The typical surfboard is far from eco-friendly, but a small company on the Oregon coast creates a greener surfboard by using lower impact materials and reclaimed wood.

To understand what makes a surfboard greener, you have to understand how to make a surfboard. The board has a few different parts:

• The Blank - This is the core of the board. When you're building a board, you carve your shape out of your blank, which is typically polyurethane.
• Fins - These are the pieces mounted on the back of the board. These are normally made from fiberglass, which isn't too bad from an environmental standpoint. Fiberglass becomes problematic when it breaks down, because those fibers are no good for your lungs, eyes, and skin.
• Deck and Glass - This isn't actually glass. Conventional boards use polyester resin, which is a high VOC material. Board makers cover the blank with a layer of fiberglass, then seal the whole deal with lots of polyester resin.

So, how do you make a greener board? We've covered some green surfboards in the paste. Check out these wooden boards from Rayskin or Gary Linden's board made from agave. There's a new company on the scene specializing in a greener board: Tilley. Here's owner Jason Tilley shared a bit about how he makes his boards:

• The core is EPS, rather than polyurethane. I did a little bit of research on EPS, and it gets mixed reviews from an environmental standpoint. It's hard to find places to recycle it, and EPS is a type of Styrofoam. What makes it better than polyurethane is that it doesn't contains CFCs or HCFCs, which are harmful to our atmosphere. Some even say that it improves landfill stability. While EPS doesn't strike me as a green material, it's got polyurethane beat.
• Reclaimed wood. Instead of fiberglass to cover the board and make the fins, Tilley uses reclaimed local wood. This one's a no-brainer, right? Reclaimed wood for the win!
• Epoxy. Since the boards are wood, they require less fiberglass over the deck than standard boards, and he seals his boards with epoxy which is lower-VOC than polyester resin. There's still an impact there, but it's definitely an improvement.

What really makes Tilley's boards a greener option is their durability. As Jason explains:

One of the main reasons in my mind that they are more eco-friendly is durability. They will not easily snap or ding like standard boards (because of the wood and the way it is used in a composite sandwich). They are gorgeous so they are very likely to end up hanging on a wall or re-purposed into a shelf or coffee table, not in a landfill. I wish I could tell you how many Polyester surfboards snap and end up in a landfill, some less than a year old.  I got into building these boards because my own backyard was filling up with old polyester boards, and I was frustrated with the endless ding repairs and disappointed when a board I liked was a soggy dead mess after a few years.

You can check out Tilley's boards on their website. He's got some standard boards that you can order, or he'll do custom work to make a board that's just right for your style.

I am pretty much in love with this bike pouch made from blown bike inner tubes!

The pouch in the photo is by Etsy seller Recyclist, but it looks like her shop is unfortunately empty. Don't let that dash your dreams of owning your own recycled bike pouch, though! You can whip up your own version with a little bit of sewing know-how.

To get started, you need to snag some blown inner tubes. Ask at your local bike shop! I bet they'd be happy to give them to you instead of throwing them in the trash. Once you have the tubes, open them up and clean them, then cut into strips and stitch them together to create your piece of fabric. You'll want to use a heavy duty needle for this project, like the sort you'd use to sew vinyl or leather.

To whip up the pouch itself, you can follow this awesome bike pouch tute from Evil Mad Scientist. His instructions call for cutting an 8" x 8" square, an 8" x 13" rectangle, and a 3" x 22" strip, so you'll need enough inner tubes to create those three pieces of "fabric."

Have you guys done any other bike inner tube crafts? I'd love to hear about what you're making in the comments!

Image Credits: Creative Commons photos via mistagregory

[Note: If you're conjuring up images of a job spent leisurely skimming pools (shirtless, of course) while lonely women wearing big hats and sipping ice cold drinks fawned over me, don't get the wrong idea. First of all, that doesn't happen in real life. Second, this was Colorado, and this was a year-round gig. More often than not, my job involved wading or crawling through ice and snow in single-digit temperatures to repair plumbing leaks and pool and spa equipment -- jobs that would leave me feeling cold and wet and making my hands feeling like useless frozen stumps. This was gritty work.]

While my penchant for environmental politics and sustainability ultimately brought me back to grad school, I learned several tricks of the trade and a few upgrades that you can implement to use less water, consume less energy and require fewer harsh chemicals to keep your swimming pool an enjoyable place for you and your family and friends to enjoy.

