These words are not going to be popular with the people who think they are helping the planet. If you are sensitive about environmental issues then stop reading now. From this moment on we will be dealing in truths.
Do you ever feel like you are the only one that can see something blindingly obvious, and you are living in a world gone crazy with talk of a planet that is ill and needs to be nursed back to health? This is all good in a 'fairy-tale-feel-good-about-yourself' kind of way but ultimately it is simply not true.
Hold on to your hat. I want to be clear, I am not saying that we shouldn't care or we shouldn't do the right thing for our environment. I am saying that, quite often, we are not given the big picture and that really perhaps we don’t want to see it. All that the majority of us want, as a race, is the fluffy 'I-did-the-right-thing' feeling. Fair enough, good feelings are nice but really they have no place in doing the right thing far as the environment is concerned.
Sustainability is trendy. It is the new buzzword to sell you something that costs just a little bit more than something that is not sustainable. So you buy something that is sustainable and get the fluffy feeling. Great, you made the right choice. But maybe the right choice was not to buy anything at all.
We live in a world of consumers, we are all consumers. Most of our homes are full of appliances that need to be plugged in to a power socket, yes they are getting more eco streamlined but there are also many more devices than there were. That electricity has to come from somewhere, and with an increasing population in the majority of countries in the world, that creates a greater demand for electricity. Every day.Do you know where your electricity comes from?
Let's have a quick look at where one of the biggest consumer countries gets its power from. In 2014, the United States generated about 4,093 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity. About 67% of the electricity generated was from fossil fuels (coal, natural gas, and petroleum). About 19% was nuclear power. The rest was from 'renewable' sources (6% Hydro Power and 7% solar, wind etc). Now those are some crazy figures in today's age.
Check out this guy, he seems to have an idea that sounds a bit better than switching to organic tomatoes.
Pretty interesting huh? Why is this technology not more readily available? The answer is money. All energy everywhere is taxed at that country's rate. I live in Portugal and the government puts 23% on top of my energy bills, no problems there. So what happens if we use the sun to power a battery that we then use to power our lives? How can they tax the sun? They can't. That is a huge amount of revenue lost that has already been spent, not to mention the losses to the oil, gas and nuclear industries. Once again the evil, but necessary, green paper gets in the way of a good idea that is TRULY sustainable.
Okay lets steer this big, ugly bus of a rant around and apply it to my favourite topic, surfing.
There are people out there who have the right idea about sustainability. One of our own here at SB, Cameron Brown, has a nonprofit called My Wave Addiction that started the Bike to Surf movement, which aims to influence surfers to lower their carbon emissions by driving less to surf.. Surfrider Foundation, Surfers Against Sewage , all the surf charities are making amazing headway with trying to raise awareness within our sport about we can do on a personal level to help every day.
Let's take it one step further, and when you are looking at this year's new wetsuit with Zipless, Super Laser Dry, Butter Skin technology which says it is 'bamboo lined and sustainable', just stop and think. Do I need a new suit? Yes the one you bought last year might clash with the new e-tech sustainable surfboard that you want, but is the wetsuit done, does it still work? In fact what are you going to do with your old board? Keep it wrapped up in your garage until someone knocks it over and it ends up in the bin? Why not sell it? Rent it out? Give it another life. That would be making a difference.
In conclusion, surf boards, wetsuits and, let's face it, surf fashion, is all reliant on a manufacturing process that needs energy. A lot of energy. Not just the energy to transport it to our shop but the energy to make it in the first place.
I am not saying we should all wear potato sacks and second hand clothes or old hand-me-downs, but more think about if we need to buy the new 'sustainable' hoodie because maybe the right decision is not to buy anything at all.
For more info on My Wave Addiction and the Bike to Surf Movement, visit mywaveaddiction.com