Sadly, I’m coming to realise the truth about how much some of us are really poisoning our planet with rubbish and killing mother earth by using up some of it’s natural resources that can’t be reproduced.
Now I’m not here to preach about it and point fingers, I’m conscious that I’m guilty! However, I think we can all do our bit to help look after our beloved earth and educate the world on greener ways to do things.
As surfers, the sad truth is that the surf industry isn’t the kindest friend to our environment for so many reasons, the amount we travel and fly to surf destinations, the way surfboards and surf hardware is produced, the use of certain waxes, the production of wetsuits……. the list kind of goes on.
A while back I posted a write up about ‘How to wax your surfboard’. (check out my profile for all my articles)
Now, in this write up I promoted the use of a certain green vegetablly named product to clean off the excess wax from you surfboard. It actually works extremely well and is advertised as green and safe on the environment.
I don’t have any hard facts, this is based on word of mouth and I’ve also had a search online. Sadly though, I’m told that this might not be the case and that the powder used inside is from old shaving dust from surfboards. I’ve done some research online and can’t find the magic ingredient advertised on the website of this green vegetable named product!! I read rumors that it could be acetone based, which is harmful to the environment.
So it got me to thinking and I did more research. It turns out, it’s actually really easy to make your own wax remover with 2 very easy ingredients and I think it might be even greener, I’m not 100% sure how much and I’d really like to hear your opinions or if you have any other solutions!
All you need is a ladies stocking and some house hold white flour…yes, that’s it!! It really works, I’ve tried it and it’s also way cheaper!!
Here’s how to make it:
Step 1: Grab your ladies stockings, cut the foot section off
Step 2: Fill it with flour. Make sure you put in a fair bit so you can get a good grip on it.
Step 3: Tie a knot……and your done!!
Now, I’m sure there’s room for argument that the production of the stockings and flour cause harm to the environment, but it must be better than surfboard dust and acetone!
Like I wrote, I’d really like to hear your opinions on this subject, so feel free to leave some tips below.
Thanks for your time and happy surfing where ever you might find yourself.