Paper short abstract:

This paper outlines the development of certain task-networks amongst environmental pressure groups, charity campaigners and corporate surf companies who search to overcome the contradiction between using a toxic piece of sporting equipment and devising an ecologically sensitive alternative.

Paper long abstract:

Surfers have recently been identified as perpetrators of a certain hypocrisy. Most abide by an ethos that pronounces the glorification of alternative lifestyles and a loving respect for nature, yet eschew to acknowledge a fundamental contradiction - that the contemporary pursuit of riding waves relies on an apparatus which is inherently offensive to the environment. The modern surfboard, made up of a toxic cocktail of plastics, resins, glues and fibreglass, is being held up as a model demon of un-sustainability in a world of growing ecological awareness. Hence, a niche for eco-friendly designs has opened up. Internationally, a handful of organisations have accepted the challenge of devising prototypes for green substitutes which are as light, durable and high performing as their synthetic counterparts. But benign alternatives, made up of biodegradable materials like hemp, potato peelings or wood veneer, face many public perception challenges. This paper outlines the development of certain task-networks amongst environmental campaigners, charity groups and corporate surf companies who are searching for green surrogates. Through ethnographic comparisons between Cornwall and New Zealand, I have begun research on the surf cultures of both these regions, mostly by examining such environmental pressure organisations as Surfers Against Sewage and Surfbreak Protection Society. Theoretically, the paper explores the relationship between risk perception, attention to consumption, awareness for the environment and appropriation of materiality when using benign vs non-benign products. The eco-surfboard thus stands as a material metaphor for the paradox that exists in terms of realigning behavioural change with shifts in public perception.