1. Turn down, tune up or just turn off your heater.

Sure it was nice having 85° water for your annual Memorial Day barbecue and pool party, even though the only one swimming was that weird neighbor of yours who invites himself over every year and does laps. But if you live in most parts of the country where you actually do close your pool over the winter, chances are you spent a lot of money heating it up to a comfortable temperature for your party.

According to the California Energy Commission, heating the average backyard pool requires the same amount of energy as it does to power a standard size home for three months.

2. Get a good cover -- and use it.

If you have a pool cover, use it. If you don't have one, get one. According to the U.S. Department of Energy's office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) "covering a pool when it is not in use is the single most effective means of reducing pool heating costs." If you live in a dry climate, you know all to well that a good cover will also save you hundreds of dollars annually on your water bill.  Covers also help keep debris out of the pool, which ultimately makes the pump and filtration system run more efficiently, using less energy. Lastly, if you do use chlorine, a cover will keep UV rays from the sun from burning off the chlorine. A pool cover can help reduce a pool's chemical consumption by 35%-60%.

3. Use a time clock for your circulation pumps

The circulation pumps on most swimming pools and spas run more often than they need to. But on the flip side, you want to be sure that the water in your pool circulates often enough to stay clean. A good rule of thumb is that water in the pool should be filtered once every 24 hours. If your pump is properly sized to your pool, you should be able to shut it down for 8-12 hours every day. If your pool doesn't already have one, install a time clock so you can set your pool pump to avoid running during summer afternoons, when electricity demand is peaking (and prices are at their highest). Not only can a timer cut electricity costs associated with pool filtration by 40-50% (even more if used in conjunction with time-of-use metering), it can also extend the life of your pool pump.

4. Install a solar swimming pool heater or heat pump

Despite the popularity of solar photovoltaic panels, one of the cheapest and most efficient forms of converting solar rays into usable energy is via solar thermal systems. Installing a simple solar water heating system for your swimming pool is a great way to take advantage of your solar resource and cut down on your gas or electric bill. At a cost of roughly three to four thousand dollars, the initial investment for a solar pool heater isn't cheap, but the free energy plus not having to call the pool company every other year to fix or service the heater will pay off the investment in 1-7 years, depending on a number of factors.

Alternatively, you can install a heat pump swimming pool heater.  And while heat pumps are nowhere near as sexy as solar, they can help drastically reduce the need for your gas or electric heater.

5. Ditch the chlorine altogether with alternative sanitizers, ozone

If you're over the dry skin and disinfectant smell you have every time you get out of your pool, consider switching to non-chlorine pool sanitizers that are usually based on hydrogen peroxide or even oxygen. Non-chlorine options include hydrogen peroxide sanitation systems as well as oxygen-based sanitizers.  The added benefit of the oxygen-based shock, potassium monopersulfate, is that it is made with the carbon dioxide produced in natural gas production. The oxygen-based sanitizers act as a carbon sink, of sorts. Unfortunately, there is way more carbon dioxide produced by power plants and the fossil fuel industry than there will ever be a need for in oxygen-based sanitizers. Although used less often in pools, the use of electronic ozonators in hot tubs and spas has become particularly popular as they can help cut chemical use substantially.

6. Keep your filters clean... the entire pool will thank you.

It's all about flow. Having clean filters is the easiest thing you can do to keep your pool clear, sparkling and running efficiently.

If you use cartridge filters you need to take the filters out and rinse them with medium to high water pressure (most garden hoses will produce a good enough stream to rinse the dirt and oils out of your filters. Be thorough and only use a degreaser on an interval (there's no reason to use a degreaser every time you clean your filters). If you use a sand filter or diatomaceous earth (DE) filter, cleaning your filter is much easier but it does require more water. Now you don't want to be drinking this effluent from your sand filters when you backwash or anything. But unless your chlorine levels or other chemicals are way out of whack, that's still good water for lawns, trees, bushes, etc., especially when combined with fresh tap water.

7. Fix leaks when you find them.

A leak in a swimming pool system, no matter where in the system is located, is more than just an inefficiency, it is an invitation for bigger, more expensive problems down the road. Because of the corrosive nature of long term exposure to swimming pool water, many plumbing leaks in pool systems spring up where gaskets and seals fail.  Even the slowest and most innocuous-looking leaks, like one of the most common leaks found at the "mechanical seal" between the pump housing and motor can lead to bigger problems down the road. If left unchecked a ten-dollar mechanical seal can leak down the shaft of the pump and get in the motor where it will corrode the metal, cause it to run inefficiently and eventually seize up the motor. After labor, the original leak would've cost you $75 to fix if you call a pool technician. Wait until you've fouled the motor and it might cost you $375.  (On that note, if you do think your motor is dead, before buying a brand new one, ask the pool tech if they repair motors or know of a shop in your town that does.)

