It’s Easy Being Green: How We Prioritize Sustainability at FluidStance
When we first launched FluidStance®, we knew that environmental sustainability would play a big part in our innovations. Our founder Joel wanted to be able to create high-quality products from resources right here in the US, and to ensure that our environmental footprint is minimal. Here’s the thing: production of physical goods will always have some kind of impact. At FluidStance, we work to minimize that impact as much as we can, so that we can create a product that you not only feel good on but that you can also feel good about.
How exactly do we do that? To start, we choose to work with California companies whenever possible. Working with local companies cuts down on transportation costs to reduce fossil fuel waste, and it also helps to build a sense of community. We like to be able to pop over any time to walk the factory line and get to know our vendors (and to head home and sleep in our own beds the same night).
When we select vendors, we also weigh the ways they choose to practice sustainability. Our die-casting factory in Los Angeles, for example, is solar-powered; they also recycle aluminum trimmings back into the casting process to ensure that zero waste is created in the production of our Level® bases. PLUSfoam®, the company we partner with to create the UPmat™, has a recycling program to help ensure that none of their foam ends up in a landfill. And we choose to source the resin for our Upcycled Base Mat from a panel factory that resells its scrap resin to minimize waste.
The Level and Original, our first deck releases, are designed to be as eco-friendly as possible. We offer a top deck made of bamboo, one of the world’s most abundant and sustainable materials, for both products. We use a GREENGUARD-certified wood finish to ensure that emissions are low, and we finish our bases via powder-coating, as it produces almost zero emissions compared to painting and anodizing.
Our newest product, the Plane™, may be our greenest yet. Not only is it made almost fully of recycled materials—with a 100% post-industrial high-density HDPE base, a substrate of 70% post-consumer HDPE, and a top deck made of recycled low-emitting rubber tires—but the majority of the deck is recyclable from home! This means that you can rest easy knowing that your Plane won’t end up in a landfill down the line.
We take all of these steps as part of our bigger mission to be responsible borrowers from Mother Earth, for team members and consumers alike. By building our products to last and by ensuring that we choose sustainable materials and processes, we hope to make a difference. We know that you find value in our sustainable practices—we’re excited to keep innovating ways to bring high-quality, socially responsible products to homes, schools, and offices.
