Here at Starboard, we strive to use recycled, up-cycled, and eco-friendly materials in SUP and windsurf gear that is enjoyed around the world. But part of their philosophy is that sustainability starts at home. Starboard’s neighbour, Firewire Surfboards, up-cycles the waste created from their boards by funneling it into a machine that melts, densifies, and molds the material into paving stones for walkable surfaces – like Starboard’s front deck! When you walk up to Starboard’s headquarters in sunny Bangkok, the spiral tiles under your feet, made from Firewire’s waste, are a classic example of using up-cycled products close to home.
Starboard works to incorporate eco-innovation not only into our own products, but in how we live our lives day to day. Starboard is excited to support Firewire from concept, to trial run, to full scale sustainability production – and stoked to have beautiful and sustainable materials greet employees and visitors at HQ.
“At first glance, a surfboard has nothing in common with a paving stone. But we found a connection. It’s no secret that producing anything creates waste in some form. And in the case of surf boards and stand up paddleboards, a lot of that waste is leftover foam dust created from turning a block of foam into a board shape.
We don’t want to put that waste into a landfill. So instead, we dump it into a big green machine that heats up and densifies the waste into a hot material that we mold into paving stones. So far, we’ve sent these pavers around the world to places like the Kelly Slater Wave Co. in Lemoore and the Starboard headquarters in Thailand.” ~ Firewire
Find out more about FireWire’s sustability initiatives by clicking here.
