The Most Sustainable High-Performance Surfboards on Earth?
Greenwashing is common, so it matters more than ever to measure your real impact on the environment. Measuring sustainability is hard, because it means looking all the way back up the supply chain.
We wanted to measure ours, to show we are serious about sustainability and to see how we compare with conventional foam and fibreglass surfboards. Wave Changer, Carbon Halo, and the University of Technology Sydney recently published one of the most complete carbon life cycle studies of surfboards. Tom Wilson, founder of Wave Changer, kindly sent me the spreadsheet behind the report, with all the calculations, so we could work out our own carbon footprint.
These calculations cover material, construction, waste, and distribution emissions. They do not include the lifecycle and use emissions that come from the surfer's own activity.
Emissions breakdown
1. Materials emissions
This is where we save the most carbon. Using a sustainable blank material and less fibreglass and resin cut our material emissions by 65%. If electrical and transport infrastructure were completely green, the saving would be 100%.
The blank
The blank is hollow Paulownia. Paulownia takes in carbon as it grows, and roughly 50% of the dry weight of the wood is carbon that was once atmospheric CO2. The study also counted production and transport emissions: shipping the timber accounted for 7 to 11 kg of CO2 per surfboard, and wood processing for another 5 to 8 kg.
The shell
Like a traditional surfboard, we use fibreglass with resin. The difference is that the wood core adds a great deal of strength, so the outer shell needs less fibreglass and resin. A shortboard needs two thirds of the usual amount of fibreglass, and a longboard needs only four ninths.
2. Construction emissions
Construction emissions come from the electricity used during building, including CNC machining, air conditioning, and tools. Our production emissions are higher than a regular surfboard's because the CNC work takes longer. The savings in materials more than make up for it, and we stay well below the emissions of a regular surfboard.
3. Waste emissions
We calculate waste emissions as a fraction of those from a regular surfboard, based on our reduced fibreglass and resin use.
One of the good things about working with timber is that the offcuts and sawdust are all biodegradable. A local compost and soil manufacturer takes our wood waste and recycles it. Larger Paulownia offcuts are donated to a local school and men's shed, where they get a second life in all sorts of woodworking.
4. Distribution emissions
Distribution emissions are slightly lower for us because we currently operate in Australia only, and we often ship with a company that packs boards in board bags instead of cardboard or bubble wrap. When we do use cardboard, it is recycled, sometimes two or three times over.
Are Sine Surfboards the most sustainable high-performance surfboards?
If someone milled their own tree and made a solid wooden board finished with natural oil, it would have a lower environmental impact than ours. It would also have little value in the market, because it would not surf very well.
We can't be certain, but we believe ours are the most sustainable high-performance surfboards on earth. We would love to find other builders with an impact this low, and we encourage others to run their own carbon analysis.
Many of these emissions are outside our control. If the electricity and transport industries were renewable, each board would be better than net zero. Since they are not yet, we plan to work with carbon offsetting companies so that our surfboards are net zero, not just lower emission.