Shaper of the Uneless

-Shaping, a passion-

I have always been fascinated by shaping: how by giving a shape to a surfboard it would interact with the wave. 

By taking an interest in the surfboard's manufacture, I immediately turned to alternative productions based on natural materials. I had the chance to learn with known and recognized shapers: GAWOOD in Bretagne, FLAMASURFBOARD in Barcelona and BURNETTSURFBOARD in South Africa. They all have different manufacturing processes, but one goal is to offer more environmentally friendly surfing.

-The Uneless, a fact -

By looking at the life cycle of a surfboard, I realized that like many other objects, we do not take into consideration its end of life and its environmental impact from the moment we do not used more.

It is true that myself, I never thought about the question of what would become of my surfboard when I no longer needed it or it was broken.

Surfboards at the end of their life are not recycled, due to mixtures of petrochemicals, which make the process impossible in an automated recycling chain.

So in France, they will end up buried like 39% of our waste. By hiding them from our eyes, do they really disappear? They will begin to disintegrate underground into microplastics and with the rainwater that infiltrates, they will go into the water tables, rivers and oceans.

The second option is that they will end up incinerated, again petrochemical waste gives off toxic gases that will go into the atmosphere as well as carbon dioxide emissions, some plastic particles will fly away and even after incineration it will still remain between 20 % and 30% of waste.

It is no longer possible to continue like this, it is necessary to find solutions not alternatives but complete replacement.

After a TV report on microplastics, I realized that before wanting to make new surfboards, even ecological, I had to focus on existing surfboards that are no longer used.

I had to tackle one of the causes of pollution of the ocean, a cause directly related to the activity of surfing and surfers.

There is an abundance of free and usable materials, which will reduce environmental impacts if they are reused, they will reduce waste and also decrease the number of new conventional surfboards produced.

Nothing is lost, nothing is created, everything is surfed!

-Upcycling Process-

Thanks to numerous tests and discussions with other shapers, the Upcycling process is operational. It had to meet standards that I set:

1 ° Sustainable surfboard,

2 ° a minimum use of resources for its manufacture,

3 ° the use of local resources that respect the environment (wood, cork, bamboo),

4 ° a repair facility accessible to the greatest number,

5 ° sustainability and above all a capacity to be recycled and reused at the end of its life.

The foam of the old surf is covered, thanks to a vacuum bonding, with natural materials which will give it the same technical characteristics as a classic surf: solidity, waterproofness and flexibility.

-A Second life for children-

When I think about protecting my planet, I think a lot about the futur generations, they may be the most impacted by climate change and ocean pollution. We must lead by example and share our knowledge with them.

I think that the best actions are those that we do for others. They make sense of it all.

All surfboards recycled with ReGlisse will be made available to children through different associations which all have the same objective of discovering the joys of the Ocean.

There is in particular HandiSurf which works with a young audience of disabled children, SurfInsertion which introduces surfing to young people from more disadvantaged neighborhoods or the Paddle Paddle Project which combines surfing and education in missions in third world countries.

If you want someone to be sensitive and concerned about nature’s conservation, you have to created interactions with it, memories and feelings.

What is the real value of the items we buy?
That of leaving a viable Earth for future generations.

I work in partnership with the ReGlisse association which is a non-profit purpose, all of its funds are invested in ecology which aims to be united.

An adventure come true, Because of you.

For a viable Tomorrow and a respectful sport.

Jonathan, Shaper of the Uneless.

The nonprofit ReGlisse is from Perpignan, South of France, she is created by Jonathan, 24years old and Shaper of the Uneless.The object is to participate at the conservation of our planet.