The Eco-Board
An environmentally friendly surfboard has taken to the waves after five years in development. The eco-board has been in development in the south west of England for five years and is the culmination and collaboration between the Eden Project gardens and biosphere and three local companies.
Chris Hines, former sustainability director of the Eden Project and a lifelong surfer and committed environmentalist came up with the idea for the board when a balsa tree had to be taken down in the rainforest biome. The Eden team worked with local company Homeblown to create a new type of foam core for the eco-board, 15 to 20 percent of which is made from plant derived materials.
Another local Cornish company, Sustainable Composites, developed a resin made almost entirely from linseed oil instead of oil-derived coatings, meaning over 50 percent of the final finished surboards are made from renewable materials. The boards are being manufactured by local surfboard shapers, Laminations.
Surf´s Up
British professional surfer Mark “Egor” Harris was one of the first to try the eco-board. “It felt good and I can see these boards being popular with surfers. We spend a lot of time on the beach and in the sea and surfers have been campaigning to clean up the oceans for years. This board goes hand-in-hand with that philosophy,” said Harris.
Junior British surfing champion Tassy Swallow is set to compete at the International Surfing Association World Junior Championships in Ecuador on a new Eden eco-board.
“It´s a really good board, it worked really well,” said Swallow after her first outing on the board.
“It feels a lot more buoyant in the nose which makes it easier to catch waves. It will really catch on when people realize that it´s as good as a regular board.”
