ENVIRONMENT

It’s impossible to be sustainable. For the individual, the simple act of being alive means doing damage to the planet. For a company, merely being in business and creating new products means being a polluter. That’s the harsh reality of the 21st Century.

At Chalk Rebels, we realize we will never be a fully sustainable company, but we try hard to limit the harm we do as much as possible. This page outlines our efforts to reduce our environmental footprint.

Company-Level Initiatives

The core mission of our company is to reduce the harm chalk powder doe in the climbing community by offering alternatives, and educating people about how to climb while respecting the environment.

We contribute 1% of revenue to environmental charities through the 1% for the Planet program. Our environmental action at Chalk Rebels focuses on two main causes: reducing plastic pollution & reforestation. We try to limit the use of plastics in our products and plant one tree for every product sold at chalkrebels.com in collaboration with One Tree Planted. For transparency we publish all tree planting certificates at the bottom of this page.

In 2024 we are re-introducing Chalk Balls in improved packaging, adding a line of zero-waste products & start the transition to a steward-ownership company model.

In 2023 we are introducing the highest-performance chalk powder with Upsalite® for 2x absorption. If you're going to use chalk, use the best, so you need less of it!

In 2022 we switched to a local supplier of lavender from Fontainebleau, France for use in our repair balm product.

The switch to seawater-based chalk and Upsalite® is complete as of April 2022: all of our liquid chalk products are now made with seawater-based chalk and Magic Chalk contains Upsalite®

Starting in July 2021 we switched our magnesium carbonate source from mining to synthesis from seawater. This means a cleaner chalk for you and less pollution for the planet.

In 2021 we also added a new high-performance version of our liquid chalk which contains Upsalite® to boost absorption. This means you'll use far less of it.

Product-Level Initiatives

We produce skin care products and accessories for climbers. These product inevitable cause pollution. For each product, we try to limit the damage we do. If we can't avoid doing the damage in the first place we document it so we can improve our processes over time.

• Chalk Powder With Upsalite®: seawater-based chalk with Upsalite® for maximum absorption, allowing you to use far less of it.
• Chalk Cream With Upsalite®: Produced in accordance with all cosmetics regulations in Europe. Magnesium carbonate synthesised from brine. Upsalite® makes tube last longer.
• Chalk Cream: Produced in accordance with all cosmetics regulations in Europe. Magnesium carbonate synthesised from brine.
• Crystal Chalk: Produced in accordance with all cosmetics regulations in Europe. CO2-neutral production. 
• Repair Cream: Produced in accordance with all cosmetics regulations in Europe. CO2-neutral production. 
• Repair Balm: Produced in accordance with all cosmetics regulations in Europe. No plastic used in consumer packaging. Produced with lavender sourced locally in Fontainebleau.
• Climbing Brush:  No plastic used in packaging. Made from all-natural materials: wood and boar hair bristles. Next goal: verify wood origins.
• Finger File: No plastic used in consumer packaging.
• Chalk Ball: No plastic used in consumer packaging.
• Acupressure Ring: No plastic used in consumer packaging.
• Finger Tape: No plastic used in consumer packaging.

Tree Planting

All trees are planted & certified by One Tree Planted. We list all certificates below. A grand total of 3450 trees have been planted & certified.

1. Tree Planting Certificate #101250
2. Tree Planting Certificate #115030
3. Tree Planting Certificate #119004
4. Tree Planting Certificate #152930
5. Tree Planting Certificate #169692
6. Tree Planting Certificate #177441
7. Tree Planting Certificate #177478
8. Tree Planting Certificate #208215
9. Tree Planting Certificate #309833
10. Tree Planting Certificate #356446
11. Tree Planting Certificate #356469

Page Versioning

• Updated 2024-01-31: Removed the NFT nonsense.
• Updated 2023-02-13: Updated tree planting count + production info.
• Updated 2023-02-02: Updated tree planting policy.
• Updated 2022-09-21: Added note about "The Merge".
• Updated 2022-08-05: Fixed mistake in tree planting certificates.
• Updated 2022-04-10: Added info about Seawater-based chalk.
• Updated 2021-11-20: Added info about Upsalite®.
• Updated 2021-08-03: Updated tree count.
• Updated 2021-07-21: 1. Added section about magnesium carbonate sources. 2. Updated next goals for Chalk Cream.
• Updated 2021-04-02: 1. Added section about Tree Planting 2. Retired trees.chalkrebels.com domain
• Updated 2020-12-23: 1. To reflect our CO2-neutral production for Repair Cream, Crystal Chalk, and Repair Balm. 2. We no longer sell chalk balls.