Toxicology ratings of smartphones – how toxic is your phone?

Here is a quality piece from iFixit that performs a chemical analysis on 36 smartphones. Which ones are the cleanest? High technology feels so clean—no coal or steam or mess, just cool aluminum, sleek plastics, and polished glass. But that clean surface hides an interior that is far messier and more toxic…researchers took apart 36 …

The rise of wooden surfboards – alaia’s

Have you seen a wooden surfboard in the water yet? If not, you will soon as these earth-friendly boards grow in popularity. The famous shaper, Tom Wegener, gave a talk about his designs for the ancient Hawaiian board, the Alaia (pronounced: ah-LIE-ah): According to Wegener, this historical Hawaiian surfcraft – which appears to be little more …

National Geographic: thousands fish (and eat) from the extremely toxic Anacostia River

In case you thought no one fished (and ate the fish) in the Anacostia River, here is an article from National Geographic: Fishermen were casting their lines into the urban waters of Washington, D.C., into a river notorious as one of the dirtiest in the nation. What’s more, according to a recent study, they represented …

Shaper Studios – create your own surfboard at the first-of-its-kind DIY studio

From the first board-shaping school. The art of hand-shaping surfboards is being threatened by machines. Shaper Studios is changing that. The Mission Valley shaping school is allowing everyday surfers the chance to glass and paint what they ride. We drop in on owner Chris Clark, who says the studio is luring everyone from pros to …

Kickstarter project: build an environmentally friendly-er surfboard

My project is all about environmental and community responsibility.  I’m a custom surfboard builder that wants to help make a change in our toxic industry while also taking action to help protect a rare California coastal habitat. The technologies required to make a better surfboard are no longer experimental, they’re high quality and available for …

Our local toxic waste dump…in Huntington Beach

Down the street on Magnolia, just a few blocks form the beach, is the ASCON Landfill Site. This 38-acre parcel of land is a toxic waste dump containing waste from construction and oil drilling. It is considered a California Superfund site, meaning that it is one of the most toxic in the state. According to …

Green surfboards

The best surfboards in the world are the most toxic. Take any professional surfer and she/he will be riding a high tech stick packed with the latest innovations. It will also be the worst possible board for the environment not only in its materials, but in the creation, disposal, and in effects on workers creating …