8. Harvest rainwater to fill your pool.

We talk about rainwater harvesting all the time, mostly because it's an easy way to make use of a free resource that falls on the roof of your house. Just think, any water that you're not harvesting and putting to productive use in your garden, filling your pool or washing your car is water that you'll likely have to purchase from your local water utility. Water that comes out of your faucet requires all kinds of energy to pump, purify and sanitize. Water that falls out of the sky doesn't need any of that stuff before you can swim in it. Just be sure to keep an eye on your pool chemistry if you are using rainwater as water in some regions can knock off your pH balance if you're not careful.

9. Install a salt-water sanitizing system

Have you ever noticed the difference between how your skin feels after an hour in a swimming pool and an hour in the ocean? Salt water is much easier on the skin and it won't dry it out like chlorine will. You can get that same feeling in your home pool if you install a saltwater sanitizing system and eliminate the need to buy any chlorine again.

Now, before you get the idea that you'll be have a miniature version of the Great Salt Lake in your back yard, it won't be that salty. Actually what is happening is that you buy a cell that reacts with the saltwater in your pool and generates low levels of chlorine. If you took 8th grade chemistry, you can probably figure out how this works.

10. Buy in bulk.

Whatever chemicals you are buying -- even if they are just to balance your pH -- buy chemicals in bulk.  This tip is not unique to pool chemicals, but it certainly is worth mentioning. The standard array of pool chemicals can all be found in single-shot packets and quart bottles all the way up to 50 and 100-lb. bags and buckets. Not only will you save a bunch of money, you'll waste a lot less plastic in the process.

11. Don't drain your pool in the fall.

For those of you living in many parts of the south and southwest, this may not apply, as you may not have to contend with the annual rite of winterizing your pool. But the practice of annually draining a swimming pool is not only a waste of tens of thousands of gallons of usually perfectly good water, it's bad for your pool. Pools react differently to sitting empty for a long time, some of them will actually pop right out of the ground because of the hydrostatic water pressure pushing them upward.

12. Drain your pool in the fall... for good.

A long-term drought in Southern California is often credited as the most important driver in the explosion of skateboarding in the 1970s. People weren't allowed to fill their pools so they drained them - and then the kids came and skated in them. The greenest thing you could probably do with your swimming pool is drain it and perhaps put a vegetable garden in its place. But in all likelihood, swimming pools aren't leaving us anytime soon, so we might as well look at them as an opportunity. An opportunity that sounds pretty refreshing in this summer heat.

Photo credits: Green pool - Jenah Crump Photography; Skateboarding - ETDM; Pool Filter - billjacobus1; Solar pool heater - Mother Nature Network; Saltwater pool - avixyz; Pool cover - angusf

The German skate company, Powerslide, presents the Greenline Skate.  Sporting bamboo, hemp, recycled plastic, recyclable foam and natural glue, the Greenline is a high performance inline skate with a greener spin.

Green Specs:

• Shell made with 30% recycled material
• Cuff made of at least 30% recycled plastic
• Hemp, canvas and cotton liner and upper
• Liner foams are 100% reyclable
• Frame made from Bamboo, pressed together with natural glue
• No PVC used
• Natural Packaging

The skate will run you about $200 which may seem a little pricey but just think how much you'll save on gas when you start commuting to work Airborne style.  You'll be stylin'!

Each year, over 10 million people take to the lakes and rivers for recreational fishing, and that's only in the United States. Although depletion of world fish and seafood supplies is an important issue for the health of ocean ecosystems and global food supplies, it doesn't mean that you can't enjoy some quality time out in nature with a rod and a reel. It's  important is that people learn to become responsible anglers who respect both the fish and the environment, which is exactly the mission of an online company called Green Tackle.

Being a sustainable angler involves much more than employing a catch and release policy. As Green Tackle states on their web site, "much of today's fishing tackle contains toxic lead or non-biodegradable materials such as plastics and rubber. These types of materials can have catastrophic, far-reaching impacts on our health and our environment."

