Crescent Moon Snowshoes Goes Green

Crescent Moon Snowshoes celebrated its 10th year in business in the year 2007 as a US based manufacturing company that makes all of its snowshoes in Boulder, CO. The company has been recognized as one of the elite snowshoe producers in the world with an innovative design for its bindings and unique “tear-drop” shaped frames. And for the last 2 years, Crescent Moon has made a concerted effort to reduce their impact on the environment while increasing the quality and performance of our snowshoes. At Powderfin.com, this is the kind of company that we believe in. Despite competitive pressures which can often lead companies toward lower cost, lower quality production methods, Crescent Moon is bucking the system. They're willing to pay more for materials and labor in order to offer their customers a better snowshoe, made from better materials, right here at home!

To further distinguish the company from the competition, Crescent Moon snowshoes are now made with materials that contain NO PVC (polyvinyl chloride), which is a significant step in reducing the company’s environmental impact. This policy is complimentary to their operational process of using 100% wind powered energy in their factory and office and recycling nearly everything they use, including aluminum, stainless steel, cardboard, and office materials. The company intends to pursue its ultimate goal of being “as GREEN as possible” using aluminum, steel, and other recyclable materials in the construction and design of its snowshoes for the future. Tamara Laug, co-owner and principal proponent of the company’s GREEN theme has been a recycler for most of her life and is the driving force behind the company’s transition to being an earth friendly manufacturer. “It’s philosophically inconsistent to be an outdoor’s product manufacturer and not be considerate of the environment in which our products are being used – the great outdoors”, she said. “We’ve been making this transition for a number of years but recently found alternatives to the decking materials we’ve been using (and our competition continues to use) that allows us to make this significant step towards being GREEN. Currently, we can claim to be the first and only snowshoe manufacturer in the world to do so."


The materials used for the 2007/2008 Crescent Moon Snowshoe line are PVC free, yet have greater strength and less weight per linear yard than the materials they replace. Although more costly than the PVC materials used in the past, Crescent Moon is willing to pay the premium for environmentally responsible alternatives. PVC is a relatively inexpensive material, but the cost to the environment is very significant. According to some sources, "PVC (polyvinyl chloride) plastic, commonly referred to as vinyl, is one of the most hazardous consumer products ever created. PVC is dangerous to human health and the environment throughout its entire life cycle, at the factory, in our homes, and in the trash. Our bodies are contaminated with poisonous chemicals released during the PVC lifecycle, such as mercury, dioxins, and phtlates, which may pose irreversible life-long health threats. When produced or burned, PVC plastic releases dioxins, a group of the most potent synthetic chemicals ever tested, which can cause cancer and harm the immune and reproductive systems."

Crescent Moon Snowshoes has distribution of its products in Europe, Japan, and Australia and of course, much of the US market through places Powderfin.com, REI, and EMS. Company president Jake Thamm said “by offering a GREEN snowshoe which is made entirely in the US we feel we can offer the market a line of products that not only perform better than most other snowshoes, but will give our customers something good to feel about when they buy and use them in the outdoors.”

We hope other company’s adopt these same measures and together we can begin to reverse global warming, landfill expansion, and environmental pollution and waste. To read product reviews and recognitions, visit the Crescent Moon press page.