Green up your watersports habit

Outdoors, on the water, in the fresh air – we love marine activities. Simple steps will help you keep on the right side of the environment, to green up your watersports habit this summer.

CHOOSE BIO-FRIENDLY SUN SCREEN

It was established in the early 2000s that the chemicals in some sun screens are harmful to coral reefs. Further research indicates that protective sun creams can also damage other marine organisms including wildlife.

Oxybenzone and octinoxate are among the culprits, and sunscreen containing these chemicals is banned in certain sensitive marine environments and resorts. Check the ingredients in your sun cream: choose marine-friendly and biodegradable formulations.

Fresh water in lakes and rivers also suffer pollution by sunscreen, scientists now believe. Harmful side effects include the water surface ‘sun cream slick’ that can prevent aquatic insects from laying eggs, thus depriving other river and lake dwellers of food supply.

Chemicals in sunscreen can harm fish, mussels and algae too. Research continues, but in the meantime, opt for eco sun protection when you swim, surf, paddleboard – whatever your watersports habit.

LEAVE NO TRACE

Most of us are aware of the need to leave only footprints – but how about going one better, and heading home from the beach / riverbank / lakeside with MORE than you brought by doing a quick litter pick every trip?

Take a 10-minute walk up and down the waterside between paddleboard outings and gather whatever bits of rubbish or general manmade debris you find. Stick them in a bag and put them in the bin / recycling when you get home.

Look out for local clean-up initiatives while you are water-side and do your bit. Plastic Free North Devon, for example, runs a series of green action days to deal with the rubbish that is clogging our shores.

Surfers Against Sewage provides advice on organising a beach clean as well as listings for local beach clean up activities.

PASS IT ON

Look for secondhand watersports equipment before you buy new – and sell on any pre-loved outdoor activity items you no longer need.

For example, watersports kit like boogie or body boards, essentially a sheet of polystyrene wrapped in a thin layer of nylon decorated with a cartoon character or similar, are cheap to buy but an eco nightmare. Surfer Today calls them ‘a silent environmental disaster’.

Rather than buying a cheap single use board, bucket or spade for the kids that won’t even last the weekend, invest in quality equipment that you can use repeatedly, then pass it on to another family member or sell on via WhoSki.com.

Reducing consumption is key to reducing your carbon footprint, reducing air miles and preserving valuable resources.

RENT BEFORE YOU BUY

Not sure whether paddleboarding is really for you? Think you’ll only go surfing once a year? Maybe you don’t need to clutter up your shed / loft / garage with a large piece of watersports or outdoor activity equipment you’ll barely use.

However cheap it is to buy, it is much less costly to the environment to hire or rent your watersports gear where possible. Stuff like wetsuits, kayaks and canoes requires a lot in the way of (often unrecyclable) raw materials to create, and most are used very little.

Green up your watersports habit. Try hiring on the spot from local providers and check their eco credentials. Or take a look at our circular economy friends KitUp who are building a UK-wide network of outdoors equipment owners willing to rent out their equipment on demand.

Why new neoprene is a no-no: what happens to our unwanted wetsuits

What happens to unwanted wetsuits?

An estimated 8,380 tonnes of neoprene, much from unwanted wetsuits, ends up in landfill globally every year. Wetsuits and other neoprene products have traditionally been impossible to recycle.

The only option has been to dump or shred them. The best way to prevent this eco disaster? Keep your unwanted water sports wetsuits in use as long as possible.

Selling on any wetsuit that is in good condition is the least polluting option, especially children’s wetsuits as they are generally little used and perfect for re-sale. As with other outdoor clothing, re-sale keeps no longer needed wetsuits out of landfill and in active usage. However cheaply you can get hold of a new wetsuit, for paddleboarding, surfing, a water sports course or whatever, buying one secondhand is the more eco option.

Wetsuits are exceedingly slow to deteriorate, depending on how they are stored and looked after. They do not break down in landfill.

Care about the environment? Keep your old wetsuits in active usage: sell them on.

Re-use and extending the usage of your wetsuits and other outdoor clothing and equipment beats recycling every time. Why? Because re-use saves the energy required to re-manufacture it into another product, reducing wastage and pollution at the same time.

Can you recycle neoprene?

Alternative plant-based materials are being developed, but right now pretty much all wetsuits are made from neoprene, a non-biodegradable synthetic rubber derived from petroleum or limestone: both non-renewable resources.

Until recently, there was no way to recycle neoprene.

Instead, the neoprene was shredded or simply re-purposed into other items such as laptop bags or mouse mats. The reason neoprene is used for wetsuits is because it is temperature resistant. It is also chemically inert, with a low oxidation rate and high sun and ozone resistance. Hence neoprene wetsuits are tough. They degrade very slowly and make a perfect secondhand purchase.

Be confident: that wetsuit you bought for your child when they were aged eight will most likely still be perfectly wearable at least a decade later. I am still using the wetsuit I bought for dinghy sailing back in the 1990s: 30 years on and it is still as good as new. Luckily, it still fits. If it didn’t, I would be passing it on to a younger family member or selling it on WhoSki.com.

What to do with your secondhand wetsuit?

Selling on a good condition, unwanted wetsuit is obviously the most environmentally friendly way to keep it in active usage and minimise its carbon footprint.

If you are looking for a wetsuit, think pre-loved before you buy new. Check out the outdoor clothing section of WhoSki.com to buy or sell secondhand wetsuits.

However, if you are looking for alternative ways to dispose of an unwanted wetsuit, the good news is that sustainable technologies are evolving.
A company called Circular Flow is working on a process to effectively and sustainably recycle neoprene for re-use.

The amount of neoprene it can cope with is limited, but some retailers have already partnered with Circular Flow to ensure their returned wetsuits are recycled using their proprietary technique.

Alpkit, Finisterre and Boardshop are among UK outdoor shops that will pass on unwanted neoprene wetsuits for recycling.

As with all outdoor wear, maximising its usage is the most eco way to ensure it causes least damage to the environment.

Think WhoSki.com next time you are having an outdoor clothing clear-out, and when you are stocking up for your next adventure.

Image by pressfoto on Freepik