A while ago, an article of the impact of chalk appeared on Climbing Magazine website. It is interesting in many ways, and it talks about the details of mining magnesite and extracting Magnesium Carbonate from it, and the manufacturers that sell it as commodities. Only last year, pollution control was implemented at the magnesite mining factory in China.
CLIMBING.COM
The Hidden Environmental Cost of Climbing Chalk
Over the past 10 years, we worked hard with our suppliers and formulated our own environmental policy. Our Magnesium Carbonate is refined from seawater – and when used it eventually flows back into the ground from rainwater, and is ionized, ultimately returning to where it came from – the sea. The idea of having zero CO2 emissions is certainly appealing to us, and we will continue to strive to reduce ours.
As a small company, we sometimes have to bend to the pressure of larger suppliers, but we can continue to improve more freely and move quicker than others.
Even if we can’t completely eliminate the negative effects on nature from the chalk we consume, we can improve the situation. Not using too much chalk is one of the ways. Both environmental measures and high performance are important for us, and we seek to balance the two by providing maximum effect with a small amount of chalk.
We will continue to strive to make the best quality, and aim for a win- win between the environment and high performance.