SB_issue54_digital

“I came to realise what I was doing was good
for the environment because the boards I was
making lasted so much longer. I had always been
environmentally conscious in my approach, but this
just strengthened my belief in what I was doing and
how I went about my business. It also encouraged
me to find out about and adopt other ecologically
sound materials, products and approaches.”
Mark set out to find material that complemented the
balsa he sources from sustainable farms. The first
point of call was of course the internal foam blank.
He settled on 100% recycled EPS foam and has
stuck with them since.
The blanks go through a process called
regranulation. Scrap pieces of packing foam from
fridges, TVs and the like are ground up, pumped
into a mould and heated. Once ejected from the
mould they are shuttled into large gas oven drying
rooms. Mark then shapes the blank before a 2-3mm
balsa veneer is vacuum-bagged (laminated) onto
the blank providing added strength. Solid rails are
then added to the board and the shape is further
refined with some light sanding before being
glassed, finished and polished.
Mark further continued to work towards reducing
his environmental footprint. All foam offcuts from
his boards go back into his recycled EPS foam mix.
Waste from his solid balsawood boards is used as
garden compost and usable offcuts are donated to
schools. The glues he uses contain no volatile or
flammable ingredients and his vehicles converted to
LPG to reduce the amount of fuel consumed. He is
also an active member of the Rainforest Alliance; an
organization that works to arrest the major drivers of
deforestation and environmental destruction and to
further his commitment to responsible, sustainable
harvesting of balsawood, Mark even set up his own
balsa plantation in Cooktown near Port Douglas in
North Queensland. Now Mark is looking to certify
the carbon footprint of each of the surfboards he
produces.
“Various estimates put the carbon footprint of a
traditional PU surfboard at around 250kg of carbon.
SB / #54 / 28