Surfing is a sport that is synonymous with nature. The crashing waves, the fresh sea air and the reliance on mother nature for good surf, all suggest that this is the most organic of extreme sports. It has recently come into the limelight however that many environmental experts have spotted a darker side to the sport. What they have come to realise is that numerous harmful bi-products are released into the environment through board manufacture.
The majority of surfboards you find now are formed from a core of polyurethane foam. 1 or 2 layers of fibreglass are then added to all sides and the whole board gets a polyester resin coating. A carcinogenic substance called toluene diisocyanate is frequently found in the foam. Its production can also create styrene fumes, exposure to which can leas to to problems with the nervous system, on top of headaches, dizziness and confusion. Further to this, production also releases volatile organic components (VOCs) and carbon into the atmosphere. Most surfboard materials these days score very low on biodegradability also.
There has been so much attention on the harmful nature of surfboard production that a Californian company, run by Gordon Clark, who make blank boards recently shut down. Clark’s surfboard factory used to produce close to 90% of all blank boards, but intense pressure from the State of California, he decided he did not want the aggravation and closed the doors. This has unsurprisingly left a massive shortage of surfboard blanks in the US, and left an number of big organisations searching for alternatives.
The surf capital of England – Cornwall, is indeed founder of one such alternative. Biofoam is a new material that was co-founded by the same man responsible for setting up the charity Surfers Against Sewage. The material is around 65 percent more renewable and emits 35 percent less harmful toxins due to the fact it is 45 percent plant based. On top of this, a new 95 percent natural resin coating is now being used on their ‘Ecoboards’.
The company who sell the new Biofoam and Ecoboards have had interest from all over the world. It is still early days but they soon hope to start applying their eco-technology to the production of snowboards also.
