Bob Hellman of Hellman Canoes in Nelson, British Columbia has made the move to make his line of canoes the greenest on the water.

We are in a day-in-age where a strong focus is placed on environmental responsibility and a number companies have jumped on the green band wagon.

One of the recent developments was Cascade Designs the maker of SealLine brand drybags (canoeists are most familiar with the Boundary Pack) made a bold move and changed all the material used on their drybags to a non-PVC alternative.

Now the latest development in the environmental battle is Hellman canoes using a new resin in their construction process called "Ecopoxy".
 
According to HellmanEcopoxy is an epoxy resin made from all natural plants , Canolla, peanut and Soya oils.

And as if being environmentally friendly wasn't enough apparently the new resin system is tougher than their old epoxy system and is more resistant to heat.

According to manufacturers of Ecopoxy due to it's viscosity Hallman Canoes is able to use 25% less in the layups because it penitrates better.

Unlike traditional epoxy resins Ecopoxy is non toxic and has no toxic solvent fumes released when working with it.

Bob Hellman also mentioned they are trying out a new Ecopoxy  gelcoat made from the same base materials as the resin.

The new gelcoat is said to be as hard as a polyester gelcoat but can be bent 180 degrees without breaking and is also UV resistant.

Hellman Canoes is very excited about these changes and very proud of the fact that their canoes are even more environmentally friendly and much more tough.

For more information about Hellman canoes please visit www.hellmancanoes.com and for more on Ecopoxy visit www.ecopoxoysystems.com.