Earth Day 2022 – What we’re doing to be more sustainable

At Paddle & Surf, one of our main passions is getting people out on/in the water and connecting with nature, especially after the last few unsettling years! However, we are aware that kitting out the country for adventures can come with negative implications for our planet.

Last year, we posted our sustainability plans and practices and we’re proud to say we’ve continued our previous practices and made a dent in our future goals.

Wetsuit recycle bin

Wetsuits are an essential piece of kit but, we were very aware that they often get thrown away when they’ve reached the end of their life. With around a quarter of a million wetsuits being thrown away every year, we spent a long-time researching ways we could help our community dispose of their old wetsuits in a responsible way.

We’re incredibly excited to announce that we’ve teamed up with Lorna Doyle in her mission to rescue wetsuits from going into landfill. She takes old wetsuits and transforms them into new items, such as bags, giving them a new life.

Our new Wetsuit Recycling Bin is ready in our Threemilestone Showroom for you to swing by and drop off your old and broken wetsuits, no matter the condition.

Your wetsuit will then be sent to Lorna Doyle, a specialist in upcycling old wetsuits to fantastic new products, helping towards a greener planet!

Check out her website and products here: http://www.lorna-doyle.com/

New Paddle & Surf packaging

We introduced new postal bags last year that have been designed to be reused for returns and they’re fully recyclable. Just pop it in your normal plastic recycling bin once your bag has served its purpose!

However, should it end up in landfill or the ocean, degradation can take place within a few short months and leaves no microplastics, shaving up to 450 years off the time it takes for a typical plastic bag to decompose.

Investing in brands

We’ve continued to invest in brands we believe in and are making steps to a greener future. Brands such as Gul, Legacy and Sola have updated their packaging to be eco-friendly:

Printed invoices

After upgrading our order management system, we have phased out printing invoices on A4 paper – drastically reducing the amount of paper we use each year. Currently, we’re still using small labels to identify your orders in the warehouse but, we’re hoping we can update our technology again to completely eradicate this and make the process completely digital – including an online returns system.