8.6 Surfing Sustainability
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Sustainable Stoke Transitions to Sustainability in the Surfing World Edited by Gregory Borne Jess Ponting Paperback edition first published in the United Kingdom in 2015 by University of Plymouth Press, Endsleigh Place, Drake Circus, Plymouth, Devon, PL4 8AA, United Kingdom. ISBN 978-1-84102-341-0 © 2015 University of Plymouth Press © 2015 Gregory Borne, Jess Ponting, Wayne ‘Rabbit’ Bartholomew, Doug Palladini, Fernando Aguerre, Bob McKnight, Jeff Wilson, Derek Sabori, Rob Machado, Jessica Toth, John Dahl, Cris Dahl, Todd Woody, Shaun Tomson, Scott Laderman, Tetsuhiko Endo, Cori Schumacher, Mark Marovich, Pierce Kavanaugh, Kevin Lovett, Chad Nelsen, Jim Moriarity, Nev Hyman, Easkey Britton, Peter Robinson, Andrew Coleman, Kevin Whilden, Michael Stewart, Emi Koch, Sean Brody, Andrew C. Abel, Danny O’Brien, Serge Dedina, Eduardo Najera, Zach Plopper, Cesar Garcia, Malcolm Findlay, Michelle Blauw, Tony Butt, Emma Whittlesea, Sam Bleakley, Ben Freeston, Glenn Hening, Chris Hines, Hugo Tagholm, Brad Farmer and Fred Hemmings. The rights of the authors of this work have been asserted by them in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. A CIP catalogue record of this book is available from the British Library Publisher: Paul Honeywill Editoral: Aimee Dewar, Lucy Judd, Gregory Borne and Jess Ponting Cover photograph: Grant Davis All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of UPP. Any person who carries out any unauthorised act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages. Printed and bound by Edwards Brothers Malloy, NBN International, UK MIX Paper from responsible sources ® www.fsc.org FSC C014540 To our Sydneys, Sandra, Janine and Sophia Contents Chapter One: Sustainable Stoke – Introduction 1 Gregory Borne & Jess Ponting The Making and Breaking of a Surfer’s Paradise 8 Wayne ‘Rabbit’ Bartholomew Surfing and Sustainable Development 18 Gregory Borne Chapter Two: Umbrella 28 Smart Business: Linking Environmental Health to Corporate Wellbeing 30 Doug Palladini Surfing, Sustainability, and the Pursuit of Happiness 34 Fernando Aguerre Chapter Three: Industry 44 Quiksilver and Sustainability: The View from the Top 46 Bob McKnight ‘If Not Us, Then Who?’ 44 Jeff Wilson Transitions to Sustainability 56 Derek Sabori Sustainability in the Surf Industry 60 Rob Machado & Jessica Toth It’s Time to Bring the Image of the Surfer into the 21st Century 70 Todd Woody Chapter Four: Critique 74 Pro Surfing and the Art of Inspiration 76 Shaun Tomson Beyond Green: Sustainability, Freedom and Labour of the Surf Industry 80 Scott Ladderman iv Crimes Committed in the Spirit of Play 84 Tetsuhiko Endo Shifting Surfing Towards Environmental Justice 90 Cori Schumacher Shared Stoke: ‘Only a Surfer Knows the Feeling’ 94 Mark Marovich Exploring Sustainability in the Surf Industry through Film: Manufacturing Stoke 96 Pierce Kavanaugh Chapter Five: NGO Response 102 Surfonomics: Using Economic Valuation to Protect Surfing 104 Chad Nelson Protecting the Waves We Love So Much 110 Jim Moriarty Sustainable Transitions: From Firewire to NevHouse 112 Nev Hyman Just Add Surf: The Power of Surfing as a Medium to Challenge and Transform Gender Inequalities 118 Easkey Britton Museum of British Surfing, The Long View: Charting Britain’s Surfing History 128 Peter Robinson & Andrew Coleman Transforming Surf Culture Towards Sustainability: A Deep Blue Life 130 Kevin Whilden & Michael Stewart Chapter Six: Case Studies 140 Grommets of the New Age 142 Emi Koch Sustainable Stoke: Liberia 146 Sean Brody Negotiating Communities: Sustainable Cultural Surf Tourism 154 Andy Able & Danny O’Brien Surfing and Coastal Ecosystem Conservation in Baja California, Mexico 166 Serge Dedina et al. Embedding Surf Stoke in Academia 172 Malcolm Findlay v Chapter Seven: New Knowledge and Solutions 186 The udacityA of Stoke: Surfing the Ivory Tower 188 Jess Ponting Surf Craft: Essential for the Future of the Surfing Industry? 198 Michelle Blauw Surf Travel: The Elephant in the Room 200 Tony Butt Greening Events: The Case of Boardmasters Surf and Music Festival, UK 214 Emma Whittlesea Making Cultural Pearls out of Political Grit 220 Sam Bleakley The orldW Wide Web 224 Ben Freeston Chapter Eight: Call to Political Power 226 Stoke in a Sea of Uncertainty 228 Kevin Lovett The utureF of Surfing is Not Disposable 240 Glenn Hening Surfing Can Change The World 248 Chris Hines Waves, Environment, Community: Surfing, Sustainability & Surfers Against Sewage 260 Hugo Tagholm Managing the Surfing World in the 21st Century 264 Brad Farmer Surfing Sustainability 276 Fred Hemmings Epilogue: The Next Set Surf Wax Genealogy 282 John & Cris Dahl Ebb & Flow 286 Gregory Borne & Jess Ponting vi About the Editors 290 About the Authors 292 References & Notes 310 Bibliography 320 Index 324 vii Stoke ...excited, pleased, happy, thrilled. “Stoke” is an English adaptation of the 17th-century Dutch word stok, used to describe the rearrange- ment of logs in a fireplace in order to bring up the flames. California surfers began using the word in the early or mid-’50s, and it never went out of fashion. 