The health of our oceans is not only important for environmental reasons, it’s essential for recreational reasons as well. And what sport will be impacted the most by the state of the oceans? Surfing, most likely. What can the average ocean sports lover do to work toward a healthy ocean environment?
Probably the best way is to support an organization that’s already doing the work. Surfrider is an excellent non-profit ocean conservation organization, and like most non-profits, funding is always an issue. But a movement called project BLUE is taking on the funding challenge.
project BLUE is a cooperative initiative by seven leading brands in the surf industry. The brands have come together to develop a co-branded, limited edition product line, and a part of the proceeds of the products go to fund the Surfrider Foundation. Billabong, O’Neill, DAKINE, Electric Visual, Famous Wax, Nixon and Reef are the participating brands at the moment, and are some of the most competitive in the industry.
Some of the products in the project BLUE lineup:
- Billabong Sonic Boom boardshorts for men and Peace boardshorts for women, made from Billabong’s Eco-Supreme Suede fabric (made entirely of recycled plastic bottles) and the Platinum B9 wetsuit, with a shell made from 90% recycled materials.
- DAKINE Recon and Oceana backpacks, made from 100% recycled plastic bottles.
- All of the Electric brand polarized sunglasses fall under the project BLUE initiative, and are shipped in packaging made from recycled materials, and using soy based inks.
- A special version of the Nixon Lodown digital watch, pre-programmed with 200 beach tide charts in addition to a 100-meter waterproof casing.
- Famous Wax offers the Green Label petro-chemical free surf wax and surfer Timmy Curran’s Eco-Timmy traction pad, made from 40% recycled foam.
- A collection of organic cotton t-shirts from O’Neill for men and women, printed using soy based inks.
- The Reef Redemption Fanning sandal for men, made from recycled car tires, and featured a bottle opener integrated into the sole.
You can help support the mission of Surfrider to protect the world’s oceans, waves, and beaches simply by replacing your worn out surf gear with selections from project BLUE. They’re not encouraging more new product consumption, but if you’re going to replace your gear, you can choose to do so with something that contributes to the mission of Surfrider. So far, they’ve managed to raise over $140,000 for Surfrider.
Check out the full lineup at the project BLUE site, or find a store that carries the gear near you.
If you’re on Twitter, and want to connect with project BLUE over there, follow @betruetoblue.
project BLUE was developed by Vipe Desai, a member of the Surfrider Foundation’s national board of directors and the director of marketing for Monster Energy.
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