‘The idea of a tiny skate company being responsible for deforestation was pretty entertaining, I thought.’
DeForestation
Nick Lane
Founder
DeForestation
March 2024
What inspired you to kick off Deforestation?
I make a lot of art on the computer and wanted to give that stuff a physical form. My bud Justin Healey and I had been thinking of doing something for a while and finally started making stuff in 2020.
How did you land on the name?
I was jokingly rattling off skate company names with a group of friends and that one stuck. The idea of a tiny skate company being responsible for deforestation was pretty entertaining, I thought.
Any ideas to battle the actual deforestation on our planet?
No, but funnily enough we applied to Shark Tank as “Reforestation Skateboards”. We told them we made boards that had tree seeds in them so you could plant your old boards to offset deforestation. We got through two rounds of interviews and submitted an audition tape and a fake prototype before they realized we were full of shit. You can check out the IG page @reforestation_skateboards
‘We told them we made boards that had tree seeds in them so you could plant your old boards to offset deforestation.’
Let’s talk about the logo. You don’t seem to like Elements.
No, we have nothing against Element, just trees!
If you could sign up any skater, who would it be and why?
Honestly this guy @furdawg_61388 on instagram. I’ve thought about reaching out to him. He’s sick.
What are some of the board companies that inspire you?
Walmart, Amazon, and Apple are the big three.
Are or were there any other board companies from Rhode Island?
Swan Common is another board company that was at least partially based in RI, I think. They are no longer around.
‘Well I don’t know, they say every joke has a grain of truth.’
What has been the proudest moment with Deforestation?
We made a box out of a log for a best trick contest. I was pretty proud of that. Also a Patriots player bought one of our boards and posted a picture with it.
Most funny or embarrassing?
Most funny would have to be the Shark Tank saga. I don’t know if this qualifies as embarrassing, mostly just bad timing, but we ran a paid ad involving a drone strike animation the day before Ukraine was invaded. So random people that don’t follow us were getting a sponsored ad with drones firing skateboards in the midst of actual war- related news. People were pretty heated.
In a recent IG post you state: ‘Unfortunately I no longer have the entrepreneurial bug, nor the lust for life I once did. Skateboarding = not lucrative.’ What is going on?
Just joking around. Well I don’t know, they say every joke has a grain of truth.
Last Question. If you could interview any person in the world, who would it be and why?
Steve Jobs.
