How to be an Eco-conscious Surfer
What do the 20 million surfers in the world have in common, aside from a love of surfing? A love for spending time outside in the water. Unfortunately, for a sport rooted in a relationship to our oceans, surfing has a larger environmental impact than many of us thought. Here is a guide to educate and help any ocean lover do their part to preserve our beautiful blue playground and be the ultimate eco-conscious surfer.
Be a Steward
Pick it up, Pack it, and Trash it
The first step to being a responsible surfer, or human, is making a point to not trash our playground. When going for a surf, make sure you don’t leave behind any waste. If you see some laying around, make sure to pick it up and put it in its respectable bin.
Respect the Oceans, People and Wildlife
Bring your best self to the beach and be courteous not only to the ocean environment and wildlife but the people who live nearby.
Get Involved
Give back by supporting your community and doing your part to preserve the oceans. Volunteer or donate to one of the MANY organizations dedicated to ocean and coastal community health. Here is a list of our 10 favorites.
Choose Green Surf Essentials
Board
A lot of what goes into our ocean toys isn’t ocean-friendly. Surfboard foam made from polyurethane, polyester resins, and material waste from the board shaping process are harmful to the environment and humans. It is hard to give up the performance of a classic PU or epoxy board, however, more eco-friendly shapers are popping up and pushing the limits of eco-certified boards.
Leash
Even this small, but very necessary, part of our sesh tool kit is petroleum-based and not doing any favors for mother earth. Luckily earth-conscious brands are manufacturing leashes out of recycled PET water bottles.
Wetsuit
For many of us who don’t have the luxury of surfing warm tropical waves, a wetsuit is a MUST if we want to stay out for more than 30 minutes. Traditional neoprene wetsuits are petroleum-based. They keep us warm, but they are toxic to manufacture and in no way, shape, or form biodegradable. Thankfully, we are doing better with companies like Patagonia, Florence Marine X, Vissla, and more using alternative and more eco-friendly natural rubbers made from limestone or Yulex.
Wax
Surf wax keeps us grounded... however most waxes contain benzene (shown to cause cancer in humans), toluene (also pretty gnarly), and are primarily composed of petroleum. Eco and human-friendly surf wax made with natural ingredients aren’t hard to find! Check out TheGoodWaxCo.
Sunscreen
Save your skin and the oceans! Unfortunately, many sunscreens contain chemicals like Oxybenzone, Octinoxate, Octocrylene, Avobenzone, and Homosalate, to name a few that are harmful to humans and our aquatic ecosystems. Make sure to grab some reef-safe and human-safe sunscreen next time you’re having fun in the sun. Here is a link to our top 5 reef-safe sunscreens.
Swimsuits – FAST FASHION
The fashion industry is one of the biggest polluters in the world and, much to our dismay, our favorite bikinis and boardshorts aren’t excluded from the problem. Thankfully, nature-loving companies all over the world have responsibly made swim gear. Next time you’re in the market for a new styling suit check out some of our favorite sustainably focused swimwear brands.
Travel Light
Bike to your local break
A super-easy way to reduce your footprint – and gas bill, is biking to your nearest local break. If the weather is nice, get out, get extra active, and save that extra dollar and carbon emission. One recommendation, for those who don’t have the strongest arms, myself included, is getting a bike surf rack. It makes any trip a piece of cake.
Make sure your surf travel has a light footprint.
If traveling to Bali, Australia, Hawaii, or South America is in your surfing future, there are many ways to help mitigate your flying impact. Air travel is the most polluting form of getting around, pumping tons of CO2 into the air with every flight. These are some of our favorite organizations that help preserve the ocean and offset carbon emissions.
Did reading about how to be an eco-conscious surfer inspire you to hit the waves? Remember to check out the Jamie O’Brien Surf App here for anytime, anywhere surf coaching.
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