Let’s Go Surfin Now, Everybody’s Learnin How ….

It has been a while since I have been surfing and probably will not be surfing anytime soon. So, I was just kinda taking a look around to see if there are any improvements in this fun sport! Well, I was surprised to see that there was. In the past, surfboards have been made with wood, stryofoam, resins, etc. Today, the makers of surfboards are using recyclable and sustainable materials, such as:

- Reclaimed and sustainably harvested wood
- Cork – a renewable resource
- EPS foam – a recyclable surfboard foam
- Epoxy – which emits very low VOCs (volatile Organic compounds) and does not require solvents for clean up.

For centuries surfboards were made out of wood. Not exactly sustainable, but not the worst either. Then in the 1950’s the advance of fiberglass and polystyrene foam (also known as styrofoam) blew the industry out of the water, as wood was quickly being replaced by the lighter, cheaper, envoronmentally toxic materials for the sake of time and money.

Granted, the industry went wayward for a variety of reasons. Surfers like the lighter surf board for the speed and of course, the colors that could be done to them! Ah, the memories of being a beach bum hippie come flooding back.

Now that there is a ground swell of going green, the surfing industry is really making some big progress.

Some of the new boards use approximately one half the fiberglass of a conventional surfboard, and is far stronger due to the impact strength of the sandwich construction.

Almost all of the boards being built today use glues, fiberglass, epoxy and other non-renewable elements.

Some green boards claim sustainable use of bamboo, which often has to be shipped from afar. There are a number of fine hollow wood surfboard builders around the world, and all of them seem to use at least a resin coating, and most also use carbon fiber and/or fiberglass cloth or some other structural skin as well.

Each surfboard has a lifespan far longer than a conventional surfboard because the wood does not fatigue and break down the way foam can. The end result is a beautiful, strong, high performance surfboard that lasts longer than conventional boards and as a reduced environmental impact.

One surf board manufacturer, Grain Surfboard, brag about their boards being fully structural before they glass them. The board will never show pressure dings, does not stress-crack and will last for years to come. Their boards are made of wood and on the outside they use a zero-VOC epoxy, glass or bamboo cloth, and a high gloss UV coating to the protect the board for years to come.

Another company, Ocean Green EcoFoil Surfboards, harvest balsa wood from sustainable forests in Nicaragua to create their hollow blanks—to keep them light and performance-driven, that are then sealed with 100% organic hemp or cotton skin.

Last but not least, there is a new injection technology used by Ocean X Technologies that claims all materials used are recycled.

I know that there are several more out there that are changing their practices but let’s not forget that all of the other things associated with surfing are changing as well. Wax, suits, wetsuits, etc are all changing. This is just way cool!

Related articles by Zemanta

• What’s SUP? A Surfing Sport That’s Bucking the Recession (time.com)
• New eco-surfboard hopes to catch wave of popularity (cnn.com)
• Mike Sheldrake’s Cardboard Surfboards (core77.com)

Tags: Business, fiberglass, polystyrene, Shopping, Sports, surf, Surfboard, Water Sports

This entry was posted on Sunday, June 28th, 2009 at 8:04 pm and is filed under Going Green, Natural Living, go green. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.