Only Buy Surfboards Made in the US

If you buy a surfboard please either buy a used one or one made entirely in the US. 

Why?

The reasons and my story:  I went shopping for a surfboard the other day.  It has been at least a decade or so since I bought a surfboard, so I was very uneducated about what has occurred in the last couple of years.  Just like all the other purchases we make this one originally seemed simple. Unfortunately, it turned very complicated very quickly. 

First heres some important background information on surfboard manufacturing.  Previous to December 5th 2005, virtually all surfboard foam was made by Clark Foam using polyurethane. TDI was the reactive agent used by Clark foam in making polyurethane. TDI is a Carcinogen. The EPA shut down the company after 45 years in business.  The circumstances surrounding the closing of the plant are very controversial and an important topic to be addressed in another blog.  So after December 5th 2005, if you bought a new surfboard, it was either made using another type of foam other than PU with TDI as a reactive agent or was not manufactured in the US.  

When I was talking to the salesperson at a local surf shop he pointed out that some of the surfboards were in fact made in China.  

The insane irony of this should now jump off the computer screen and smack you in the face.  Why would the US allow the importation of surfboards made using TDI? But not let a manufacturer use TDI in the production of surfboards here in the US.  Does this mean it's "OK" for workers outside the US to be exposed to cancer causing chemicals?  No it is not "OK".  So the US should ban the import of those surfboards.  Very simple.  But they don't.  

The surfboards made in China were, of course, much less expensive than the surfboards made in the US.  But, as I have pointed out before in other blogs relative to other products, the price difference did not include the environmental costs.  In this case not only are there environmental costs due to the carcinogen TDI but also due to the large carbon footprint caused by international transportation of this product.  As I said, this purchase originally seemed simple but turned very complicated.

I ended up buying a used surfboard made in the US after 2005.