Surfing is an unfortunately wasteful sport. Surfboards can be made with one of two types of foam: polyurethane or polystyrene. Neither material is biodegradable, and they can both be toxic to aquatic life. Polystyrene, the kind typically used for foam packaging like styrofoam, is a petroleum-based product that is banned in various cities. When boards break, leftover foam is typically left in the ocean or sent to a landfill where it could hypothetically sit for centuries. Luckily, there are people working for a solution by implementing recycled foam into new boards.
Recycling foam into boards is an obvious but seldom practiced…
