In keeping with its green theme, Pacific Beach Surf Shop is holding a skateboard launch party for environmentally-friendly company BambooSk8 tonight, July 22. The free event starts at 7 p.m. “We chose PB Surf Shop because it has a green room for green projects in it and the owner is very eco-conscious,” said BambooSk8 owner Geoff Koboldt. The party will launch BambooSk8’s new Octobomb short and longboard decks, which Koboldt said is influenced more by surfboard shapes than skate shapes. All of the three-year-old Oceanside company’s boards are green, starting with decks that are made primarily with bamboo. “The skateboard industry is known for using traditional maple, with skateboarding contributing largely to the deforestation of maple trees,” Koboldt said. “By using bamboo, a resource in abundance and with a growth rate of 2 to 3 feet [per day], the yield is 100-fold and with less of an impact on the Earth.” The launch part itself also has a green theme. Almost all the proceeds from the event will be donated to the National Wildlife Federation to help with relief efforts in the Gulf Coast. “I have a personal friend who lives in New Orleans who had informed me of the devastation way before the media got there,” Koboldt said. “Hearing her words and seeing photos just makes us want to compassionately help those animals and people who will be affected for tens of years due to this unfortunate and preventable tragedy.” The skate party is the second green event PB Surf Shop has hosted five days. On July 17, the shop hosted a fundraiser featuring Glenn Hening, one of the founders of the Surfrider Foundation, who shared his story about how the foundation got started. Proceeds from the fundraiser went toward paying for surf lessons for underprivileged students at UCSD’s The Preuss School. For more information, visit www.pacific beachsurfshop.com. BambooSk8 is online at www.bamboosk8.com.