Surfing sustainbility, the sport’s green credentials and the need for the board riding industry to become more environmentally came into stark focus yesterday (May 16, 2023). You may have seen the news items featuring pro surfer Lucy Campbell and her comments regarding the surfing industry. If not hit this link to read the full story. Following this, there was also a BBC iPlayer documentary – Surfing’s Dirty Secrets – which shines even more of a spotlight on the issue.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/p0fmp2r4/surfings-dirty-secrets
All in it’s pretty apparent that as surfers we’re contributing to the problem of climate change significantly. And in many cases, we probably don’t even realise it.
NCW’s commitment to reusing, recycling and upcycling surfing wetsuits.
NCW has been aware of the problem wetsuit manufacturing and retail causes. In all parts of our lives – personal and work – we try and be as green as possible. It’s one of the main reasons we aim to reuse, recycle and upcycle as much as we can. Of course, we have plenty of new wetsuit products to sell. But where we can we are using limestone neoprene which helps You can read about NCW’s sustainable approach here.
You may be aware that NCW does a good line in used wetsuits. As much as being wallet friendly this is a way to keep rubber out of landfill and reduce our carbon footprint. We also make it a priority to try and salvage any wetsuit or wetsuit accessories. Being able to repair – often as good as new – reduces the amount of petrochemical rubber waste even further. And if a wetsuit is really on its last legs then we’ll still often find a use for it. In many cases creating completely new products from old.
A surfing future must be green.
Moving forwards we all need to do our bit. In the Surfing’s Dirty Secrets documentary the journalist, Claire Marshall, talks to Dr. Greg Borne – an expert who’s been studying surfing’s environmental impact. He suggests a few ways surfers can be greener and reduce their negative effects. It’s good advice that the everyday rider can follow fairly easily.
Industry wide, however, there’s a lot more that needs to be done. From NCW’s point of view we want to continue down the path we’re already on. Of course, we have plenty of new wetsuit products to sell. But we’re equally keen to promote how repaired used wetsuits can be just as good. So our advice: if you’re thinking about chucking your old wetsuit, don’t! Come to us first and see what we can do. Even if it’s a case of part exchanging there’s a way for it to live on…
If you have any kind of wetsuit that you’re looking to either repair part exchange or pass on for recycling/upcycling purposes get in touch with us.