By 
By Kevin Whilden
Imagine Surfboards has developed new surfboard manufacturing techniques to build more “ecologically friendly” surfboards at reasonable cost and with superior performance on the waves. The boards are made from recycled polystyrene cores (e.g. used coffee cups), “glassed” with bamboo cloth, and have bamboo fins. Imagine has started winning major awards for its innovative designs and sales are skyrocketing. It appears that ecological surfboards have that “cool factor” which can wield significant influence on the market place, and the surfboard company’s suppliers are improving their environmental performance as a direct result of Imagine’s green approach.
Surfing is one sport that desperately needs to make being “green” more “cool.” It is immensely popular, with USA sales alone estimated at $7.5B in 2006. However, sustainable branding and ecologically friendly products are notably absent from the surfing industry, which is surprising considering that pollution and sea level rise directly harm the very waves upon which the industry thrives. It seems like a no-brainer for the industry to rapidly move to a more pro-actively environmental stance, but risk-averse major surfboard manufacturers are still promoting 1960’s board construction technology that is highly toxic to workers and the environment — because that is what sells best. It seems that the bigger the profits, the bigger the resistance to change. We have heard that one before.
Granted the most ecologically friendly surfboard is a plank of wood made by hand in an artisan’s workshop – as the ancient Hawaiians did it — but wood boards aren’t cheap, light or capable of being mass produced. Imagine’s technology has a clear environmental improvement over the mass-produced surfboards that dominate the marketplace as well as the one-off custom boards produced by artisanal surfboard shapers. Compared to standard surfboard construction, Imagine’s recycled polystyrene technology has superior resistance to dings, has better flex properties, and is a waterproof material. Ask any hardcore surfer if they wouldn’t like a board that doesn’t get waterlogged whenever it is damaged (surfboards always get damaged sooner or later). The bamboo fabric also is a significant improvement over traditional fiberglass, because its natural fibers have superior elasticity and strength. Bamboo-cloth boards are stronger and feel “snappier” under foot. Imagine’s bamboo fins also improve performance for similar reasons, and look great. Moreover, the outstanding durability of Imagine’s boards will reduce the need for surfers to buy replacement boards.
Imagine has managed to achieve the goal of any sustainable manufacturer.
They’ve reduced their ecological impact and improved product performance as a direct result of using sustainable materials. However, while they are as yet too small to change an entire industry from the top-down they have changed some of their suppliers’ behaviors. Like their major competitors, Imagine produces their boards in Asia to be commercially competitive. But Imagine has worked closely with their factories to improve their environmental performance. They’ve instituted strong recycling programs, eliminated toxic solvents, and improved worker conditions.
Imagine also conducts a full lifecycle impact analysis of each of their product lines, and then buys NGO-endorsed, USA-produced carbon offsets to make their products carbon neutral. It costs Imagine about $2.50 per board to make them carbon neutral on a lifecycle basis – and this includes the carbon emissions from overseas manufacturing and shipping. Corran Addison, CEO of Imagine Surfboards, says, “At that price, it’s almost criminal to not buy offsets and make carbon neutral surfboards.”
There aren’t many sustainable products in the market that are as fun to use as a surfboard. As Imagine’s sales grow above industry averages, the rest of the surfing market will hopefully play catch-up and clean up their act.
About the author: Kevin Whilden is a clean tech entrepreneur and green business consultant living in San Francisco. Kevin and his business partner, Michael Stewart, conducted the lifecycle impact analysis for Imagine Surfboards.
Comments
May 27, 2009 at 9:10 am PDT | Patrick Dominguez writes:
Thanks for this article – it makes sense that a sport that is so intensely connected with nature and the outdoors would move toward environmentally materials. Good to see this trend!
May 27, 2009 at 9:16 am PDT | Ashwin writes:
“Granted the most ecologically friendly surfboard is a plank of wood made by hand in an artisan’s workshop…” — I’m not sure if I agree with this statement. I wonder if Imagine’s path is ultimately more sustainable, using recycled or repurposed materials rather than the possibility of virgin wood to fabricate a new deck by hand in a workshop…
May 27, 2009 at 9:55 am PDT | Ashley writes:
I hope the “big manufacturers” realize what a slap in the face this is to them.
