilt free. If you have a dog, and you climb? You might as well go burn down the amazon.

Climbers have a big carbon footprint. With all of the driving to climbing areas, the gym and weekend road trips, most climbers use more gas than a typical non-climbing family carpooling their kids to school in an SUV.

I'd say climbers are big supporters of Exxon, Chevron and Saudi Aramco. Most companies that produce the raw materials for climbing gear such as Alcan Aluminum, Dupot & 3M etc. are all big polluters.

The impact on the crags is significant too...I could go on and on.

What a waste of time this discussion is.

The climbing related carbon footprint generated by every American climber is probably less than 10 seconds of China's annual output.
How anal can you get?

And John, you do know what the worst part of driving a scooter is, don't you?

...and just think how much beer (we) climbers drink...hardly a carbon-neutral process!!

The environment can suck it.

Yvon Chouinard had it rigth when he said "we're all polluters."

I'd say our biggest impact is driving cars to the crag.

Another thing to consider in your purchases is that anadizaton(sp?) of aluminum uses some pretty gnarly chemicals. I wish cam companies stopped treating the lobes and just color coded the plastic....Also something to consider when you buy carabiners.

Evan

I have the perfect solution:

Biodegradeable Protection!

I'll start whipping up some in my garage this afternoon. Now we'll have something to answer every nancyboy who is fretting over this.

John- you know I was just teasing. I think living in a place where everyone gets around on 2 wheels would be great.

What do you think the carbon footprint is of generating reports and analysis to give to marketing firms who then design print ads and other collateral materials that tell end consumers how small their products' carbon footprints are?

If I lived in Bermuda I'd bike it, too. I might even get a three-wheeler with a big ice cream cooler on the front.

For the
aluminum can, considering 50 % recycling rate, the Carbon Footprint has been calculated as 8,96 kg
CO2e per kg. It seems that the Carbon Footprint of the glass bottle is lower than the Carbon Footprint of
the aluminum can.

Climbing Gear = Aluminum

Find something else to worry about

naked free climb bouldering; carry out your poop.

I believe that we should all do the best we can in any area. But, I don't think I know a climber that would for-go the pleasures of climbing for the environment. We (as climbers) tend to bring heavy foot-traffic and not head warnings(Mushroom Boulder). If these things evade us then I am sure we are doing the same to the environment.

Now as for a world effort to control Global Warming.The simple fact remains that coal power plants still put mercury in the water. We lost that battle already.It is the cheapest form of power, most countries don't have enough $$ to go clean.

Humans won't stop, doubling time isn't a theory. There is only so much habitable land, and resources. We aren't going to kill mother nature. She may however, kill us.

"I'm sick of this art, humanity, bull$#!^.... we're a virus with shoes." -- Bill Hicks.

Power Plant In Mexico Submitted By: Ty Harlacker on Mar 9, 2010

Discussing the environment at a belay one time, my buddy said, "You had 3 kids, and I had none. You'll spend your entire life recycling, car-pooling and trying to be low-impact. I won't do a thing and I'll be way ahead of you."

Apparently, I am the problem, but I'm good with with that.