Waste To Waves

Waste to Waves is a new recycling program developed by the nonprofit organization Sustainable Surf, that’s designed to turn waste materials into new, eco-​friendly surfing products, namely surfboards! All that styrofoam packaging that gets tossed can now be gathered up and the refuse turned into cool boards! That alone is worth 5 Unilocal STARS.
Waste to Waves lets you «Turn Your Trash To Slash» by collecting and recycling your used styrofoam into a new recycled EPS surfboard blanks made by Marko Foam. I have seen some of them are they are awesome! Why is it so important to collect this and recycle it? According to Surfrider, «Foam litter is a threat to the marine environment because if it’s littered it breaks into small pieces, which do not biodegrade, that can migrate through your local watershed. Marine life can’t distinguish between plastic and biodegradeable items so they might mistake the foam for food with negative impacts.» Just so you know, Waste to Waves collects clean white packaging foam, but no cups or other types of foodware, which is usually dirty with waste. The group is looking specifically for the packaging that comes from things you buy, such as televisions, computers, and other electronics.
Right now a bunch of surf shops only in California so far, have boxes set up where you can drop off the styrofoam and they will be there through January 31^st. Surfrider notes that it is very important to recycle the styrofoam and help to create more sustainable surfboard materials. There are actually a lot of toxic and negative impacts from surfboard production and manufacture, so the recycling effort here does help to reduce the carbon footprint of the surf blanks by up to 50%. By diverting this used styrofoam (aka-​plastic) waste away from the trash dump, the refuse does not end up inadvertently in the ocean and bays, where it can cause so much harm.
The website has foam drop-​off locations listed throughout California and many marine-​type businesses also promote the recycling such as the Aquarium of the Pacific in Long Beach. Do the responsible thing and recycle all that used packaging. Your next surfboard might just be made out of it?