The site lists hundreds of products unique to recreational fishing that many people would never even have thought of as environmentally harmful, but as we are learning every day, even common products are often associated with a huge carbon footprint as well as containing materials that are toxic when discarded.

One of the coolest products on the site is the Bioline Biodegradable Fishing Line, a 100% biodegradable fishing line; the environmentally friendly alternative to monofilament and fluorocarbon fishing line.

Another interesting product that you might want to keep in mind for the angler in your life is the SAFE Angling Kit offered through Recycled Fish, a national movement of anglers who live and promote a lifestyle of stewardship both on and off the water. Every kit is packed with lead-free weights, biodegradable molded lures, circle and cam action hooks. Plus, you’ll find an illustrated knot tying guide, fishing and stewardship tips, and instructions (with photos) on how to use everything in the kit.

Although we might think that sustainable fishing and protection of lakes, rivers and oceans is a problem for commercial seafood companies and the EPA, it's important to realize that the way we recreate in these bodies of water is just as important.

If you enjoy fishing, either as a recreational activity or competitively, check out the innovative products that are offered at Green Tackle and consider making some changes to decrease your impact on the waterways that provide you with so much fun season after season.

WaterWheel Foundation tent at Phish Festival 8, Indio, California (photo: Nick Chambers)

In a recent conversation I had at the 3-day Phish Festival 8 with Matt Beck, Touring Director for Phish’s charitable organization, The WaterWheel Foundation, he said something that struck me as incredibly honest and from the heart: "There's nothing about a rock and roll concert that is sustainable when you really get down to the nuts and bolts of it."

It's true, rock and roll concerts—especially multiple day festivals with 10's of thousands of people—are notorious for their environmental footprints.

Phish bassist Mike Gordon at Festival 8 in Indio, CA (Photo: Tim Hurst)

From the huge cadre of touring buses and crew that need to be flown in from all over the place, to the supply of food, to the disposable water bottle carnage, to the tons of waste sucked out of port-o-potties, to the tens of thousands of fans driving and flying in from points unknown—it would seem that the best thing you could do for the environment would be to never have these festivals in the first place.

But that would be incredibly sad. All of us need entertainment and release from our modern hassles and fast-paced lifestyles—and, in my opinion, there are few things as effective at bringing that release than a rock concert. For that reason, rock concerts and multiple day festivals are never going to go away.

Yet the ironic (and hypocritical?) thing about the environmental impact of a touring band such as Phish is that, typically, the people who go to the shows are some of the same ones who are most in tune with doing better by the environment. In my experience they tend to be educated, 40-and-younger-somethings, who take global warming for a fact and recycle.

Gorgeous produce at the Festival 8 farmer's market (photo: Nick Chambers)

So, if the rock festivals aren't going to go away and the fans care about the environment, it's up to the bands and their fans to do as much as possible to minimize the impact of them—and Phish has taken a leading role in this realm. As Mr. Beck said, "We really want to encourage people to minimize their impact. Every step we take is that much closer to an ideal world."

Biofuels

For starters, Phish has committed to using B20 in all of their tour buses. "It actually wasn't difficult to find buses that support high blends of biodiesel," said Beck. "The difficult part was sourcing it. Phish is big enough that it's not such a problem, but a lot of the smaller bands are having a hard time sourcing biodiesel where they can actually get to places that sell it without going way out of their way."

As biofuels become more and more accepted and easier to find, the sourcing of them should become less of a problem. But in the meantime, when large organizations such as Phish demand them, it benefits us all.

Food

Recently, Phish has been making it a point to get as much of the backstage catering for their concerts as possible from local and organic sources. According to Mr. Beck, this move stemmed from a desire the limit the "environmental nightmare of trucking vegetables."

Sign welcoming concert-goers to the farmer's market at Phish Festival 8 (photo: Nick Chambers)

Vendor sign at Festival 8 farmer's market (photo: Nick Chambers)

At Festival 8 this was no exception. In addition to the local and organic backstage catering, fans had a full-on local and (mostly) organic farmer's market to shop at—and it wasn't even that outrageously priced.

The market had been set up inside the concert grounds in a high traffic area right next to the general store. This was the first time I have ever seen or heard of a farmer's market being set up inside a concert venue.

It was organized by the Palm Springs Cultural Center and from what I saw and experienced, the farmer's market was incredibly popular—you could buy everything from organic coffee and vegetables to dates and bread. And I can't even tell you how much the crazy green energy drink (made from about 50 different types of seeds, green leafy vegetables and fruits) being sold by one of the vendors saved my butt—that thing roused me quite nicely on those groggy mornings.

