1 week Ago By [email protected] (Olivier Vergnault)
A North Cornwall surf shop has been on a mission to phase out everything associated with the throwaway culture. TJ's surf shop by the entrance to Polzeath beach has been ditching single-use plastic from its shelves from easily breakable polystyrene bodyboards to what probably epitomises beach holidays all over Britain - buckets and spades. Kie Owen, the supervisor at TJ's which has been going since 1987, said the response to the shop's own campaign to see fewer plastic items left behind at the top holiday resort beach has been well received and positive.
He explained: "Over the last couple of seasons we've been doing our best to phase out any products associated with the throwaway holiday culture that tends to be popular in beach towns. "We've been phasing out plastic buckets and spades in favour of more expensive but more durable metal ones, and the crabbing nets and lines we sell are constructed from degradable materials. Generally we have found that people often comment on how nice it is that we sell them, but often families on holiday are on a budget and see the toys as something that will only be used once so cheaper ones will suffice.
" Fully behind CornwallLive's Ban The Boards campaign, Kie said the price argument that these boards have their place as they are affordable does not cut it when they tend to snap after a handful of uses and sometimes even after a single use, before being discarded broken on the beach. He added: "As for bodyboards, we've always tried to carry a range of options that suit different price points and offer different performances. That being said we do not believe there is a space for what essentially amounts to single-use disposable bodyboards in Polzeath or anywhere on UK beaches.
"We tend to notice that if anyone is surprised by the starting prices of our boards, it is because they are directly comparing it to what they have seen in supermarkets or similar shops. "Once we explain the benefits of a mid or high-range board, they very quickly understand the importance of investing a little bit more in equipment that will last five or six seasons rather than one or two uses." Like many other surf shops in Cornwall, he said Polzeath has seen a huge resurgence in old school wooden bellyboards over the last couple of seasons.
"It prompted us to stock them ourselves," he added. "Many of the people we chatted to who were sporting them were pensioner aged and had owned their boards for decades, highlighting just how sustainable a product they are.".