May 27, 2009 at 10:05 am PDT | jinan@surfkahuna.net writes:
Good on you brah!!
If you are interested in wood burning surfart on your bamboo surfacing before laminating the boards, check my work out on http://www.surfkahuna.net
I’ve been drawing on surfboards since Kelly’s Cove circa 1967.
May 27, 2009 at 10:27 am PDT | Kath writes:
Super cool.
Finally somebody who thinks about what is good for the planet (and the customer!!) before thinking about the money. Any way im sure that at the end that little company will be more prolific.
I would definitly buy one. But what about the leash , pads and wax? Is there any eco product on the market?
May 27, 2009 at 13:52 pm PDT | Drew writes:
I own a surf shop in North Carolina and had been following Imagine for about 6 months and had some contact with Corran before I decided to place an order for our shop. We are excited to receive our first stocking order of Imagine surfboards and I expect big things from them! After all the talking the surf community has done for years we finally have a surfboard that isn’t a toxic disaster!
May 27, 2009 at 18:11 pm PDT | LArry writes:
It is products like that of Imagine that make me worry manufacturers` are using the “eco-friendly” clause as a marketing ploy.
Where is the accountability that the foam is actually “recycled polystyrene cores” considering it is manufactured in China where environmental standards are so often under scrutiny and inferior to those within the EU or even North America?
May 27, 2009 at 19:31 pm PDT | Joe writes:
Boycott Chinese made boards. you are putting a lot of hardcore surfers in the unemployment line
May 28, 2009 at 2:52 am PDT | YakkR writes:
@Joe: Boycott Chinese made boards? Might as well boycott just about every product on the market. They’re all made in China.
Until the inequities in pay and healthcare are evened out, companies will always seek the most competitive manufacturing solution.
Kudos to Imagine for at least TRYING to modernize the surf industry (unemployment line or not).
May 28, 2009 at 3:14 am PDT | shaperX writes:
I guess we should all cave in and let China take over. Aw heck who cares about little 14 yr old hands making our crap anyways. I guess the market should determine everything. Companies always know best and have everyones interest in mind. Modernize the surf industry? From the look of their shapes (and Ive seen them) Id say a step backwards. One thing is for sure, if you are a green company, I guarantee you are not operating green in China. Ive seen the operations there and at Cobra (I was actually asked to train people in Thailand, but declined when I saw the operation). Acetone is thrown out to evaporate, etc…cheap labor is one thing, they dont have an EPA and health codes keeping things in check there. Green is such an overused term to sell product period. If making the industry more responsible and green was the goal of Imagine, and profit wasnt the main motive, they would be doing it here. I can smell good PR a mile away. Go Joe. Buy American.
May 28, 2009 at 4:17 am PDT | Charles writes:
Blaming China for surfings woes is as dumb as blaming china for the lack of waves in summer. Making boards in China is no worse than in the USA. Do you know that Patagonia did a calculation of carbon emissions to make their clothing in Asia vs the USA and then ship them to the final retail store and it was the same! Do you know that you can train any factory, as Patagonia has done, to operate in a responsible and ecological way. And it sounds like Imagine is taking the steps to make sure the manufacturing there is done environmentally correctly. Did you also know that there is a massive “recycling” industry there (due mostly to the economical benefits, not ecological, but it comes to the same thing) of most polymer products (plastic, polystyrene etc) and that this is lacking in the USA. Whether a board is made in N Carolina, Sydney or Peking, either way a California shaper doesn’t get the work. But then again, I’ve never seen a California shaper who gave a rats as$ about even making the smallest effort to change the way he does things – PU blanks (not recycled or recyclable), fiberglass (my god, should we even get started on this) and polystyrene resin (is there even anything worse for workers and the environment???). And are any of them buying carbon offsets to go neutral? So as long as your local shapers are going to live in the 1960’s thinking that “business as usual” is acceptable, then my support goes to companies like Imagine who obviously seem to care.
November 03, 2009 at 20:30 pm PST | Malibu Barbie writes:
“polystyrene resin?”
there goes your credibility . . . all the way to China. Um, I think you mean polyester resin.
