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THE TIME IS NOW
Central Coast surfer Aubrey Falk and crew form 'Surfers without Borders' to share ideas about sustainable ways of living
By: Aubrey Falk and Loren Luyendyk
WOMEN THE TIME IS NOW
January 3, 2009
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As surfers, it can be a challenge to see beyond the single-minded pursuit of getting waves. The current global economic and environmental crisis may very well be a result of this "what-can-I-get?" mentality. But we're finding out that we can only take so much from the earth, its creatures, and each other before the imbalance becomes too great.
 
Surfing can change a place, for better or worse. Many of us have traveled the globe and seen first-hand the effects of increased traffic on coastal communities that aren't equipped or prepared to deal with it. And that's how our effort, 'Surfers Without Borders,' came about -- we had the desire to improve living conditions and relationships between different cultures at surf spots all over the world. Sharing ideas about sustainable ways of living is a key to our ultimate goal.
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THE TIME IS NOW
Just another day of good deeds accomplished -- and the rewards. Photo: Delfin
We started working with Permaculture -- a natural design science that allows for the sustainable production of all our needs: Water, food, shelter and energy. We also wanted to have fun and find creative ways to connect with locals so we brought donated art supplies to share with kids at the beaches and schools.

A one-ton diesel truck with a cab-over camper carried the two of us (my partner Loren and me), our tools, supplies, and donated surf gear along the coastal road from Santa Barbara through Baja to Southern Mexico. For the most part, smiling faces greeted us and we never felt threatened or in danger, save sinus infections from dirty water. Sewage treatment in some places is far from optimal and plastic in the environment is a huge problem here -- well, like the rest of the world. Rampant development is sucking natural resources dry. The clearing of fragile landscapes has left some places even more eroded and dangerously unsustainable so we came up with a few projects that could help alleviate some of these concerns. To deal with the issue of sewage, we built composting toilets, which use no water and therefore keep human waste out of the ocean while also producing fertilizer. To help with a reliable water supply we built a Slow Sand Filter, which purifies mildly polluted water for drinking.

Copies of the Introduction to Permaculture by Bill Mollison (in Spanish) were distributed along with vegetable and tree seeds to increase local food production. We started a Water Bottle Refill Program to decrease the use of plastic, where local businesses offer refills of purified water for your own bottle.

Still, we had plenty of time to get good waves and connect with friends who were interested in participating. Bo and Drake Stanley hosted us along with a ripping crew of Cali girls at their house in Southern Baja. Jenny Useldinger came to meet up with us in Oaxaca, and was fired up to lead beach clean-ups in Puerto Escondido and also helped with some art projects. Jeremy Sherwin with Reef Redemption joined us at La Jolla and shared with us his passion and ideas about sustainability (and his alaia).

We feel incredibly grateful to have the opportunity and support to be a part of a new emerging awareness amongst surfers across the globe! The time is now!

For more info: SurfersWithoutBorders.org.
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