You’d struggle to find a more natural sport than surfing. The crashing waves, the fresh sea air and the reliance on mother nature for good surf, all suggest that this is the most organic of extreme sports. Environmentalists have recently started rallying however, about the real harms of surfboard production. What they have come to realise is that numerous harmful bi-products are released into the environment through board manufacture.

Many of the 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 often contains a chemical called toluene diisocyanate, which is known to be a possible carcinogenic substance. Its production can also create styrene fumes, exposure to which can leas to to problems with the nervous system, on top of headaches, dizziness and confusion. Additionally, carbon dioxide and VOCs (volatile organic components) are released into the atmosphere during production. The biodegradable quality of most surfboard compounds is quite poor as well.

So much pressure has been put on surfboard manufacturers that one producer of ‘blank’ decks in California, Gordon Clark, has now closed his factory. 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. The knock on effect of this is that there is a large shortfall in blank surfboards in America and most effected companies have begun their hunt for alternative sources.

One such alternative has been developed in Cornwall, England. Biofoam is a revolutionary new product that was created by the collaboration of a number of different surf charities. 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’.

Inquires have come from all across the globe, asking for samples from the company who manufacture the new Biofoam and Ecoboards. It is still early days but they soon hope to start applying their eco-technology to the creation of snowboards also.