I’m currently looking into the use of alternate materials to the ones we currently use for surfboard construction - specifically the use of “environmentally friendly” materials.
As a starting point, I want to get an idea for the types of materials the people on here are using and construction methods. Also the thoughts on how environmentally friendly / unfriendly you feel these materials and methods to be. I know there have been many threads that cover different materials and methods specifically (e.g. CompSand, HWS etc.) but this is an attempt to summarise everybodys ideas into 1 thread.
As a starting point of dscussion, can you list out the materials and methods you want to add in a similar way to the below example (using PU /PE
Materials:
Poly Urethane foam
Fibreglass (4oz and 6oz)
Poly Ester Resin
Method:
Traditional surfboard construction (You can elaborate a little if required.)
I think the only way you’re going to get an environment friendly board is by using a chunk of wood from your back yard and only hand tools to shape it.
And even then the happy little trees aren’t going to be too stoked about it.
Just remember the “cost” to the environment of getting the “environmentally friendly” materials from point A to point B, suddenly that mystery brew resin produced around the corner doesn’t look so bad. There’s alot more to it than low impact production methods.
If you want an honest OPINION, I’d say probably a HWS with locally grown wood and the most environmentally friendly locally produced adhesive you can find. Someone posted a home made glue a while back, but I can’t remember who it was, and can’t seem to find it in the archives. Seems like a good place to start though.
a guy around here who makes compsand style boards with bamboo skins that he grows himself on his farm has tried a few different things including trying to make a blank out of popcorn, trying to turn a noxious (sp?) weed from the farm into a blank and using tree sap as a resin. not sure if any were really successful tho.
there are probably heaps of stuff out there that is an alternative for what is used by the majority, you just have to think outside the box.
Bingo! Herb’s recipie for rice glue is great. Use cooked rice and then slowly add water. Mash and mix and slowly add more water on low heat until you condense it all and get glue.
"I think the only way you’re going to get an environment friendly board is by using a chunk of wood from your back yard and only hand tools to shape it. "
Maybe it would be easier to say an “environmentally friendlier” board and avoid absolutes, otherwise inability to achieve absolutes serves as an excuse not to even try.
Isn’t this the guy who flies in on his own plane to visit the cabin? Was it something about selling off the company as to enable this resource management? It’s a nice life if you can afford it.
I agree. Just using a bit of sarcasm to get the point across that “the latest greatest, doesn’t harm the ozone, made out of 100% recycled blah blah blah” product isn’t helping anything when it’s manufactured across an ocean, put on a plane and then flown to the opposite side of your country, then put on a truck and driven to your hometown, so you can get in your car and drive down to the local hardware store to pick it up, so that now you can say that your board (or whatever) is “environmantally friendlier”
Drive less, buy locally produced goods, if you see some garbage on your walk up the beach then pick it up, if it’s recyclable then recycle it, recycle at home - there’s no excuse not too.
Did you know that they’ll even pay you cold hard cash for your beer cans!!! JACKPOT!!!
Paul,
I saw that picture on your earlier post and it was exactly what I had in mind when I originally replied to this post. Have you been getting waves lately?? I’m missing WA so much right now. My friend I surf with is getting tired of hearing me complain about crowds everytime we surf together. Probably tired of hearing about WA too. He’ll understand once he experiences it first hand though :0)
I’ve always thought and wanted try a variety of woods of fallen branches etc and glue up a blank as you would with a balsa board.
You could easily shape it with a planer and belt sander.
only one problem strikes me with this… weight!
The answer that is relevant today is making the board chambered. (who knows, maybe in years to come there will be an answer to making these boards lighter whilst keeping them solid)
[ 3]Isn’t this the guy who flies in on his own plane to visit the cabin? Was it something about selling off the company as to enable this resource management? It’s a nice life if you can afford it.[/]
I know more than one guy who owns part of that island…
Dan, who I was helping mill that tree, was a fulltime, 30 year resident of that island, oystering for a living…Not rich in the financial sense, but off the scale in the things that matter most, in my opinion…
Tim, the guy who sold off his kayak company, does at times fly in, but mostly comes in by boat…He’s a pretty smart guy, who is very aware of all of our environmental impacts… We’ve had long talks about just that…When he flies in it’s because it costs less to do it that way, when compared to the hundreds of miles of driving, and ferry fees required just to get to the launch ramp, to boat out to his island…BTW, gasoline in Canada is expensive…Trust me, he’s aware of the cost…And he doesn’t just come out for the weekend…He’ll stay for more than a week at a time…How much driving around do most of us do in a week…???..You put your lifestyle on the scale and see to which side it tips…
Tim has also put in thirty years, plus or minus, creating from the rawest of materials a home in a very beautiful place that for a large portion of the year is inhospitable…No other people I know would even consider doing what these guys have done, and have done well…Overall I think they have the eco-friendly scale tipped so far on their side, compared to us mainlanders…
These guys aren’t all rich, they just placed their “quality of environment” priorities at a much higher level than most…
Edit: Tim was living on the island years before he started Ocean Kayaks…
I knew you had sent an e-mail explaining your friend’s situation, but I couldn’t recall all of the details.
I was interested in the materials that you ask if we needed. I use all species and surely don’t have the resources to get them this way. Your friends have a great situation, for sure. But by comparing quality of life requirements it all becomes relative, and if surfing is on the list, well then I have to differ w/ you.
[=1]Those folks up there are living large for sure. Thanks for [ 2]clarifying[/][/]
No real mystery here… Look at a map of Vancouver Island…Mid-Island…What do you see…???..I see surf spots…Right time, right place… 30 years living there got them clued in where to be and when…Boats for access, no roads…Just different, not necessarily better…They’d say that too…I can get you there, if you’re willing…
