This month's green tips are focussed on the beach and surf lifestyle. Now that summer is well and truly here and lots of us are making the most of spending time at the beach, we think it's perfect timing to give you some green tips on what you can do to look after this fragile environment, surfer-style!
Scroll down for easy tips on how you can be a sustainable beach babe!
Everyone wants to do the right thing, environmentally speaking, but it's easy to forget how interconnected everything is and how every action, no matter how insignificant, affects something or someone else.
At the beach, we get daily reminders of this: whatever we put down our kitchen (or bathroom or laundry) sink at home can end up in the sea or on our local beach; when it rains, we see the run-off and pollutants from our roads in the waves; walking on the beach after a storm, we'll notice debris washed ashore from ships far out at sea.
We are all part of the natural world, and the beach lifestyle we're fortunate enough to have in Australia brings with it a responsibility to respect the ocean, all marine beings, the coastal environment and each other.
Following are a few ways to look after and say "Thank you" to the sea for all the beautiful waves you're going to be surfing soon...
• Be eco-aware: visit the websites of marine protection organisations such as the Surfrider Foundation and Sea Shepherd. Other more general conservation organisations such as Greenpeace, Australian Conservation Foundation and WWF also deal with coastal issues. Most of them also have tips for greening your lifestyle.
• Share and re-use: give away what you don't need (a wetsuit that doesn't fit, a leg rope you don't use anymore) to charity, friends or neighbours; buy a second-hand surfboard if you can. It reduces landfill and helps build community.
• Love your wetsuit and surfboard: to avoid buying new wetsuits and surfboards too often, treat your wetsuit well by rinsing it with fresh water after every surf and hanging it out to dry in the shade. As for your board, tape up any dings so water won't get into the foam core, and have them fixed when you can.
• Surf your local break when you can: if you can walk or ride your bike to the surf (there are surfboard racks for bicycles) instead of getting a lift, all the better. If you must go by car, try to surf as close to home as possible to reduce car emissions.
• Say no to plastic bags when shopping, unless you can re-use them, say for carrying your wet swimmers and wetsuit home from the beach!
• Don't buy bottled water; use refillable bottles instead.
• Eat locally made (or grown) food at the beach and at other times, and try to eat mainly vegetarian food (it's better for the environment than being a carnivore).
• Recycle, even if it means taking your plastic and glass bottles or aluminium cans home from the beach if there are no recycling bins around.
• Pick up: help the environment stay litter-free by not dropping rubbish and by picking up any you see on the beach or on the street — particularly plastic bags and other things that seabirds, marine mammals, fish or turtles could ingest.
• Give something back: it doesn't have to be money. Try volunteering for a bush regeneration project or beach clean-up day.
By Louise Southerden, author of Surf's Up — The Girl's Guide to Surfing
"An absolute bible for beginners, the next best thing to a private coach" — Realsurf.com
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