Sustainable Surfing

A page dedicated to our environment, local issues, sustainable business and products within our sport. Proudly printed on certified FSC - green paper

A few blocks from most beaches, the pungent smell of polyester resin wafts from the surfboard factories around our key surf breaks. Inside dark neon lit rooms with faded posters of waves on the walls, men wearing face masks (that should be a heads up) shape slabs of snow-white polyurethane foam into surfboards, their cast-off chemical dust covering floors and filling trash barrels. Despite its ‘natural-boy’ image, the surfing industry relies on toxic manufacturing processes and generates tons of waste to make surfboards and other products. While surfers have long fought polluters that befoul beaches and oceans, killing whales and dropping cigarette butts, we seldom look at our own back yards. We need to look at our own contribution, our own products, where we live and where we surf and what makes a difference. What about us NZ Surfing Magazine? NZ Surfing Magazine – we could print in China it would be a lot cheaper, but we print here in NZ on FSC paper which stands for The Forest Stewardship Council which is an international not for-profit, organization that has been set up to promote responsible management of the world’s forests. In other words the trees they chop down to make the paper they replace with better trees, its more expensive but we get to sleep at night. There is a huge movement towards building cleaner better more eco-friendly and over the next year you’ll read about it here. As part of our commitment to making things better we will be running a regular awareness feature in NZSM – we are keen on your feedback, commentary and input on line – check out our website for more details.

seabed mining

Surfers know that sand bars change season by season, storm by storm; just go down to the beach and dig a hole in the wet sand it doesn’t take long for the shifting sand to replace it like that hole was never there. Sand is not static; it’s obvious if you take out millions of tonnes of sand from the sea bed that things are really going to change. Apply these two hands full of sand to a large scale; the effect will be the same - the sand is going to move. Seabed mining involves extracting submerged minerals and resources from the seafloor mainly by dredging sand. Globally and in particular in New Zealand, sand has been the primary target; primarily for use in construction but recently for replenishment of urban beaches. The complex erosion tendencies and pressures created by removing any large volumes of sand from an inshore area are one of the least most misunderstood environmental issues . It is generally considered that large scale mining of the Tasman seabed will cause increased coastal erosion both up and downstream from where any mining takes place. Erosion is already rife on the West Coast. Port Waikato has lost 20 metres of dunes in the last 20 years. The cliffs of South Taranaki have been receding dangerously for many years. In the case of the West Coast Ironsands, there is no precedent anywhere in the world to match these proposals in scale set for New Zealand. Any opinions and speculation on how much erosion would be created by any of the mining proposals is purely speculative. The impact of sea bed mining is multi-faceted, its effects on waves, bird life, marine life and the coastline, in simple terms, there just has not been enough investigative analysis to warrant a full scale industry that could damage New Zealand’s prime resources. For more information and how to support the Anti- mining campaigns go to http://kasm.org.nz Kiwis against sea bed mining. Simply put, the WAX BUDDY solves a common problem that all surfers have: removing old wax from surfboards. After years of scraping with everything from credit cards to kitchen spatulas, our team at Endless Wave created the perfect tool for the job. Once you give it a try, you will never go back to using ordinary wax combs again. The WAX BUDDY is a 3-in-1 tool that incorporates a scraper, a comb, and a cupped rail edge. Created by surfers, for surfers, the WAX BUDDYS trademark handle provides incredible leverage when scraping your board. The compact size fits easily into your travel bag, baggies, and glove box. The Wax Buddy is manufactured from 100% recycled ABS plastic. ABS plastic is widely used for its strength and durability. This plastic is also one of the most highly regarded for consumer goods because it is safe and does not contain many harmful substances (such as Polybutylene, Cr6+, or Polybrominated biphenyls). We use recycled ABS plastic to ensure your Wax Buddy maintains its strength without contributing harmful substances in our environment. In order to cast the unique form of the Wax Buddy, we are limited from using sustainable materials seen in other eco-friendly wax combs such as bamboo. Making the Wax Buddy out of 100% recycled ABS plastic allows for the extremely effective shape while also benefiting our environment. We love the sea and think our boards should reflect that. The Wax Buddy is all about cleaner boards for cleaner waves.