How Many Wetsuits You Got Gathering Dust in the Garage?

We’re all guilty.

Coming clean, I’ve currently got one short arm 2/2, a 4/3, two 3/2s and a wetsuit vest I never wear. I can’t bring myself to toss them either; the thought of five layers of my rubber (not) rotting in a big hole in the ground is too depressing. So, what to do? Well, the brains at Rip Curl have come up with a solution: you/we, turn them into that soft matting that keeps your groms’ melons in one piece when they fall off the monkey bars.

The venture is a joint between the Curl and Terracycle, which is a world leader in innovative recycling techniques. And it’s a worthy cause. There’s currently approximately 35 million surfers on the planet (according to our un-checked friends at Google), and that figure’s only heading north. Currently the surfing population accounts for around 6.2 tonnes of neoprene heading to landfill each year. Which needs to change. If surfers can’t lead the way in trying to eco-streamline our lives then we really are doomed.

The initiative takes wetsuits from any brand, not just Rip Curl, and is available across the country (full list of participating stores below). Also, one of the coolest things about the initiative is that if you don’t have a Rip Curl shoppe in your local town, then you can roll that rubber up and whack it in the post. It might cost you a couple of bucks, but so does the tip. The bonuses obviously being primarily the lack of clogging of the landfill, but also not having to go to the tip. Which let’s be honest, is a pretty unpleasant experience on all fronts.

So if, like all of us, you’ve got surplus rubber clogging up the garage/van/both, then get in (or send a parcel) to your nearest Rip Curl store. Then, sleep well, safe in the knowledge that your pre-loved neoprene will be protecting the knee caps and skulls of the future.

Rip Curl stores where you can recycle your rubber:

VIC: Torquay, Sorrento (foreshore) 
NSW: Byron Bay, North Wollongong, Narrabeen, Ulladulla 
QLD: Burleigh Heads 
WA: Scarborough