1 – Encyclopedia of Surfing Sustainable Stoke Introduction Gregory Borne Jess Ponting Sustainable Stoke is intended to create a formal start to the conversation on sustainability and the surfing world. We came up with the idea when we were dripping wet, midway along the dusty fifth trail at San Onofre State Park the day after the 10th Annual Surfing Arts Science and Issues Conference, in February 2012. The conference, Surfing’s New Aloha: The Growing Trend of Giving Back, 1had highlighted the sustainability efforts of a range of different stakeholders in surfing including Vice Presidents for Sustainability in publically listed surfing companies, academics, Surfrider’s founder, non-profit start ups and surfing legends. Pro surfer and environmental activist Dave Rastovich even skyped in from a teepee in his backyard in Byron Bay. It seemed clear that the surfing world was at a tipping point and that sustainability was an inevitable, if distant, destination for the broader surfing world and its residents. What was missing was a central point of discussion, a forum, a discursive snapshot of what the best minds in surfing were thinking about sustainability – and the surfing world’s transition to it. After two hours of overhead and uncrowded surfing amongst the stunning beauty of the San Onofre bluffs, punctuated by exploding ordinance from Camp Pendleton to the south and framed by the twin globes of the nuclear power station to the north (leaking), the contested nature of a ‘SurfingNirvana’ in a globalized and rapidly developing world had never been more stark. Sustainable Stoke showcases some of surfing’s best minds and most powerful players. Our approach was not to give explicit direction to the contributors of the book, but rather to establish the broad context of sustainability in the surfing world as we understand it. We wrote the following statement: Sustainability in the surfing world involves more than just the greening of surf industry supply chains and supporting environmental initiatives. Social and cultural issues like the preservation of surfing history, building 1 SUSTAINABLE STOKE: TRANSITIONS TO SUSTAINABILITY IN THE SURFING WORLD an understanding of etiquette into surf school curricula, supporting youth development and education, the social-cultural impacts of surf tourism in destination communities, and the leveraging of surf contests to support local, social and cultural initiatives are equally as important. Additionally, economic issues such as the creation of sustainable livelihoods related to surfing, creating economic growth centres around surf breaks, the value of surf tourism, complimentary services and backward linkages into other economic sectors are important. These issues encompass environmental, social-cultural and economic concerns from the micro level of individual behaviour and choices, to the macro level of corporate governance and political decision-making. With the context of the book framed, some preliminary questions were used to inspire contributors’ thinking on the topic: What is the single greatest challenge to the sustainability of surfing? What are the transitions to sustainability in your area of expertise? Are there any transitions you are particularly passionate about? What is your personal view of these transitions? Beyond these questions we gave no additional guidance other than direct feedback. The idea was to allow a discourse to develop around the questions themselves in a non- prescriptive manner. Authors were afforded the space to explore sustainability and transitions from their own perspectives. Contributions came in a range of formats, from provocative hard hitting ‘thought pieces’, to broader essays and even primary data-driven pieces and case studies that demonstrate the coalface of the surfing world transitioning to sustainability. Each shines a unique and personal light on a particular aspect of sustainability and surfing. Combined, they form a whole greater than the sum of the individual parts that, for the first time, provides a multi-stakeholder discourse on the state of surfing’s transition to sustainability. The principle goal in publishing this range of contributions is to fuse this debate across sectors. Not