Hit the waves on sustainable surfboards

Today, we present two sustainable surfboards, one 3D printed from recycled plastic bottles and one coated with biobased epoxy resin.

Recycled plastic bottles
Merijn Tinga, better known as the Plastic Soup Surfer, is a Dutch activist seeking to create awareness of what plastic is doing to our environment.

In 2014, Tinga created the first surfboard from plastic waste, including plastic bags, jerry cans, neoprene, PET bottles, and fishing nets. He used a welded metal mould, a gas torch and an ironing rod to melt plastic into a surfboard shape. The heavy surfboard made its maiden voyage during a three-day expedition along the Dutch coast.

The current project is a little more refined. The foil-windsurfing board is 3D printed from 5,000 recycled PET bottles, printed in a lozenge pattern to reduce the weight. Using this board, Tinga will go on an eight-day expedition from the Seine river mouth (Le Havre in France) to The Hague in the Netherlands. Tinga will start his journey on 8 September, finishing 15 September, which is World Cleanup Day.

Biobased epoxy resin
After flamethrowers, caps and mud-based building blocks, Tesla has come up with something new: surfboards. The limited edition boards are made from a lightweight carbon fibre composite material, inspired by the interior off Tesla cars, and coated with a plant-based epoxy resin, which is said to be the same high-quality matte and gloss finishes used on the cars. The surfboards, which were sold out within a day, did not come cheap: they cost US$1,500.

Photos: Van Spengen / Tesla