Surfing and nature seem to go hand in hand. The crashing waves, the fresh sea air and the reliance on mother nature for good surf, all suggest that this is the most wholesome of extreme sports. It has recently come into the limelight however that many environmental experts have spotted a darker side to the sport. The reality is that surfboard manufacture is responsible for a number of different hazards to both the environment and to humans.

Most surfboards you find now are formed from a core of polyurethane foam. This is then surrounded by one or two layers of fibreglass before covering in a protecting polyester-based resin. The foam usually includes a chemical known as toluene diisocyanate, which is considered by many to be a carcinogen. The styrene gas that is also produced during manufacture has been criticised by health professionals due to its harmful effect on the nervous system and its ability to cause nausea, tiredness and disorientation. Further to this, production also releases volatile organic components (VOCs) and carbon into the atmosphere. Most of the elements that go into modern surfboards are also non-biodegradable.

Gordon Clark, a surfboard producer in California has even shut his factory down after all the negative attention it received recently. 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 had led to the predicted shortage of pre-shaped surfboards in the States and so many big companies are in desperate need of alternatives.

Incredibly, one of these alternatives has been found in England, in the county of Cornwall. The Surfers Against Sewage charity in England helped develop Biofoam, one of the newest products to hit the market. 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. A ninety percent natural protective resin has also recently started being utilised for their new ‘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.