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Posted by Rick Civelli | 01.05.2017 | WB Surf Camp News

The Temptation of Consumption

Ever hear of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch? It is twice the size of Texas and is floating somewhere between San Francisco and Hawaii. About 80 percent of the garbage is plastic and it is estimated to weigh in at 3.5 million tons. More importantly, it is estimated that plastic bags, containers, and other synthetic garbage thrown into the ocean kill as many as 1,000,000 sea-creatures every year.

WB Surf Camp company’s mission includes devoted efforts to the reduction of disposable materials, as well as the reuse of containers once they are in circulation and recycling after use. Most people recognize these as the “Three R’s” they learned about in elementary school. Here at WB Surf Camp, though, we work hard to promote one more “R”: rethink.

In the recent past, WB Surf Camp was in talks with a leading performance drink company as a potential sponsor. They wanted to offer us wonderfully deionized-filtered water boosted with fantastic ingredients that serve the body well; Vitamins C, B3, B5, B6, B12, and E to name just a few. Naturally, surfing all day in the ocean will dehydrate the body, which is why we provide unlimited water throughout the day. Furthermore, this widely recognized company offered WB Surf Camp free product for the entire summer. So this sponsorship sounded like a great opportunity to combat those thirsty campers and instructors.

After heartfelt discussion, and careful deliberation of the pros and cons, we respectfully declined the offer. As it turned out, the product would be individually packaged in 16oz bottles. It was estimated that all camps combined would use 7,200 plastic bottles over the summer months. This number equates to about 3.4 cubic yards in a landfill space. Wow!

The obvious question we were faced with is can we stand behind our mission, while distributing mass plastics? And the simple answer was that the plastic waste would be too much for us to swallow. Allowing this sponsorship would have been in direct conflict with our company mission. We’ve decided to stand firm on our current policy of requesting each camper to bring a reusable water bottle and refill from the five-gallon water coolers provided throughout all camp site locations.

Conservation is no easy task when staying hydrated, especially when you are working the body during the hot summer days. Sometimes the best practice in reducing your carbon footprint is to cut usage.  We want the campers of today to help ensure the future of WB Surf Camp for their children. Together we can make a difference. So the next time you stop at the convenience store to buy a bottle of water, think about the lasting impact you are making. One person can make a difference!

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