Over the past few decades, the pursuit of low cost, high performance surfboards to meet the demands of a growing number of surfers worldwide has led to major evolutions in surfboard manufacturing. What was once dominated by local shapers hand-crafting beautiful but pricey boards has now shifted to the mass production of inexpensive, disposable boards. While this production enables more people to enjoy surfing (and allows surfers to accumulate more boards), the environmental impact is significant.
It’s estimated that around 500,000 new surfboards are sold globally each year and the industry was worth US$2.7 billion in 2022. To keep costs low, major surf brands have moved to automated shaping machines and offshore factories that churn out boards modelled after short-lived disposable consumer goods. While this achieves affordability, the premium quality of hand-shaped custom boards is being lost and our environment is paying a high price.
In this article, learn about the average surfboard carbon footprint and how you can reduce your impact.
How carbon emitting are surfboards?
At first glance, a surfboard seems like a simple slab of fiberglass and foam, harmless to the planet. However, the manufacturing process involves numerous greenhouse gas-emitting steps. Experts have calculated that a typical 6-foot shortboard generates around 165 kilograms of carbon dioxide over its lifetime. In total, this equates to the same as driving a petrol vehicle for 700 kilometres (435 miles).
The largest share (54% or 89kg) stems from daily usage and maintenance, including the energy-intensive resin and paint jobs required to keep boards waterproof. The foam blank and fiberglass cloth that give the board its shape and structure are the next biggest contributors, generating 49.5kg of CO2 (roughly 30% of a board’s lifetime emissions). The remaining sources like construction, waste and distribution make up the remaining 25% combined.
It’s important to keep in mind surfboards are notoriously difficult to take apart for recycling, posing a major environmental challenge. The core of a surfboard is a foam blank, often made from polystyrene. Within this blank lies a central timber support piece called a stringer, which provides structure. Enveloping the foam blank is a tough outer shell of polyester or epoxy resin, reinforced by layers of fibreglass cloth set within the resin. Other components like fin boxes and a leash plug are glued into the resin as well. This complex layered construction of foam, wood, resin, fibreglass and adhesives bonds everything tightly together, making disassembly for recycling extremely difficult, if not impossible.
Polystyrene foam is in itself an issue, as it’s estimated to take between 500 and one million years to fully biodegrade. Over time, it breaks down into microplastics that widely disperse, often ending up in our oceans and negatively impacting marine life. Additionally, epoxy and polyester resins are highly resistant to degradation and leave behind a lasting environmental impact.
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How to reduce your impact
The solution needs to be tackled by both surfboard manufacturers and consumers, as there will be little progress if both aren’t onboard. Some shapers are looking to make boards from locally sourced and alternative materials in place of harmful, petroleum-based substances or are drawing on recycled materials (rather than virgin resources) in their workshops. But if surfers aren’t willing to pay for more sustainable surfboards or seek them out, these innovations won’t make an impact.
Rather than looking to replace a board when it’s broken, try and reduce the carbon footprint of its lifetime usage by carrying out maintenance and taking care of it in between surfs. Consider buying cork traction panels and reef-friendly wax to reduce the amount of toxic waste you are producing through surfing and reduce the frequency and distance of surf-related travel whenever possible. Before buying any new board, think about how it will be used over its lifetime and the options for disposing of it responsibly at the end.
If none of the above is possible, offset your surfboard carbon footprint and surf travel emissions with a verified carbon credit system (such as Carbonhalo) to become carbon neutral. The money is invested into certified climate projects and the planting of trees to help absorb the carbon being emitted. Preventing emissions in the first place is preferrable but carbon credit systems can play an important role in offsetting damages.