ASB MAGAZINE: Mark Richards, Australia’s legendary four-time world surfing champion was presented with a Lifetime Achievement award at this year’s SIMA Waterman’s event held at the 30th Annual SIMA Waterman’s at The Ranch at Laguna Beach, Calif. Also honoured during the Waterman’s event was Kai Lenny who was honoured with the Waterman of the Year award. Supporting environmentalism is the main goal of Waterman’s, which is the annual fund-raiser produced by the Surf Industry Manufacturers Association (SIMA) and put together $250,000 this year for a range of ocean-focused environmental groups.
The who’s who of US industry received a striking challenge from Dianna Cohen. The co-founder and chief executive officer of the Plastic Pollution Coalition who was honoured with the Environmentalist of the Year award to recognize her efforts to help rid the world of single-use plastics. Recently, the United Nations released a dystopian forecast, which revealed that by 2050 there will be more plastics in the oceans than fish.
“You guys are the people who can really drive the change,” Cohen told a cheering crowd, which included Hurley founder Bob Hurley and Paul Naudé, founder of the Vissla and president of the SIMA Environmental Fund, which spearheads the fund-raising for Waterman’s.
“Your companies can create the change,” Cohen continued. “You really need to take the lead. The Surf Industry Manufacturers Association needs to step up. Your livelihoods and the health of the planet, the health of people and animals and the oceans depend on it.”
Actor Jeff Bridges made a surprise appearance at Waterman’s in order to introduce Cohen and present her with the surfboard-shaped trophy.
Cohen’s comments were delivered at a time when more surf brands are adopting sustainable-manufacturing practices. In the past, surf brands have been criticised for paying lip service to sustainability (read our Professional Edition article HERE)
To address this concern, SIMA will be rolling out a few sustainability initiatives of its own. This week SIMA produced a talk called “Sustainability in Our Industry: Moving Beyond Recycled,” which will take place at the headquarters of Vans in Costa Mesa, Calif.
The group’s Business Sustainability Alliance will soon introduce two initiatives to help make their members better environmental citizens, said Sean Smith, SIMA’s executive director. One is to recommend that SIMA members stop publishing print catalogues. Members spend $5 million on printing the catalogues, which requires 540 tons of wood to produce and generates 2.43 million pounds of carbon dioxide—the most significant greenhouse gas in the Earth’s atmosphere, according to information collected by SIMA. The trade group will recommend members publish digital catalogues.
SIMA is also starting a campaign to reduce plastics. SIMA hopes to eventually cut single-use poly bags in its market, Smith said.
Waterman’s has raised almost $9 million for environmental groups over its three decades of environmental philanthropy. The 2019 SIMA Environmental Fund grant recipients included the research and advocacy group 5 Gyres Institute, which also is a founding member of the Plastic Pollution Coalition. Other recipients were the Assateague Coastal Trust, Clean Ocean Action, Heal the Bay, the North Shore Community Land Trustand the Ocean Institute.
More information SIMA.org
