How we try to stay environmentally friendly at Surf Cascais
Surf Cascais is a family, and we are very proud of that. The one thing that binds us together more than anything else is our love for the ocean. We are all very aware and grateful of the fact that we have this amazing opportunity to work and live close to the ocean every day. So as you might imagine, protecting the ocean and the environment is very important to us and is something we try to work towards every single day.
While most people seem to be gaining more and more awareness of just how important it is to protect the environment during these critical times, there is a still a lot of work to do. According to oceancrusaders.org, there are between 13,000-15,000 tonnes of plastic making its way to the ocean every day and ocean acidification is a rapidly growing problem. A lot of these problems may seem like titanic challenges but we hope that small actions done everyday can help play a part in keeping this planet healthy.
Here are just a few of the things that we do at Surf Cascais to work towards eco-friendliness:
REDUCE, REUSE & RECYCLE
Every marathon ever ran began with a single step. And the same theory applies to recycling our waste. 15,000 tonnes of plastic every day may seem like a lot, but if we make small choices in our daily lives it may be surprising just how much of an impact we can make. At Surf Cascais we try to lead by example for our guests by reducing our plastic consumption and by doing specific things like not using plastic straws or plastic cups at our bar. We also encourage our guests to try to recycle their waste as much as possible and to put items in the appropriate trash bin. Providing Tupperware and shopping bags in our kitchen helps us to reuse in situations where we may have had to use more plastic. These small steps can all make a difference when we do it together.
ECO-FRIENDLY VILLA, CLOTHING & WATER BOTTLES
We lately launched our new range of merchandise at Surf Cascais and it’s something that we are very proud of. Not only because the merchandise is proving very popular but also and more importantly because, in a bid to be eco-friendly, the range of clothing is made by 100% organic cotton. We also sell Surf Cascais water bottles as part of the latest range, which we hope can encourage people to stop buying plastic bottles of water which a giant problem in the ocean’s fight against plastic.
We also try to be environmentally friendly at our Villa. The bunk beds that we use in our Surf Villa are made from solid wood and are entirely made in Portugal. The same can be said about the bed sheets we use. By trying to use as many Portuguese products as possible we reduce the impact that the travel and transportation of goods has on the environment. These products are also made of higher quality which means they last longer and in turn, we product less waste.
BEING AS PAPER-FREE AS POSSIBLE
Paper is something that often slips under the radar when it comes to everyday environmental conversations. According to PaperWasteFacts, 40% of the worlds commercially cut wood is used for paper production and over 30 million acres of forest are destroyed every year! We also try to keep this in mind at Surf Cascais by reducing our paper consumption whenever we can. Almost 100% of our administrative work is completed online using electronic documents. We also try very hard to reuse paper for non-official tasks that often result in mindlessly using brand new paper.
KEEPING THE BEACH & OCEAN CLEAN
The most simple of all tasks. Simply picking up any plastic or trash that we see on the beach or in the water even if it is not ours. As surfers it comes naturally to most of us, but we always encourage each other to pick up any trash that we see when we are on the beach or in the water be it while teaching or surfing ourselves. Again, it’s a small step in the marathon of a plastic free ocean, but every step counts!
PASSING THE MESSAGE, A TEAM EFFORT
In general we feel like we also have a responsibility to set an example to all of the people we meet every year and to spread a message of sustainability. We are very aware of just how lucky we are to meet so many people every week as part of what we do. We get to make friends from all over the world every year! We know that we are in a position to meet, teach and influence a lot of people. For us, this makes one of our biggest goals the spreading a positive and green message to our clients and team.
These are just a few of the things that we do at Surf Cascais to try and work towards a greener planet. There is still a lot of work to do but there is also a lot of hope. Every day, more and more people are becoming far more aware of the dangers and threats to the environment and our oceans.
The ocean gives us so much. It gives us a place to work and to play. And for many of us it gives us a lot of peace and enjoyment in our daily lives. We owe it to ourselves and to future generations to try our very best to protect it.
Do you have any suggestions for more ways we can be even more eco-friendly? If you do, feel free to leave a comment on this post. You can also follow us on Instagram and Facebook and get in touch there.