It is well known that manufacturing any kind of product forms greenhouse gas which influences the environment. This process is called a carbon footprint which is rather bad for the environment.
It is determined from the moment of the product appearance to its utilization. It also refers to surfboards throughout their entire life cycle.
Let’s regard in what way this surfing equipment can influence the environment.
Table of Contents
The Life Cycle of a Surfboard
Raw materials receiving processes influence the environment
The main materials for surfboards are made from the pitch. The pitch is made from oil which should be taken from the Earth by drilling it out that influences the environment sufficiently.
Stringers and rails are made from balsa wood. The wood should grow up and be harvested in the natural environment as well.
Handling
To produce plastic from oil requires a lot of resources and energy taken from the environment. Wood should be debarked and cut into thin strips for stringers and rails.
All these processes are highly energy-consuming and influence the environment.
Manufacturing
As soon as all needed basic chemicals have been collected, the foam can be produced.
But this process needs even more energy than the previous one under the influence of its complexity.
Delivery
At each stage of extraction, handling, producing, and generating chemicals, all components, and ready materials should be delivered. During the delivery, carbon is also produced making a great influence on the environment.
Shaping process and its impact on the environment
And at the last stage of the surfboard manufacturing, which is shaping the product, the biggest amounts of energy and materials are required due to the influence of advanced technologies.
Repairing and service
Within their life cycle, surfboards may be harmed under the wave influence and some repair will be needed. For example, fin plugs should be replaced.
This creates even more carbon influence on the environment.
Salvaging
Every surfboard comes to its end when it cannot be used anymore or when it is completely damaged. In this case, it should be recycled at a place of disposal or be used for other purposes, for example, as the wall art in bars, to reduce the influence of its disassembling on the environment.
It is considered that about 750,000 surfboards are produced every year. This creates about 220,000 tons of carbon dioxide fumed into the environment.
As an example, a middle size shortboard (6’1) produces about 400 lbs of carbon dioxide and epoxy longboard (9’1) is responsible for about 1000 lbs of carbon dioxide with a disastrous influence. The flight from Los Angeles to Hawaii makes carbon dioxide in about 750 lbs.
Nowadays, people have started to take care of the environment to diminish their bad influence. Surfers are requiring green materials to be used for surfboards.
Because of this, a lot of producers declare their products as environmentally friendly but never consider how much their products hurt the environment. This makes it impossible for consumers to evaluate the risks for ecology.
For example, a longboard made from epoxide has a bigger carbon emission and a greater influence than a polyester pitch board of a similar shape. An epoxy surfboard will be used longer than a polyester surfboard.
That is why epoxy surfboards are more environmentally friendly if considered in the long run.
Thankfully, there are several ways of how shapers and surfers may reduce the emission of carbon from surfboards and the negative influence on the environment.
Surfers can do the following:
- buy really strong surfboards: having sufficient fiberglass coating on top and bottom makes your surfboard strong enough to withstand your weight and sustain waves you like to surf;
- use 4 or even 5 fins instead of the usual 2 to be able to catch different waves and get even more fun while avoiding the surfboard destruction and spreading the wreckage across the ocean environment;
- if the surfboard is damaged even insignificantly, it should be repaired immediately to avoid more significant damage and bigger repairs in the future demanding energy consumption and still bigger influence on the environment;
- buy the used surfboards and sell yours if it is still good but you do not need it or just want to change it: this will influence avoiding a new surfboard to be made;
- use your surfboard till it becomes absolutely unrideable as a board and then utilize it for something else; you may practise to repair it and go for snow surfing further on, for example, to preserve the environment clean;
- you can compensate for the carbon footprint of your surfboard that influences the environment in other areas of your life: go cycling to work for a few days in a month, for example, instead of driving a car.
Shapers can do the following to influence the eco-friendliness of the processes:
- strengthen surfboards by using deck and rail channels to lengthen their life cycle;
- use the pitch of the natural plant origin or recycled foam and fins made from bioplastic to reduce the influence on Nature;
- use renewable energy at your places such as wind or solar energy.
And in the end, we can say that decreasing the carbon influence of your surfboard on the environment is not really so hard but it requires certain efforts both from shapers and surfers.
By our cooperative work, we can decrease carbon influence and show an example to other sports on how to keep the environment clean.
