By Vicki Vasil

Eco awareness is now not only universal, it's expected. Hybrid cars. Green channels on television. Post-consumer-material furniture. Everything’s got the potential to be green, including the boardsports industry. Now that it’s become cost-effective—and dare we say trendy—many more Americans are willing to join the cause by supporting environmentally friendly companies and products. They’re pinning a green ribbon next to their pink, red and yellow ones.

Success—both eco- and image-wise— is all in how a company approaches the cause. Some industries and companies are more easily converted than others. However, even those with the biggest challenges can make significant and commendable advances.

Air travel stomps one of the largest carbon footprints on the earth. Delta took steps to make it up to the environment by initiating the first recycling program by a U.S. airline. Delta’s Environmental Blogger Jennifer O reports that in ten months Delta “saved roughly 192 trees, recycled more than 16 tons of newsprint, and recycled enough aluminum cans to build a Boeing 747.”

The company has since expanded the enterprise to over a dozen cities. It also supports the Conservation Fund which encourages passengers to offset carbon emissions from its flights with small donations. While all of this hardly offsets the environmental impact Delta has during a single week through its Atlanta hub, the point is: it’s a start. It’s also a priority for the company, if only in that its customers now fully expect these sorts of initiatives.

The onus is even higher in our industry, wrapped as it is in the lush environmental milieus of our sports. Our industry boasts accomplishments like organically-grown cotton, hemp, and post-consumer recycled materials that are all fashioned into myriad products—anything from T-shirts to surfboards. A few select businesses have embraced this eco-awareness in all facets of their operation, and in that group Sole Technology is first among equals. Sole Technology has instituted wide-reaching environmental initiatives—everything from extensive recycling programs and solar panel arrays on the roof to a pledge to eliminate the company’s carbon footprint entirely by the year 2020.

Other companies have found novel solutions to manufacturing challenges. Wetsuit manufacturers using petroleum-based neoprene are among the most challenged. Body Glove's Eco wetsuit line, first launched last September, is an accomplishment of revolutionary proportions. Body Glove uses their signature non-petroleum Bio Stretch and Eco Flex to create the wetsuit exterior. The result is a suit that consumes only a tenth of the energy used to manufacture a standard petroleum-based wetsuit. The latest SKU in the series is the Eco Surf Shirt, which will extend the potential to support the Eco suit to warmer waters.

Matt Walls, surf brand manager for Body Glove, says the success of the Eco suit has transcended the action sports world. Mainstream media like National Geographic, Outside, and the Weather Channel are spreading the word and lavishing awards on the company. “We’re excited to continue the evolution of unique environmentally-friendly products affordable for the everyday surfer,” says Walls. And in case you were wondering, the pricepoints are comparable with petroleum-manufactured suits of its caliber.

Propaganda Headquarters, a youth brand consultancy out of Laguna Beach, has inspired participation amongst the ranks of the action sports industry for environmental causes since its inception. Founder and Brand Strategist Vipe Desai is intent on spreading the “blue” movement instead of just a green one.

What’s that mean? According to Desai, being blue incorporates green practices in addition to personal ones to better your life and your surroundings. Propaganda’s latest initiative—aptly named Project BLUE—unites top manufacturers such as Billabong, O’Neill, DaKine, Reef, Electric, and Nixon to create products with proceeds supporting coastal protection initiatives. “It’s not a charity,” says Desai, “it’s a plan of action.”

Other organizations have also come to the fore. The Action Sports Environmental Coalition (ASEC) was formed to “improve our collective environmental impact and to find better ways of educating the world about the dangers of global warming and the need for social responsibility.” ASEC both measures and celebrates eco-friendly companies in its marketplace:



The best intentions for any manufacturer or individual taking their first eco-friendly steps: take them slowly and deliberately. “I’m reminded of a great quote that I heard recently that parallels the excitement around environmental practices and the rush to go green,” says Desai. “’Patriotism is not the short, frenzied outburst of emotion, rather it is the steady and tranquil dedication of a lifetime.’”

Desai continues, “Any brand or individual taking on the responsibility of using best practices in either making environmentally friendly products or purchasing responsibly should keep this quote in mind. The changes that we want to see will happen over a lifetime. We need to build these responsible practices into our daily activities in order to have deep and lasting impact.”

Log on for Surf Expo's Earth Day report from the SIMA Green Boot Camp

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