For me, paddling out into the ocean, rain or shine, incites a natural feeling of connectedness between me and Mother Earth. After all, unlike other nasty water sports that spew pollutants into her water, surfing is kind, gentle and inherently natural, right? Not exactly.

What many of us don’t realize about the board beneath our bodies is that it is made from strictly unnatural materials. Traditional surfboard cores are entirely constructed from polyurethane foam — developed from a chemical compound called toluene diisocyanate (TDI), a known human carcinogen. And the worst part is that a huge percentage of old, broken or unused boards eventually get dumped into landfills…

This is precisely why a select few are starting to rethink the surfboard process by recycling and reusing polyurethane blanks (the foam core of the board). Watch the video above for a clear explanation by one of the co-founders of the company Green Foam Blanks (Joey Santley), which is truly pioneering not just the concept, but the production of recycled surfboards.

[Via: New York Times]