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An Interview with
JORDAN UTZ
CREATIVE DIRECTOR, SATORI MOVEMENT By Suziie Wang
SUZIIE WANG: What inspired Satori to develop products from Hemp, PET and recycled skateboard wheels? JORDAN UTZ: For over 15 years, Satori Movements inspiration has been to find new ways to reduce our environmental impact and improve our quality of life, one sustainable garment / wheel at a time. Our number one inspiration has been to protect our planet while bringing awareness to a natural, organic lifestyle thru skateboard culture and beyond. SW: What is the environmental impact from creating products in this way? JU: There are many great benefits of using sustainable materials. Not only is there a real difference in comfort and durability, but
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the resources used in production as well. flakes. The recycled flakes are identical Organic Cotton is grown without any toxic to newly produced PET flakes in their pesticides and fertilizers. The chemicals chemical composition, but they do have a used on traditional cotton have been few differences. It takes 2/3 less energy to linked to ground water, surface water, and manufacture products made out of recycled drinking water contamination across the plastic, 90% less water, and 50% less globe. Hemp is chemicals. the most naturally OUR NUMBER ONE Currently our tee sustainable fiber. shirts are made with It grows twice as INSPIRATION HAS BEEN TO 55% Hemp/ 45% fast as cotton and PROTECT OUR PLANET WHILE Organic Cotton, but can be planted BRINGING AWARENESS TO A we incorporate PET closer together for higher yield NATURAL, ORGANIC LIFESTYLE into pants, shorts, bags, hats, wallets, and requires less THRU SKATEBOARD CULTURE jackets, and many pre-production other clothing items processing before AND BEYOND. and accessories. use. Using Hemp for clothing is SW: Why the blend instead of 100% very ideal. The fibers dry quickly and are Organic Cotton Shirts? both hypo-allergenic and anti-bacterial. This means your Hemp socks are naturally JU: Our 55% Hemp/ 45% Organic Cotton odor resistant. blend gives you a much softer, breathable, and durable tee. The shirts last much longer SW: What is PET and why did you than a conventional cotton tee. They also fit incorporate it in the T shirts? better and don’t get stretched out as easily. JU: PET is one of the most exciting, ecoSW: What was the process of developing conscious fabric choices available on the these products? market today. The fabric starts out as used recycled plastic bottles. The PET products are sorted out, crushed, pressed into bales, shredded, and then refined into PET - 4 -
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JU: Just like everything else, the process starts off with an idea. After the initial idea comes the research and development aspect. After I design a product, whether it be a hat, tee, wallet, etc. I look to see what our fabric options are. Because it’s still illegal to grow hemp in the United States, our production has to take place over seas. After I have a product designed, I send the item to our manufacture to be sampled. Once this sample product arrives at our warehouse, we put it to the test. We make sure the color, fit, fabric, etc, is 100% accurate. If there needs to be any changes, we go thru the sampling process again until its ready to be produced. SW: Are they more expensive to produce than regular cotton Tees and wheels? JU: Yes, using sustainable materials for both hard and soft goods is always more expensive. Hemp and Organic cotton is more costly than conventional cotton, but worth it in the end. SW: What type of testing did you do for the products? JU: We always do lots of testing with our samples before anything goes into production. We make sure the fit, color, style, and comfort level reaches our highest standards. As far as the wheels go, they - 6 -
are put to test by many different skaters, team riders, and even employees. We make sure that our urethane is the highest grade possible. SW: How does the quality of the recycled wheels compare to the regular? JU: Our Eco-Thane wheels are constructed with 50% Bio Oils. They are 100% Flat Spot resistant which makes for a longer lasting, and faster wheel. Our recycled wheels, also known as our Relife Wheels, are made of old skated wheels. In co-operation with local skateshops, distributors, and skaters worldwide, we first collect old skated wheels. We then clean them, and shave them to a consistent size to serve as cores. We then remold the old wheels with our fresh High Grade urethane for a new riding surface. This urethane will be made with a truly post consumer recycled core to provide a brand new wheel. These wheels are essentially cored dual durometers, but the cores just may have been your last set of wheels. With over 70% post consumer recycled content, there may be some grease stains visible from the previous bearings, so these new wheels have a cool, almost vintage-like look to them. SW: What kind of feedback are you getting from people who use the wheels? JU: The feedback has been super positive.
Everyone really seems to like them. One of the hardest problems is actually keeping them in stock. Because of the high demand, we have to make sure we keep receiving enough old wheels to keep the process going. If anyone would like to get involved with this program, please contact me directly at jordan@satorimovement.com SW: Are they a product that is constantly being improved? JU: Yes, our urethane is always being improved. Whether it be a new durometer, color, or shape, we are constantly evolving and improving. The same improvements are cohesive with our apparel as well. We strive everyday to make sure we deliver a product that we would actually want to skate and wear ourselves. SW: Are the wheels made from 100% recycled wheels? JU: Our Relife urethane is made from 70% post consumer recycled content, and our Eco-Thane urethane is made from 50% Bio Oils. SW: How many old wheels do you need to create a new set? JU: Because of the high demand, we are in need of as many sets of old wheels that we can get. Because of the different sizes - 7 -
in used wheels, its hard to pin point the direct break down of old wheels to new ones. The more that we can collect, the better! SW: How do you collect the old wheels & what is the process of creating the new ones?
OUR ECO-THANE WHEELS ARE CONSTRUCTED WITH 50% BIO OILS. THEY ARE 100% FLAT SPOT RESISTANT WHICH MAKES FOR A LONGER LASTING, AND FASTER WHEEL.
JU: We are collecting old wheels in a variety of ways. We have many shops, distributors, and other organizations who are collecting wheels globally and then shipping to us for production. However, if anyone out there has wheels they would like to send to us that works as well. We have many different incentives for this program, currently, we are offering all participating shops Free Shipping on their next order. SW: Do you have a product developer at Satori, if not is that a role you think the company would benefit from?
JU: Yes, I develop all the Satori Movment product In-House alongside the owner Craig. We have lots of input consistently from our riders, shops, and distributors. - 8 -
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I THINK THAT ITS VERY REALISTIC FOR SKATEBOARD COMPANIES TO CREATE PRODUCTS FROM RENEWABLE RESOURCES. EVEN IF ITS JUST SMALL STEPS.EVERYTHING HELPS, AND IS A STEP IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION. Both our apparel and hardgoods change seasonally, so we always have our hands full with the development process. SW: How do you think a Product developer could be incorporated into a Skate company? JU: Having a product developer in a skate company is ideal. Product development is a creative and interdisciplinary activity that transforms a market opportunity and technological innovation into successful products. Because skateboarding is full of many different types of markets, it’s important to create product that is cohesive with your audience. Its not only important for a product developer to develop great product, but also VERY important to be passionate about what your creating and believing in.
SW: Do you think it is a realistic option for Skateboard companies to create products from renewable resources? JU: Yes, absolutely. I think that its very realistic for skateboard companies to create products from renewable resources. Even if its just small steps.Everything helps, and is a step in the right direction. SW: What does the company do with excess stock that doesn’t sell, is there potential there for old stock to be recycled and produced into creating products other than wheels? JU: Yes, our deck brand Creation Skateboards uses Reclamation Construction. All of our decks are made using reclaimed veneers from the production process. The excess veneers were going to waste before this innovation. Reclamation decks are constructed by splicing inner veneer pieces together and pressing them with glue to produce guaranteed pro quality decks. The smaller veneer pieces with extra glue actually help make these decks even stronger than standard decks.
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GET IN TOUCH jordan@satorimovement.com www.satoriwheels.org www.satorimovement.com
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