Huge numbers of surfboards are made each year in the UK and around the world. Since the 1950s the surfboard has been made using polyurethane foam a petroleum-base material which is harmful to the environment. The refinement of the petroleum also has dire consequences for our planets global warming problem. The blanks which make up part of the surfboard do not biodegrade and they cant be recycled. The manufacturing of surfboards produces a lot of waste materials which have a detrimental impact on the planet. When you well used surfboard is on its last legs and it gets binned and it ends up in land fill. Another environmental impact from your surfboard is the carbon foot print it takes to build one. Companies like Clark Foam in the USA have been shut down due government environmental pressure to stop using harmful chemicals. Clark Foam was the worlds largest surfboard blank producer. Its most likely if you had a surfboard before the 5th December 2005 the white foam inside it would be from Clark Foam! Now the companies who relied on blanks from Clark Foam are sourcing their surfboard blanks from far eastern countries where there is very little environmental protection or law.

Organisations like Surfers against Sewage have campaigned for the surfboard industry to get things cleaned up and start using more sustainable, biodegradable and recyclable resources to make surfboards with. Andy Cummins from SAS says “The vast majority of surfboards manufactured today utilise some pretty toxic chemicals in their production. Volatile Organic Chemicals (VOCs) are often released into the air when ‘blowing’ a blank and many resins are no better. Once these boards break they can release their toxic chemicals back into the environment over hundreds – if not thousands – of years.”
Home blown are a surfboard blank producer here in Cornwall and they have been working with campaigners like SAS to produce a cleaner, more eco friendly surfboard. This process has taken over 5 years to produce a surfboard which is made from 50% sustainable materials. The surfboard blank is made using a mixture of petroleum based materials alongside GM soya. The soya unfortunately is imported all the way from farmers in Brazil. There are issues with this material due to the soya being GM and the carbon footprint from importing the stuff. Also we hope that no Brazilian rainforests have been cut down to grow the soya!! On the upside the resin is produced using 100% linseed oil which is biodegradable and causes less of an impact on the environment. While there are issues with producing an eco surfboard it does give hope that one day all surfboards will be more eco friendly and is a step in the right direction. 5 years is a short time in Research and Development of eco technology and materials which can be applied to a surfboard and work well. In a few more years it will be more likely we will see the back of the old materials which are so harmful to our environment.