Remove Cheap Polystyrene Bodyboards from Sale in Bude
From the start, we set out with an ambitious goal: Remove Cheap Polystyrene Bodyboards from Sale in Bude. Thanks to your trust and belief in this campaign, we have made tremendous strides toward that goal. Here are some of the highlights:
- Milestone 1: Raising Awareness with Residents, Businesses and Visitors. Through targeted pop-up events across the Bude area, and multiple digital channels we pushed to eliminate these harmful beach products from Bude’s beaches. We held 12 pop-ups at different locations, spending over 24 hours engaging with the public, and reached over 8000 social media users.
- Milestone 2: Bodyboard Amnesty. Partnering with 3 official drop-off points across the Bude area. In the region of 170 bodyboards collected from our beaches, public spaces and tourist accommodation this summer. Diverting approximately 265 kilograms of harmful polystyrene from polluting our oceans and food chain.
- Milestone 3: Successful Signposting. Campaign messaging has signposted consumers to make sustainable alternatives to cheap polystyrene bodyboards – buying “unbreakable” bodyboards from Zuma Jay, or renting through various local organisations such as Bude Sea Pool, Zuma Jay and Wooda.
- Milestone 4: Partnership and Collaboration. Zuma Jay partnered with Bude Area Tourist Board to trial sale of Zuma Jay’s famous fully recycled plastic UNBREAKABLE bodyboards over the summer season.
Bodyboard AmnestyBodyboard Amnesty for Bude🏄♂️
Teaming up with @keepbritaintidy’s Ocean Recovery Project, @2minutehq, @cleanerseasproject, and @zumajaysurfshop, we worked hard to highlight the issue of tidal trash throughout the summer season.
“Shipping containers of cheap boards are sent 11,000 miles across the globe only to end up as waste for the South West to deal with”, Neil Hembrow, Keep Britain Tidy. The environmental toll is vast. These polystyrene bodyboards start in factories in the Far East, travel thousands of miles, and often end up in landfills or incinerators. When these boards snap, they release thousands of tiny polystyrene beads into marine habitats, threatening marine life.
We partnered with multiple community groups and businesses across Bude to act as drop-off points for broken bodyboards, to funnel them to one place, to show the true impact of cheap polystyrene goods and their environmental harm. Three key locations were shared with the public to engage with, they were:
– Crooklets Beach: The 2 Minute Foundation’s Crab Shack
– Summerleaze Beach: @visitbude Beach Office
– Northcott Mouth: @sipandseacornwall
At the end of the summer season, we hoped to host a community event to strip down and recycle all collected boards. We’re now excited to announce that Porthtowan Fine Arts are planning a thought-provoking exhibition with the bodyboard waste which will be open to the public later this year. Details to follow.
A Few Words of Thanks
First and foremost, we want to thank each and every one of you. Whether you shared our message, signed our petition, took a broken or abandoned bodyboard to one of our drop-off points, or simply cheered us on from the sidelines, your support has been invaluable.
To our partners: You believed in the campaign enough to contribute your time, resources and expertise, and that means the world to us. Your collaborative support gave this important campaign credibility and validity needed to truly initiate change, reaching audiences we never could have alone. Thank you to The 2-Minute Foundation, Keep Britain Tidy, Zuma Jay, Cleaner Seas Project and Visit Bude.
Special thanks also to Sip + Sea at Northcott Mouth for agreeing to be our drop-off point, being endlessly supportive in advocating for the campaign and for the Bude Way.
What’s Next?
Though the bodyboard amnesty is coming to an end, our campaign is far from over. We are already in discussions with Bude’s businesses that sell these harmful beach products, to eradicate cheap polystyrene bodyboards from Bude. Although the 2024 summer season has finished, businesses will soon be making buying and stock commitments for the 2025 summer season. Therefore its important to keep the conversation going and continue raising awareness.
If you want to stay updated on our future plans, follow us on Instagram or Facebook.