2006 Gauley Fest Kayak Recycling Drive

Liquidlogic Kayaks
Presents the
2006 Gauley Festival Kayak Recycling Drive

August 24, 2006, Flatrock, NC. Out with the old! Liquidlogic Kayaks, sponsored by
Keen Footwear
Kayak Session Magazine
Astral Buoyancy,
Immersion Research,
Patagonia
Lunch Video Magazine, and
Werner Paddles, introduces the inaugural Kayak Recycling Drive at the Gauley Festival on September 22-24, 2006. If you are looking for a way to dial into the sustainable living lifestyle, now’s your chance to climb aboard and donate your old kayak, with proceeds benefiting American Whitewater.

Here’s how it works… Bring your beat-up old kayak, or those buried in a pile in your backyard, to the Liquidlogic Kayaks booth. Grab an American Whitewater tax deductible donation form and write-off the 2006 contribution. Participants will not only feel a tremendous sense of worth, but every person that donates a kayak will also be entered into a raffle with the chance to win one or all of the following pieces of new gear: (One raffle entry per donated kayak)

Raffle sponsors and items -
Astral Buoyancy - Pfd
Immersion Research - Dry Top
Liquidlogic – WW Kayak
Patagonia Recycled Apparel and Shopping Bags
Werner Paddles– WW Paddle
Lunch Video Magazine– Lots of DVDs
Kayak Session Magazine- 5 Subscriptions to the Mag
Keen - A Pair of Shoes

Partnering with PlastiCycle Corporation, out of Nashville, TN, all donated kayaks will be “processed” at the festival, placed into collection bins, and transferred back to the PlastiCycle plant. Yep, sip on a refreshing pint and reminisce over old times, while attending your boat’s destruction ceremony. As a sold commodity, Plasticycle Corporation, a recycler of all plastic materials no matter what the polymer ( polyethylene, polypropylene, PVC, etc.) or the form it is in (film, parts, grind, chunks, etc.) will pay market price based on the accumulated plastic’s quality, weight, volume, and processing requirements. American Whitewater will then receive 100% of the net proceeds.

The recycle drive will accept all HDPE (High Density Polyethylene) and LDPE (Low Density Polyethylene) kayaks; unfortunately, Crosslink plastic kayaks are not recyclable. So out with your old kayak, and make a donation to American Whitewater at the 2006 Gauley Festival!

For more information email Shane Benedict by clicking this link.
And everyone pass the word along. I would love to see 100s of kayaks get recycled at this event.
Shane

Well its time that we start doing our part with our plastic kayaks. We recycle our plastic bottles, and alluminum cans, its time we stepped up and did the right thing with our kayaks. They are plastic and plastics are made of petroleum products. There is only so much petroleum in the world so that means there is only so much plastic in the world. A recycled kayak can be reground and blended with other plastics to create alot of other products, everything from kayak parts, and kids slides to trash cans, and road barriers.

You can actually recycle your kayak at your local recycler if its a linear type of plastic. The thing that they are looking for is a stamp or something that says what its made of. Linear or LDPE (low density polyethylene) is what most recreational kayaks are made of as well as lots of kayak parts. Most whitewater kayaks are made of stuff called all types of names but its super linear or HDPE (high density polyethylene). As long as it isn't crosslink you are fine. You just need to be able to tell them which it is. You will probably also have to cut it up so that they can handle it. I am just starting to learn about this concept of just taking it to the recycling center so any info anyone has please send on in.

What I have learned is that if I have enough volume I can get recyclers that are willing to help with the transport and processing of kayaks. So with a little inspiration from Al Gore and his movie "An Inconvenient Truth" and a little push from Patagonia we are sponsoring our first big recycling drive at Gauley Fest September 22nd this year. So come out and get rid of that old thing laying in the back yard.
I am super excited and can't wait. I want to see truck loads of kayaks at the Gauley.
Shane