Wax and the Environment

Purl Wax is proud to introduce the new All Natural Wax line for the 07/08 season. All of the ingredients of these blends are exclusively obtained from natural and renewable resources. Performance and petroleum based waxes are no longer inseparable.

Whats Wax Got to Do with It?
In the face of the big environmental issues nowadays ski and snowboard wax might not seem to play such an important role, but a traditional stick of wax bears a lot more toxic potential than generally known. The large majority of ski and snowboard waxes are fluorinated waxes that consist of perflourocarbons or PFC. There are two major problems with the use of PFC. First of all, the production of PFC requires a highly toxic and nearly indestructible chemical called PFOA, or perfluorooctanoic acid. Once PFCs start degrading they break back down to PFOAs and are eventually shed into our water streams. PFOA is a known carcinogen that has not only been linked to cancer, but also to birth defects and liver damage. Secondly, PFCs are extremely potent greenhouse gases with a lifetime of up to 50,000 years. In fact, PFCs are known to have about 6500 times the greenhouse warming potential of carbon dioxide. An industry so directly affected and threatened by climate change cannot afford to close its eyes to these facts. For more information on PFOA refer to: www.motherjones.com

Not Just Faster, (Eco) Friendlier Too Purl Wax is equally committed to performance and the environment. Purls All Natural Wax is 100% biodegradable and non toxic. We use wind energy to power all of our WMDs (Wax Melting Devices), and instead of thick plastic packaging, Purl delivers its wax in small velvet bags. In order to minimize waste, Purl Wax has challenged its customers to find creative ways to re-use the velvet wax bags with a 1,000 ways to use your sack section on this site. Alternatively, customers can exchange twelve bags for a free puck of wax – the bakers dozen. Purl Wax will then reuse the bags.