surfing
Finisterre UK Surf Clothing
As a Christmas gift this year I received a surfing video from a friend which got me not only dreaming of surfing, but also of some of the great surf gear out there. This being winter for us up in the Northern Hemisphere, warm clothes and green wetsuits are required to ride our eco-friendly surfboards.
A company called Finisterre, based out of the UK, is doing great things in the world of surfing, and really for all outdoor activities. Also founders of Offset The PLC, they are working to reduce the amount of waste found in consumer goods today. Less raw material waste, production waste, transport waste, and ultimate disposable waste.
“After a certain point the correlation between material goods and happiness breaks down to such an extent that it is questionable as to whether a relationship actually exists.
So again we find less is more.”
With company values like that, along with truly eco-friendly products, and a One Percent for the Planet member, they earn five stars with me.
Surfing Firewire – Eco Friendlier Surfboards
If you haven’t been up on surfboard technology, things have changed. In 2005, Clark Foam, the largest foam blank supplier closed its doors citing new environmental regulations which would have crippled its business. The standard for surfboards since the late 50′s when polyurethane foam and fiberglass-resin boards replaced wood boards, had come to an end.
Opening up the market to new innovations and materials, San Diego based Firewire Surfboards was ready with their new carbon and bamboo creation. Lighter, stronger and more flexible, Firewire’s boards are also more eco friendly emitting only 2 percent of volatile organic compounds and are 50 times less toxic to the environment than polyurethane foam. No masks are needed around this stuff, and you can walk into any of their factories without getting an instant headache.
Using an environmental sensitive laminating process, the Rapidfire line uses basic cooler type EPS (Expanded Polystyrene) foam inlaid with carbon rods for flex and topped with finished bamboo for strength and stiffness, replacing the standard wood stringer. All excess EPS foam is recycled at the end of the building process. They even won the coveted EuroSIMA Environmental Product of the Year Award in 2005.
