I was looking for a cool Earth Day angle to report on the recent green push in action sports when pro skater Annie Sullivan shot me an invite to check out her Sector 9 "Push Don't Pollute" tent at the University of Colorado's "Save the planet, save the people" Earth Day Bazaar. Perfect: Sometimes known as the People's Republic of Boulder and one of the original tree-hugger capitals of America, Boulder is also a skate center with a sick concrete park, killer street spots on campus and around town, and what has to be the highest per-capita ratio of students with longboards of any college campus in the world.
Annie's an undergrad in the CU Journalism program, and she chose her campus wisely: Strolling across campus to find her, I saw more women pushing skateboards than I've ever seen in once place before. Everywhere I looked people were skating: Sessioning some benches and stair sets, cruising the campus quad, butt boarding down the hill into the parking lot... I found Annie handing out shwag, hand over fist, under a Sector 9 tent by the UMC fountain and caught up with her for a quick interview:
FUEL.TV: Annie, it’s great to see you again. To start off, can you fill us in on what you’re doing out here today?
Sullivan: I’m out here celebrating Earth Day on the CU campus with Sector 9, one of the first skateboard companies to fully embrace this whole environmentally-friendly eco-consciousness thing, by taking a closer look at where the materials for the products come from, coming out with a line of all-organic clothing, and using the skateboards themselves to help deliver that message. Today we gave out a ton of “Push Don’t Pollute” t-shirts and 500 Zola Acai drinks, and we’ve had a really great response for this whole Earth Day Bazaar.
FUEL.TV: In the last year I’ve had opportunities to report on the Action Sports Environmental Coalition, the X Games’ Enviromentality campaign, Sector 9 and other companies jumping on board to get behind this green movement. Why do you think the action sports community, and skateboarders in particular, are driving this so much?
Sullivan: For one, I do think it’s the athletes driving it in the skateboard industry. It’s people like Bob Burnquist and Jen O’Brien, and all these different skaters who've gotten turned on to what’s happening, and as we’re all starting to make these decisions in our own lives to be more environmentally conscious, the skaters are going to the companies and influencing the decisions that are being made and the products that are being made on a larger level. But I also think it’s gotten to the point where this is just the way it has to be: Everybody, and every company, in every industry, is going to have to make smarter decisions about how they are going to be in the world. It makes sense to me that skateboarders and skateboard companies are among those taking the lead on it.
FUEL.TV: Obviously you’re pretty busy as a student here at CU, and also with activism stuff like this event today. What have you been up to skating-wise, and what are you looking forward to?
Sullivan: I’m really looking forward to the Pro-Tec Pool Party and the Oregon Trifecta and skating a bunch of bowl contests this summer, and just skateboarding in general in all its forms. I just got back from a trip to Albequerque for the Ditch Slap races, which was a trip. The whole Sector 9 team is more like a family than a team. I love that all of those guys will skate anything: One minute we’ll all be skating some street spot, the next we’re in a backyard bowl or bombing some hill or carving some enormous ditch that goes forever. Then I’m also going to be doing a lot of filming for a part in the new Osiris Girls video. They make some sick shoes and the whole Osiris Girls thing is really blowing up, so I’m stoked. I'm really stoked on the other girls on the Osiris team, Leticia Bufoni and Allysha Bergado, who are both younger girls who are really great skaters and super inspiring to me. I’m also really focused on school and getting my degree, and I’m looking forward to finding a way to stay in skateboarding and the skateboard industry forever. I’m not going anywhere.
FUEL.TV: Are you going to be competing at X Games again?
Sullivan: Yeah, and I’m stoked because The Alliance has worked so hard with ESPN to build up the women’s skateboarding events and we’re finally going to get some broadcast time this year. That’s what it will take to really blow it up big and get a lot more girls interested and involved in it. I’m also really curious to see what happens with the whole SuperPark event, because I’ve been skating so much concrete since I’ve been in Colorado for school and getting away from vert, just because that’s one thing Colorado sort of lacks. It’s crazy here though: Every random little mountain town has a great concrete park, and they’re all free, no pads, open late…. I tell my friends in California and they can’t believe it. I love it here. It opens skateboarding up to so many more people to have these awesome parks everywhere and have them be totally accessible by anybody. In California, I think the prices and the pad rules drive some people away from it.
FUEL.TV: I’m curious: Did you have any mentors or older skaters who took you under their wing as you were coming up? And do you have any words of wisdom for younger girls who are just getting started or just getting serious about skateboarding?
Sullivan: I definitely had a lot of older skaters, males and females, who took me under wing and still do. I know some girls are worried they’ll be intimidated at the skatepark, but I’ve always had the opposite experience: I feel like skateboarders mostly want to help other skateboarders. To anyone getting started, I would say: ‘Skate everything. Don’t limit yourself, and don’t let anyone put limits on what you think you can do or should be doing. Skateboarding is skateboarding, and it’s fun. Don’t make it anything less than that.’
– Colin Bane
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