Surfing goes green: New surf school vows to use eco-friendly materials

By: DAN ELY - For the North County Times | Wednesday, January 23, 2008 12:03 AM PST ∞

ENCINITAS -- Riding the current wave of environmental concern, an Encinitas woman is planning to open a new surf school that she says will be friendly to the ocean and eye-opening for surfers.

Torrey Trust, the woman behind the new school, said she'll use environmentally sensitive materials and approaches throughout her surf classes.

For instance, students will use surfboards made from a special soybean-based foam instead of fiberglass, Trust said. And the wax used on the boards will be organic, instead of being made from petroleum.

In addition, towels used in class will be made from bamboo. Even the sunscreen will contain minerals and organic ingredients, instead of synthetic chemicals.

Trust, who has been teaching surfing for eight years, has a passion for the environment that has occasionally turned into adventure. She was in the news last year when she and her husband were among 154 people rescued from an eco-tourism cruise ship that rammed an iceberg and sank into the sea off Antarctica.

She said she was inspired to start her surf school, Surf eCo., after visiting Costa Rica and discovering much of the rain forest she had seen on a previous trip had been destroyed by illegal logging.

She said that convinced her to do whatever she could to help. For instance, she said, for each student who joins her class, Trust promises to buy a half-acre of rain forest through national environmental group The Nature Conservancy.

Beyond the gear in the water, all of Surf eCo.'s fliers and printouts are made with recycled paper, and classes will feature discussions about the environment and beach cleanups, hoping to raise awareness and inspire the next generation of surfers to protect the beaches they love.

"There's been a shift lately in making the environmental topic cool ... I'd love to see every surfer in the water a member of Surfrider, or doing beach cleanups, or at least aware of their impact," Trust said.

She said that while many surfers care about their environment, competitiveness and local pride doesn't always translate into care for the beaches.

Trust said she has been impressed by the wave of earth-friendly sentiment expressed by businesses as well, even if green policies are often slow in coming. She said she hopes she can help to show that sustainability can be good business.

"It's hard to get people to change at all, let alone companies," she said. "It's nice being able to start out eco-friendly, instead of having to change."

Trust said she isn't planning on making a living from her lessons. Her cheapest class costs about $17 an hour, compared to other companies who she says charge up to $75 per hour.

Still, she said, her greatest hope is that the classes will cause students to make changes to help preserve the Earth.

"There's always something ... anything you do will have an impact, instead of just doing nothing," Trust said.

Besides raising awareness, Trust hopes to protect 1,000 acres of rain forest through donations by 2010.

Trust said her classes at Surf eCo. will begin at Swami's in Encinitas in March, when the warm water starts drawing more casual beachgoers.

-- More information on Surf eCo. surf school is available at www.sdsurfeco.com.

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11 comment(s)[-]Go to Top

JP wrote on Jan 22, 2008 9:18 PM:I trust/hope this surf school will be held down the beach from Swami's and not at the actual reef?

What did the Encinitas city council decide about regulating surf schools at last week's meeting?

Murf wrote on Jan 22, 2008 9:55 PM:Can we have another statue instead?

Making a Living? wrote on Jan 23, 2008 8:23 AM:First off, she will have to charge a heck of alot more than $17 if she wants to pay the fees the city is going to ask for - if she's chosen. Second - there's nothing eco-friendly about insurance, and that will be covered by the $17? Third, these new ecosurf students are going to get one heck of a lesson about respect and other "tribal oriented" aspects of surf culture if she really thinks she's going to paddle a gaggle of groms at Swamis! Heck, I might pay $17 an hour to watch that!!!

Living wrote on Jan 23, 2008 11:05 AM:The city doesn't have fees yet.
Insurance and eco-friendly? Huh? That's like saying, "taxes aren't eco-friendly."
Tribal-oriented: sounds like Hawaii and Fiji. I would hate to think that San Diego is being separatist and biased. But yes, beginners need to be trained. And I don't think they'll be out catching waves near the experienced surfers.

Also, what good does a statue do?

Mary wrote on Jan 23, 2008 7:24 PM:The statue doesn't run an unethical business at the expense of Encinitas residents. MOST surf "schools" are unethical enterprises. You don't send your kids to learn how to ride a bike school, do you? If you think you need "lessons" you are probably dangerous to others on a surfboard. If you really want to learn to surf: 1) go bodysurfing for a day, 2) then go bodyboard for a month , at least, 3) Then ride the whitewater for weeks. Then realize that you are unlikely to have any real competence unless you surf every day for several years. Everyone else in the line up spent years staying away from the main peaks until they had developed enough skill to: 1) utilize the wave, and 2) get the hell out of the way of others.

Making a Difference wrote on Jan 24, 2008 8:49 PM:I agree with "Living". If you look at the website, you will notice that the surf classes contain a maximum of 4 students. Also, if you look at the experience page, she has been teaching lessons for a few years and is a local surfer. I highly doubt that any of the students will be allowed to drift into the area of an experienced surfer.

It is my belief that experienced surfers, especially members of Surfrider, should support a company that is trying to teach beginners to respect the ocean and our impact on it. There will always be new people learning how to surf, whether we try to limit overcrowding or not, but teaching these beginners about how to limit harm to the environment can do nothing but help the situation. I applaud the efforts of SurfeCo and wish them success.

Einstein wrote on Jan 25, 2008 7:50 AM:Once again JP's ego and uneducated opinion is lashing out at the "non-HARDCORE" surf population. Maybe JP and the other "HARDCORE" idiots should educate themselves about eco-friendly
solutions instead of inhaling resin fumes and foam dust all day. It might prevent them from getting cancer.

Eco-Tourism Poluter wrote on Jan 26, 2008 5:51 PM:That Eco-Tourism ship polluted more ocean and did more damage to the environment while being built and during it's lifetime at sea, not to mention sinking and spreading fuel, oil trash, and sewage into the environmentally sensitive seas it was visiting, than any surf school could possibly create in hundreds of years of teaching. How can anyone justify taking a big, stinky, polluting ship into precious, pristine waters in the name of environmentalism? The hypocrisy of some of these "environmentally conscious" people is flabbergasting.

2 Cents wrote on Jan 26, 2008 6:02 PM:I agree with "Living and Making a Difference". The main concern with JP and others alike is they want to keep people off their peak. I wouldn't worry about the class of fresh surfers surfing anywhere near your reef or beach break. It sounds like Trust has a lot more experience than you guys give her credit for. You guys need to take a look at the "bigger picture" and understand the reasons why she has created this surf school. Hell, maybe you guys, (JP and Making a Living) could learn a few pointers from her class!

JP wrote on Jan 27, 2008 8:32 AM:LOL

Eco-friendly alternatives? wrote on Jan 27, 2008 9:47 PM:I think it's a funny comment to blame Trust for the entirety of the sinking ship in Antarctica. Although if you heard about the ship, it was way more eco-friendly than any of the other cruise ships that visit, plus the ship strictly followed IAATO regulations to keep Antarctica pristine. Until there are completely eco-friendly alternatives, you cannot call environmentally conscious people hypocrits for traveling because they do not have any choices. That is why surf eco is a great way to give people a choice about whether they just want to learn to surf or whether they want to learn to surf while making a difference.

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