The City is partnering with Sustainable Surf, Marko Foam, and Access document shredding service on two waste collection events to celebrate America Recycles Day in Malibu, a national call to action to reduce, reuse and recycle waste, on November 15, 2014.
Polystyrene foam collection – Malibu and area residents can drop off polystyrene foam in the upper parking lot of City Hall (23825 Stuart Ranch Road) November 1-15, Monday through Friday from 7:30 am to 5:30 pm and Saturday from 10:00 am to 2:00 pm.
The foam will be collected and recycled by the environmental non-profit organization Sustainable Surf and Marko Foam Inc. This material can be used to make recycled surfboard blanks (and other products) to create more environmentally friendly surfboards as part of the Waste to Waves project.
“We’re celebrating America Recycles Day the Malibu way – by turning trash into surfboards,” Mayor Skylar Peak said. “This is a great opportunity to offer Malibu residents a free and easy recycling service while raising awareness about the huge difference that we can make if we all pull together to reduce, reuse and recycle. As a surfer and an environmentalist, I am extremely pleased that Malibu is holding this event. I hope to be able to surf myself on one of the surfboards made from recycled polystyrene foam.”
Over 13 billion pounds of styrene were produced in the U.S. alone in 2006, most of which was used in manufacturing polystyrene foam. When it is not properly recycled, polystyrene foam ends up in huge quantities in landfills, where it can take hundreds of years to break down, and is a major contributor to polluting ocean debris, that damages wildlife and marine ecosystems.
Since it was launched in 2011, Sustainable Surf’s Waste to Waves program co-founder Kevin Whilden estimates that they have recycled over 50,000 pounds of polystyrene foam. Twenty pounds of foam can be recycled into twenty Marko Foam surfboard cores, which have 25 percent recycled content.
“Surfers understand the importance of protecting the ocean environment, yet surfboards traditionally have been made with materials that pollute the environmental,” Sustainable Surf co-founder Kevin Whilden.
“We help surfers get stoked on being part of the solution, because it’s cool to recycle when it can be made into new products including eco-friendly surfboards. It’s even better to buy one and surf it, and our Ecoboard Project helps surfers find a local shaper who can make them an Ecoboard.”
Sustainable Surf and Marko Foam have been enlisting notable board shapers and professional surfers like Torrey Meister and Rob Machado to showcase the boards’ performance and show that the recycled foam boards perform as well as conventional boards.
The City plans to commission a surfboard shaper to create a recycled foam surfboard with environmentally themed graphics custom designed by an artist to promote Malibu’s environmental messages.
Free paper shredding – Malibu residents can drop off paper documents to be securely shredded and recycled for free by Access on Saturday, November 15 from 10:00 am to 2:00 pm in the upper parking lot of City Hall. Secure paper document shredding by Access is an effective way to prevent identity theft while recycling paper.
Presentation in City Council – The City Council will proclaim November 15 to be America Recycles Day at the November 10 Council meeting, and present a proclamation to Sustainable Surf’s Kevin Whilden. The presentation will serve to encourage Malibu residents to participate in the collection events, and to reduce, reuse and recycle more.
America Recycles Day is one of many ways Malibu has become a leader in environmental stewardship and education. The City’s ongoing recycling and collection events, including battery, household hazardous waste, and polystyrene collection, have allowed it to deliver on its highest priority: overall waste reduction. Last year in Malibu, over 1,500 tons of bottles, cans, paper, and electronic waste were recycled – the equivalent of 300 African elephants or 1,000 Toyota Priuses. In 2005, Malibu became one of the first cities in California to adopt a comprehensive ban on polystyrene foam food packaging.
The City is also striving to help the State meet its goal of diverting 75 percent of the waste from landfills by 2020.
The City has policies in place to use digital files instead of paper, minimize all paper use, use rechargeable batteries, separate all recycling, reduce water and electricity use, use hybrid and other alternative-fuel vehicles, install electric vehicle charging stations, and encourages residents to reduce their waste and conserve energy and natural resources.
