Phoresia.org

In April of 2006 D. Lawless and I came up with a concept to promote our ideas about sustainability and social responsibility within surfing. For years we’ve talked about consumerism and how it affects each one of us. Lawless, a consummate minimalist taught me the value of taking good care of my things. Together we moved from fancy mountain bikes to striped down single speeds. It seemed that losing gears off the bikes meant adding fun, along with a measure of peace that came from not thinking about ‘stuff’ all the time. Phoresia became a way to hone our ideas and present them to whoever wanted to listen in a grassroots approach.

In a short time we’ve gone from passionate editorials to interviews with respected industry professionals like Tom Wegener, and Ned McMahon. We have reviewed surfboards, clothing companies, bicycles, slippers, skateboards and more. So why, if we want to reduce our consumption, do we spend so much time thinking about gear?

We realize that most of the things we are passionate about require it, whether it’s bicycles, surfing, skateboarding, etc., they all require that we be consumers at some level. But, we also realize that having stuff does not mean that our purchases have to be irresponsible to the environment or people. We have discovered through a little research that there are a lot of like-minded people out there and together they are beginning to make a great big difference.

In October of 2006 we started monitoring the traffic to our site. Since then an average of 25% of our visitors arrived at the site by searching Google using words like “sustainable, surfing.” This number carries great implications. There are a people out there interested in purchasing surfing products designed to have a longer life cycle, less environmental impact, and little or no negative social impact. There is a market for ‘green’ surf related stuff.

There is another inevitable truth. Surfing’s’ popularity is exploding. Recently the New York Times ran an article describing surfing as a yuppie pursuit, a status sport. The article goes on to discuss the expansion of surf real estate markets, surf schools, and surf trips that cost more than most of us could ever imagine paying. This is a clear example of the consumer machine taking another stab at surfing the way it did in the 60’s. Change is bound to come and many of us may not like it as our lineups become more crowded and people are not introduced to the basic principles of surf etiquette.

How often do you experience a solo surf session? Crowded surf is both an effect of the growth of the sport and one of population growth. In 1965 the United States population was around 194 million. In 2005 it was 296 million. Without federal and local governments making serious commitments to cleaning up the way we live, places like southern California may become too toxic to surf. Already many breaks around the world suffer from high fecal bacteria levels, threatening surfers with a nasty list of diseases. Websites like 70 Percent.org are trying to address these issues of pollution by tracking when surfers get sick. Other organizations like the Surfrider Foundation and Save the Waves focus their efforts or protecting coastal environments.

We can be confident of one thing for sure. Grass roots movements can make a difference. The fact that Phoresia.org gets hundred’s of visitors a month with virtually no advertising on our part proves that there is a niche to be filled. We plan to continue to bring you the latest information we can dig up. But we also encourage you to go out and ask the questions for yourself. Make sure that your money goes a long way and that it works to preserve that which gives us all soo much fulfillment. Get involved, it means something.

Please check some of the websites below for further reading:

UT Campus Environment Center– suggestions for lowering your own environmental impact

http://www.utenvironment.org/content/

World Changing — web resource for positive environmental change

http://www.worldchanging.com/about/

Ode Magazine – Ode is another forward thinking publication from the Netherlands. Not necessarily surf related but informative and has a positive approach to change.

http://www.odemagazine.com/