ECOLOGY & SURF TRAVEL: NATURAL ENEMIES? CAN YOU REALLY LEAD A GREEN LIFESTYLE AND STILL FEEL GOOD ABOUT TRAVELING IN SEARCH OF THE PERFECT WAVE? AND IF WE WANT TO BE GREEN, DOES THIS MEAN WE HAVE TO GIVE UP THE GIFT OF SURF TRAVEL? As surfers, we love to travel. Most of us dream of finding that perfect, uncrowded wave and enjoying the ocean on a different part of the earth than our regular break. Surfing endless tropical barrels, venturing deep downunder to the chilly waters of NZ or living the Californian dream – it doesn’t really matter, if there are new waves on offer most of us will jump at the chance to ride them. So does the inevitable plane trip to reach these oceanic wonders come at an ecologically unfriendly price? Well, yes if your alternative is to stay at home and walk or bike to the beach. But put into perspective your conscience will be relieved to discover that recent findings suggest it’s not all bad. The aviation industry has now been overtaken by the IT industry in terms of their CO2 output. So even just turning off your computer daily when it’s not in use can, over a year, help to counteract the negative impact of an annual surf trip. Reports also show that an aeroplane gets about 20.4km to the litre per seat. Longer flights are more efficient, newer planes are better, but on average it’s 10.4k/l. Thus, traveling solo in an SUV is more harmful in terms of emissions than buying a plane ticket. Of course, there is also the more touchyfeely aspect to global surf travel... We can help educate the masses and expose pollution, before it becomes irreversible. So go forth and enjoy that next trip to Indo, but counter your ecological footprint along the way by boycotting polluted areas and visiting places that embrace eco-tourism and sustainability - the waves will be just as good and you’ll not be eating plastic within the walls of the green room either.
POINTS OF VIEW
STOP THE SCREAMING & SHOUTING AND GET WET The other day I visited my local surf (dog) beach with my trusty Labrador Lizzy who is teaching my wife to body surf. Yes that’s right. The black two-year-old lab loves the surf and chases after the frisbee, turns around when the wave is about to break, and bodysurfs her way into the beach. Further along the beach I was curiously watching a young personal trainer take his clients for a beach session. Two things really struck me: Firstly, it’s about time he dropped the army screaming and yelling technique, which is not only old hat, but disturbing to think that he didn’t know that most of us - the rational ones at least - don’t want or need to be yelled at or bullied to get a good workout. As I continued to watch I noticed a woman who looked about forty-five years old huffing and panting her way around a wooden boardwalk out of sight of the personal trainer. She was carrying a lot of weight, particularly around her waist, and looked like she was about to have a coronary. She was obviously far too heavy to be running, as her joints and connective tissue would have been taking a pounding. No doubt she was working hard and doing her best, however I thought I would have to give CPR any minute. I’m not a big fan of this type of training as many people are at such a different level of fitness. It’s hard to manage these larger groups effectively. If you were a nineteenyear-old male who’s fit and just entered the army you may just get away with this. I’ve watched trainers push people above their ability level and inevitably they leave, never to return to fitness ever again. It’s our job to effectively assess our clients’ fitness, coach them slowly at a comfortable level, encourage them, and build a good rapport with them so they feel safe and happy to return. It’s really important that personal trainers have the ability to work and understand the needs of the very young to the very old. Personal trainers need to know how our bodies change as we age and what is appropriate for these different age groups and also have an understanding of rehab in relation to those coming back from injury. So perhaps ditch the khakis and don the boardies. It’s fun, makes you feel great. You don’t feel like you’ve just enlisted and it’s relatively low impact.
Nicola O’Reilly is the better half of the nice folks from Surfing Green, a couple passionate about providing sustainable surfing products.
John Hart is a qualified fitness instructor and personal trainer with a Masters in Education who writes books, trains and rehabilitates people, takes photos, directs movies and is happy to share what he’s learned.
www.surfinggreen.com.au
www.johnhartfitness.com
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SURFTECH AUSTRALIA www.surftechaustralia.com.au 02 4226 1322
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