Durban - Providing new wheelchairs for children and adults in northern KwaZulu-Natal ‒ all from old wetsuits and body boards collected by the surfing community.
This innovative upcycling project took off when Jean Marc Tostee, at Surf HQ in Durban, put an appeal on social media for old surfing gear and body boards gathering dust, after learning about a project upcycling wheelchairs in the Manguzi area in northern KZN.
Yesterday was Global Recycling Day, marked to encourage projects such as this one.
This week, Tostee who is a passionate environmentalist, said: “Wetsuits are not bio-degradable, so we have been collecting these. They are cut into strips and, along with the old body boards, are being used to renovate wheelchairs.
“We made a call-out to customers on Instagram and Facebook and have had a great response,” he said, adding that most waste can be recycled or upcycled to prevent it going to landfill sites.
He said the global surfing community was very aware when it came to environmental issues and making green choices.
This includes many products used by surfers, with some new innovations across the world, such as cultivated algae being used in the manufacture of body boards, as well as board shorts being made from material that uses recycled plastic bottles. Broken surfboards are also often made into trendy furniture.
SA Springbok surfer Ntando Msibi described the wheelchair project as “great”, also highlighting that waste put out on the street in Durban also helped the unemployed because they sold it for recycling purposes in order to create an income.
“Everyone benefits from recycling and upcycling,” he said.
Bodyboarder Pascal Tostee said he had been brought up in a household where recycling was a way of life.
“Even if I come across a bit of plastic in the water, I’ll pick it up,” he said.
The Department of Health did not respond to a request for comment on the project.
Meanwhile, a UN Environment Programme assessment, released before COP26 late last year, issued a warning that plastic pollution in oceans and other bodies of water could more than double by 2030.
This would have severe consequences on health, economies as well as biodiversity and the climate.
The assessment called for an immediate reduction in plastic production and consumption, saying plastic accounted for 85% of all marine litter with the danger of breakdown products such as microplastics and chemical additives.
The assessment also stated that “by 2040, there could be a US$100 billion annual financial risk for businesses if governments require them to cover waste management costs”,
Another study, by scientists at the University of Leicester in the UK, found that an increase of about 6°C in the temperature of the world’s oceans could prevent phytoplankton oxygen production by disrupting photosynthesis processes.
Phytoplankton produces an estimated two thirds of the oxygen in the atmosphere, with the research team stating that disruption of phytoplankton “would mean oxygen depletion not only in the water but also in the air. Should it happen, it would kill most of life on Earth”.
The Independent on Saturday