Our Commitment to Sustainable Materials: From Forest to Water
Finn has spent 22 years building canoes and guiding trips across North America. He led his first solo expedition at 19, has completed the Boundary Waters loop solo four times, and holds WASI Level 3 swift water certification. At Green Voyage, Finn oversees our Kevlar and carbon fiber lamination program.
Why Materials Matter More Than You Think
When you buy a canoe, you're not just buying a paddling experience — you're participating in a supply chain that stretches from forests and mines to workshops and shipping containers. At Green Voyage, we've spent 20 years trying to make every step in that chain as responsible as possible.
We don't do this because it's good marketing (though our customers do seem to appreciate it). We do it because Elara and Daniel built this company from an explicit belief: if you love wild places, you should be doing everything in your power to protect them.
Here's what our commitment to sustainable materials actually looks like.
The Wood We Use
Every piece of wood in a Green Voyage canoe — gunwales, thwarts, seats, ribs — comes from FSC-certified (Forest Stewardship Council) suppliers. FSC certification means the forest is managed according to standards that protect biodiversity, water quality, and the rights of forest workers and indigenous communities.
Specifically, our northern white cedar comes from independently certified small forest operations in northern Maine and Quebec. We use only kiln-dried wood with a moisture content below 8%, which extends the life of finished canoes and reduces waste from warping during the build process.
We buy in full-timber contracts and use the off-cuts for furniture, small accessories, and fuel for our workshop's wood stove. Our wood waste hovers around 6% — well below the industry average of 18%.
Bio-Based Epoxy Resins
In 2019, we transitioned all of our fiberglass and Kevlar composite production to a bio-based epoxy resin system. Our current system uses a hardener derived from 35% plant-based materials — primarily cashew nut shell liquid (CNSL) and refined vegetable oils.
The structural performance of our bio-based system is essentially identical to petroleum-based alternatives (we ran a 24-month comparative stress testing program to confirm this). The environmental impact is measurably lower: a 27% reduction in embodied carbon compared to the conventional resin system we replaced.
We're actively working with our resin supplier on a next-generation system targeting 60% bio-content, expected to move into production trials in 2025.
Recycled Carbon Fiber
Our Cascade Ultra performance line uses recycled carbon fiber alongside virgin fiber. Recycled carbon fiber is recovered from aerospace and automotive manufacturing waste — the scrap and offcuts that would otherwise go to landfill.
Recycled carbon fiber retains approximately 90% of the tensile strength of virgin fiber at a fraction of the energy cost. Producing virgin carbon fiber requires around 600 MJ/kg. Recycled carbon fiber requires approximately 14 MJ/kg. For a 24-lb canoe, that's a meaningful difference in embodied energy.
We currently blend 30% recycled carbon into our composite layups where structural requirements allow. Our goal is 50% by 2026.
Carbon Neutrality — What It Actually Means
We became carbon neutral in 2018, certified through an independent third-party auditor. Here's exactly what that means:
Scope 1 (direct emissions): Our workshop runs on electricity from a 100% renewable contract with Pacific Power. We eliminated our last propane heater in 2020. Our company vehicles are hybrid or electric.
Scope 2 (purchased energy): See above — renewable electricity.
Scope 3 (supply chain and shipping): This is the hard one. We offset our Scope 3 emissions through two programs: a verified reforestation project in the Oregon Cascades and a peatland conservation project in Canada. We publish our annual carbon accounting in our Impact Report, available on this site.
We want to be honest: carbon offsets are not the same as not emitting. We use offsets only for Scope 3 emissions we cannot yet eliminate, and we reduce our offset use every year as we find more direct reductions.
What's Next
We're currently piloting a hull take-back program — when a Green Voyage canoe reaches the end of its useful life, we'll take it back, grind down the composite, and use the recovered fiber in our recycled content program. We expect to launch this formally in late 2025.
We're also evaluating hemp fiber as a replacement for fiberglass in our entry-level Family Glider line. Hemp fiber composites are fully biodegradable under the right industrial composting conditions and perform comparably to E-glass in low-stress applications. Early prototype testing is promising.
Sustainability in manufacturing is never finished. But we're committed to showing our work, being honest about our limitations, and moving forward every year.