Page McConnell and Trey Anastasio of Phish at Festival 8 in Indio, CA. (Photo: Tim Hurst)

Greenhouse Gas Emissions

Over the past year, Phish has been working with Reverb—a group borne out of the Guster organization—to organize things such as a fan rideshare program and to help calculate how many greenhouse gas offset credits the band should purchase for their tours. According to Mr. Beck, Phish has purchased enough carbon credits to offset the emissions of the entire tour—"even inclusive of all of the crew members' flights."

Waste Management

Landfill, Mixed Recycling, and Compost bins at Festival 8 (photo: Nick Chambers)

Aside from the reusable water bottle program discussed in a previous post, another innovative waste management practice I noticed at Festival 8 was in the labeling of the trash cans. Instead of simply having recycling and trash bins, each waste station (of which there were many) had three receptacles: Mixed Recycling, Compost, and Landfill.

Using the word "landfill" is a great way to connect you with where the stuff you are throwing away is going. Subsequently it also makes you think about which bin to put that piece of trash in. Mr. Beck indicated that Phish was sorting the recycling and conducting composting on site.

And how could you forget the Green Crew; the group of fan volunteers that clean up and recycle trash from the parking lots and other areas outside of the main venue after each show? Seriously, the Green Crew is old-school Phish. They were around before the word "green" was even in vogue.

Merchandise

According to Mr. Beck, all of the WaterWheel Foundation merchandise ever sold "has always been organic or hemp and sustainable." But the WaterWheel Foundation merchandise by itself represents a small portion of Phish's overall merchandise sales. Accordingly, Phish saw this as a major place to make improvements. "In the last year somewhere between 70 and 80 percent of all the Phish goods that have been introduced have either been organic cotton or made from recycled materials," said Beck.

Social Programs

At Festival 8, an extraordinary amount of booths were set up to showcase both local and national charity and environmental organizations. They were located in high traffic areas and always seemed to have tons of people milling about and inside them.

Environmental organization, Rock the Earth, staffs a booth at Festival 8 (photo: Nick Chambers)

Referring to his own organization, Mr. Beck said "We have a lot of social programs as well through the WaterWheel Foundation. The foundation hosts a local charity everywhere we go from riverkeepers to organic farms to different groups such as battered women organizations—I believe that social and environmental causes at this point have become one and the same. A healthy community can only exist on a healthy planet and a healthy planet can only be taken care of by a healthy community."

Well said.

Related Posts:

• Driving to Phish Festival 8 in a 2010 Ford Fusion Hybrid
• Clearly Ford Has a Winner: 2010 Fusion Hybrid Extended Test Drive
• Phish Reduces Water Bottle Consumption at Festival 8 With Innovative Program

Nick is the Editor of Gas 2.0

Page McConnell and Trey Anastasio of Phish at Festival 8 in California (Photo: Tim Hurst)

Thousands of Phish fans gather for daytime set at the band's Festival 8 in Indio, CA (Photo: Tim Hurst)

If you've ever stuck around after an open air rock show and witnessed the carnage that remains, you'll know what I'm talking about when I say that the amount of plastic disposable water bottles left on the ground is staggering. Really, try it some time. Not only will you be able to relax after the show and avoid waiting in line at the exit, it will be a lesson in waste management.

Trey Anastasio and Paige McConnell of Phish at Festival 8 (Photo: Tim Hurst)

Phish has tried to address this problem in an aggressive way with their innovative reusable water bottle program. At the recent 3-day Phish Festival 8 in Indio, California—attended by more than 40,000 people—if you had bought the $10 collectible Phish bottle you could refill it for free, or if you wanted to use your own bottle it cost you one buck for each fill.

"We're doing our very best to abandon individual disposable water bottles backstage and in the front of the house," said Matt Beck, Touring Director for Phish's charitable organization, The WaterWheel Foundation. "We have refillable water programs for the fans on the concert grounds and all of crew have been issued water bottles and we use refillable water stations back stage as well."

Indeed, at Festival 8 I noticed a much bigger push than I've seen before to get people to either use their own refillable water bottles or buy a collectible one and reuse it for the entire festival. The scale of the endeavor was truly impressive considering the number people there.

And, while all of that is clearly a great idea and well-intentioned, when it came to implementation I found that there were some major hiccups. (Continued...)