Bamboo And Soy Improve Surfing
by Kristin Underwood, San Diego, CA on 08.11.08
Discovery News takes a look at the new wave in surfboard construction. New materials, such as bamboo decks & fins, linseed oil resins and UV curing, offer alternatives to the conventional toxic materials going into surfboard production.
"Surfboards of the past have been sort of surfing's dirty little secret" admits Ned McMahon – General Manager/Partner of HomeBlown US, a San Diego, CA maker of surfboard blanks. Instead, Homeblown is swapping out Swaps out toxic materials with natural products such as using biofoam, which is 50% soy, for the foam blanks.
To watch the full episode, go to Discovery News.
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It seems like none of them discuss what's probably the biggest issue in foams: the use of HFC for HCFC blowing agents, which are potent greenhouse gases, 1000s of times more potent than CO2. What is used in these?
most surfboard blanks are blown with co2 or water or other inert gasses. HFC's have not been used in the insudtry for a while except in China where regualtions are less stringent.
EPs foam is even more co friendly. Its 95% air, has no voc's and is 100% recyclable. It can also be reinforced with bamboo, wood and other natural materials. see www.surfinggreen.com.au for more info.
This can actually be taken a step further. We're making our Eco boards using 100% recycled polystyrene EXTRUDED foam (so it's also totally waterproof - you can surf on a dinged board for a year and it'd make no difference). We're then using Bamboo fiber for the laminate (stronger in tension than fiberglass), Epoxy resin (the vegetable based epoxy resins are not quite there yet), and then vacuum bagging them using a peel ply that is also 100% recycled and the bleeder is Bamboo twill. That way we're mixing up the need to recycled the massive quantity of polystyrene blown each year, and the use of bamboo which absorbs 5x more greenhouse gazes and puts out 35% more oxygen than a similar clump of trees.
Part of making an ECO board is making a board that LASTS! This is the first step. So a core than does not absorb water, blister in heat, with a laminate that resists snapping, is key. Combine this with recycled and sustainable materials.... and bingo.