So . . . exactly how many Cali shapers have you seen? Sounds like you’ve done a lot of homework. Or not. Buy as many carbon offsets as you want, there are many people who believe that purchasing offsets is one more way of polluting, but feeling no guilt, because you “purchase” offsets. Yay, capitalism. Business as usual.
May 28, 2009 at 4:57 am PDT | Corran writes:
Hey guys – Corran from Imagine Eco here. Great article and great thread. It’s awesome to see that the work we’re doing, and more importantly are trying to do, is getting recognized. Being environmental is not a destination – it’s an ongoing challenge beset with all sorts of obstacles, and problems from the most banal to seriously complicated ones. All sorts of things come into play, and we constantly are having to weigh up the “lesser of two evils”. After all, even though we are trying really hard to make environmentally friendly boards, we are still in industry, with all that comes with that (thus the carbon offsets we buy). Hard decisions about whether to make the recycled blanks in China (because we cannot make extruded, NON OUTGASSING ones made in N America) and then ship them here, make the boards and then ship the final board to Japan, or Australia, or California, or make the blank and board there and then ship it to the final destination direct. When making them here we couldn’t recycle the off cuts and shavings on the floor – in China the shavings are recycled right back into a new polystyrene block. Do we clean a paint brush with acetone, or is it better to recycle the handle, throw away the bristles and use a “new one”? Is it better to turn the lights off when no one is in the room, or leave them on all the time and tripple the lifetime of the bulbs which are not eco friendly to make? These are all hard decisions to make, and as we go so we learn how to make better ones. In the end, what the surfer cares about is a board that performs well, and looks and feels like a surfboard should. What I care about as much is that this boards environmental footprint should be as small as possible. They are not perfect in this regard, and our quest to be more eco friendly continues. It’s a hard thing to do, and hopefully this is just a beginning. It’s sad to see however how little the rest of the industry cares, from the biggest companies like Channel Islands not even making the simple step of getting carbon offsets, let alone taking real steps to change how they do things, to the local shapers who have mounds of toxic waste outside their shape shacks, and have more resin dribble and waste on the floor than we have in an entire board. These are the things, and this is the attitude, that we are hoping will change so surfing can one day be proud to make boards, not embarrassed about it.
May 28, 2009 at 5:22 am PDT | YakkR writes:
Precisely. Go Charles! Buy Green!
May 28, 2009 at 19:21 pm PDT | l'anglais writes:
From what I’ve seen in the past few days, Corran’s China-made boards don’t paddle well in China…I’d rather surf a car door than that Imagine garbage.
August 21, 2009 at 9:35 am PDT | loser writes:
haha dude go surf your cardoor down at Habitat…how do you spell douche?
May 28, 2009 at 19:27 pm PDT | l'anglais writes:
In addition, I think it’s ironic that Corran spouts off about being “eco-friendly”, meanwhile, he’s always using his sea-doo to surf, as opposed to paddling….like everyone else. Are you using some kinda “eco-friendly” gasoline in your machine Corran?
May 29, 2009 at 16:50 pm PDT | JD writes:
l’Anglais? Who are you? Some frustrated local surfer in Quebec who hates progress? You sound like some of the haters we have here in California!
August 21, 2009 at 9:36 am PDT | loser writes:
I was about to say the same thing! some frustrated kid in Quebec for sure!
November 03, 2009 at 10:06 am PST | Malibu Barbie writes:
Imagine has managed to achieve the goal of any sustainable manufacturer.
Really? I didn’t know recycled styrofoam was sustainable.
Imagine’s recycled polystyrene technology has superior resistance to dings, has better flex properties, and is a waterproof material.
Since when did styrofoam become resistant to dings? Or have better flex properties? And waterproof?!! This is complete BS.
We all want a better board, and an environmentally friendly board would obviously be great, but let’s be realistic. Styrofoam is not environmentally friendly, even when it’s recycled styrofoam. Epoxy resin is not environmentally friendly or noncarninogenic, even without the VOCs. And manufacturing any product in a country with an abysmal human rights record, and then shipping it halfway around the world in no way qualifies as environmentally friendly.
Quit jumping on the green bandwagon, you’re a long ways off. And while we’re at it, why don’t you put a local shaper to work, and a local glasser, sander and airbrusher?