If you’re buying groceries, bring your own reusable bag. Use bags made of sustainable cloth like hemp. You can easily wash them when they become dirty.

Stop using plastic bags. It pollutes our environment. Here in America, we use more than 100 billion plastic bags each year. That’s equivalent to 300 bags per person. And yet out of these billions, only 1 percent is recycled. Breaking it down, it means that the average American family will only recycle 15 bags annually. The rest gets thrown away to the landfills or the sea where the plastic bags kill marine wildlife.

If you’re an occasional recycler, consider going full-on recycling this 2020. Recycling saves energy, prevents pollution, and reduces the amount of waste sent to landfills and incinerators.

For instance, if everyone recycles their single-use bottles regularly, it can significantly reduce plastic pollution in our environment. In the latest Ocean Trash Index, plastic bottle beverages are the second most common type of plastic debris collected in clean-ups all over the world. So if we commit to doing this consistently in 2020, it can make a significant impact on the health of our oceans.

Also, never refill a single-use mineral bottle for drinking. After one use, mineral bottles tend to degrade. They might leak toxic chemicals or micro-plastics. Just put the bottle in the recycling bin when you’re done with it.

Even better than using plastic mineral bottles, switch to a glass drinking bottle instead.

Glass water bottles have more benefits than plastic ones. They’re refillable, free from toxic chemicals, and hold temperatures better than plastic. You also don’t need to replace them. Unless they break, of course.

Polyester, nylon, and acrylic are some of the worst plastic-based textile fibers to hit the fashion industry.

Not only do they have a large carbon footprint, but they also easily degrade into microfibers when they are washed. These microfibers are washed into the ocean where they contribute to the worsening microplastic pollution.

As an alternative to synthetic textiles, look for clothes made from natural fibers instead, like hemp or organic cotton. If you’re looking for rash guards, there are also eco-friendly alternatives as well.

We all share one planet so that means we have to do our part to make it last. Even the smallest initiative can lead to big results.

— Derek Dodds, Wave Tribe Founder

If you’re planning to get a new car for 2020, consider getting an electric vehicle or a hybrid because they are good for the environment. These electric vehicles cut down on carbon emissions because they run on electricity and not fuel. Also, they produce less carbon emissions during their manufacturing process than diesel-fueled cars.

Or you can ditch the car option in 2020 and resolve to walk, cycle, or commute to work. Not only does it have a lesser carbon footprint, but it also benefits your health.

Brisk walking, particularly, can help you beat obesity more than other forms of exercise. And when you commute to work, it makes your outlook happier.

When planning your overseas surfing trips in 2020, always choose the carbon-offset option when purchasing a plane ticket.

Airplanes have large carbon footprints. The crap that Duchess Markle and Prince Harry got for flying a private plane was due to the fact that airplane fuel burns a lot of energy and emits a lot of carbon. So it’s more wasteful to fly private than commercial because you’re adding more carbon emissions to the atmosphere.

Carbon-offsetting is a way to make up for the trouble your trip is causing the environment. These are voluntary schemes where people pay additional fees which goes to supporting environmental projects like reforestation and renewable energy that help offset the carbon emissions your flight is going to produce.

An example of this are Qantas’ Future Planet scheme which claims to be the largest airline offsetter. Others include Air Canada’s Less Emissions, Brussels Airlines with CO2 Logic, KLM’s CO2ZERO, and Austrian Airlines with Carbon Austria.

If you love doing laundry, consider hanging your clothes to dry.

A dryer emits more than a ton of carbon dioxide per year. If there are at least 88 million dryers in America, just imagine the impact it will have on our carbon emission levels. Not only that, it also uses so much energy which also adds to the carbon footprint since we generate our electricity by burning petroleum.

That’s why hanging clothes out to dry is more eco-friendly for the environment. And the good news is that clothes last longer when you line dry them because there is less wear and tear.

Whether it’s your time or money, a lot of ocean conservation non-profits will benefit from your contribution. Our beloved ocean is being threatened by a lot of problems and we all need to pitch in and do what we can to solve it.

Here at Wave Tribe, we created our Heal the Oceans page which compiles every worthwhile marine conservation project that needs support. This makes it easy for you to find noteworthy projects that you would like to support by donation or by volunteering your time.

Looking back, 2019 was a great year for us here at Wave Tribe. This 2020, we hope it will continue to be an awesome year of growth and discovery, not only for our tribe of stoke-fueled, eco-friendly surfers, but also for the rest of you out there. Let’s continue on surfing waves and saving the ocean.

Essential Wave Tribe Reads


Why Being a Vegetarian Can Help Save the Environment
How to Make your Surfing Travel Plans Eco-Friendly
The Ultimate Guide on How To Lower My Carbon Footprint - Surfer's Edition