We ripped the lock off the Uhaul and began pulling out the mountain of board bags piled to the ceiling and as I was schlepping the multicolored bags out of the trailer I said to myself, “damn that’s a lot of plastic.” Pulling all those bags out of that trailer got me thinking about the thirty years of surfing that I had done and the hundreds of surf products that I had purchased as my oceanic journey unfolded. I asked myself, "how much plastic had I been personally responsible for?" and I started to wonder about all those discarded items that I had thrown away over the years—broken leashes, ripped bags, soiled socks, broken boards.

I knew I would never stop surfing, the more I surf the more I appreciate it, my relationship with the ocean is one of the most important elements in my life—in fact, it is my life. How could I live my passion and at the same time decrease my environmental impact on the earth and ocean? I already bought organic foods and I even had some bamboo clothing, but where could I find clean surf products? After doing some research I discovered that ecological surf products did not exist—Wave Tribe was born in those moments of contemplation.

I decided to combine my business acumen and love for surfing into a sustainable surf products company. I had no idea how to do it but I knew I would learn because my vision was linked to a burning passion aligned with a sustainable vision for the future. I couldn't wait, between surf sessions on that Baja trip I took all those bags and put them next to each other and I wrote down what I thought were the best elements of each bag. I started thinking about material that could be used to replace all that plastic—what about hemp?

Hemp seemed like a wonderful alternative, it grows naturally without pesticides, is mold resistant, strong and durable, and most importantly biodegradable—at the end of its life-cycle it would go back into the earth and decompose, it wouldn’t rot in some landfill for the next thousand years. When I returned from my trip I started to do more research and began to contact factories to put together some rough samples. Next I found a company that would help me produce surfboard leashes out of recycled plastic, product number two was born and I could feel those Wave Tribe footprints getting lighter and lighter with each step.

Wave Tribe is learning as we go, we are a stoked company of surf crazed human being looking to do the right thing in a market place driven by big brands, corporate companies, and small margins. Like everyone else we are making our product overseas, but we are doing it differently.

Wave Tribe is committed to using sustainable materials and partners with companies that maintain an ethical work environment—‘we’ as consumers have forced companies to deliver lower and lower priced products. The reality is that 'how' a purchase impacts ones wallet is more decisive than 'how' the product influences the environment. We need to change how we think, how we look, how we consume, and how we live.

It’s up to all of us to join this tribal movement and to recognize the importance of walking (and surfing) differently. Our oceans and planet deserve and demand an immediate action, our lives are intimately connected to the health of our planet and if we don’t act now we’ll all be surfing in wave pools filled with bogie borders and chlorinated water.

Peace.

~ Derek Wave Tribe Founder One Ocean, One Planet, One Tribe.

PS. No offense to bogie borders, you are welcome to the Wave Tribe too!

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Jason, VP of Surfing, Sales & Marketing

• Devoted Surfer Since age 10.
• Devoted Snowboarder Since age 11.
• Devoted Entrepreneur since age 9. Yes, I used to sell candy to other kids.  But hey, I was a kid too!

What Matters Most…

My Beautiful and Brilliant Wife Hethir, Inner Peace, Happiness, and Balance, Family and Friends, Success in Business and Life, Having Fun, Surfing, Snowboarding, Music, Good Health, Great Food, Organic and Sustainable Everything, and Taking Care of our Beautiful Mother Earth.

Working with Wave Tribe is the manifestation of my lifelong dream to be involved in the Surfing and/or Snowboarding industries while doing something great for our planet. I love Wave Tribe!  Confucius says that if you do what you love, you’ll never have to work a day in your life. I am grateful to Wave Tribe for fulfilling that dream and am committed to educating Surfers and Snowboarders about the importance of sustainability and taking care of our Planet.

I have devoted the greater part of my career to becoming a master in sales and marketing, and I am thrilled to be able to bring that knowledge to the Tribe. I believe that the word sales should be changed to service, because our true mission is to serve.   In every interaction we are here to serve.  I am here to serve you, and Wave Tribe is here to serve Our Planet.

Thank you for being part of our mission and I look forward to serving you! 

~ Jason. One Ocean, One Planet, One Tribe.

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Ryan,  Sales Superstar California

My name is Ryan, I was born, raised and still live in sunny southern California. I have never really have had the desire to live anywhere else. I have moved four times, yet have not lived more than 5 miles away from the house I grew up in, except for a 3 month Central American adventure. Throughout my 26 years, I have learned a lot about many things, but mostly about myself. The most important thing I have learned is that one person can make a difference. You may think that your individual contribution to the world will be so insignificant that it is not worth making the effort. That is not the case, each and every one of us has the ability and the obligation to inspire thousands of others. Whatever your calling may be, your one voice can inspire one other person, who can then go on to inspire another and then another and so on.

I am so grateful to be working with the Wave Tribe team. Their mission has inspired me and it has become my duty to pass the word along, to inspire and motivate thousands of others. Green is not a fad or a generation, or even a movement, it is a duty. Our planet has given us so much and in return it is our duty to help restore, nurture and take care of her. I think of the planet as parent to us all. It has taken care of us as we have grown up. It has fed us, taught us and showed us how amazing life can be. But as with parents, the earth has aged and has become less able to take care of itself. It is our time to step in and be the parent. We owe it to the earth, this beautiful life force, that has given us so much.

At Wave Tribe, we are the first green surf company, but I can assure we will not be the last. Our job is to show people that there is a better way. Everything can and should be done in a more eco friendly manner. We as a human race can and have learned a lot from mother nature. It is time to start using the tools and resources that she has given us in a more responsible way. I, WE, can change the world. One voice can turn into tens, and then thousands, and eventually millions. Let your voice be heard.

~ Ryan.  Surfing With a Purpose!

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Paul,  Sales and Marketing

Life has a crazy way to open doors for you and let things happen almost as if it was written.

I met Derek after exchanging a few emails and both of us realizing that, in spite of living thousands of miles apart, we'd be chillin' in Floripa, South of Brazil, at the same time. When we met, I felt a synergy as if we'd known each other for years. And this type of thing has happened more and more, and so the Tribe grows.

Giving meaning to our life has been surely my most important quest since I was very young. Doing things in a certain manner because that's the way they are done is certainly not good enough for me. Do what you love, do your best, do what's right. Create, nurture, give - appeal more to me. Wave Tribe has been where I could put all these things together. Here is where we ask ourselves:how would WE do it?

You want clean oceans? You want clean air? You want a healthy life? You want good surf? Then take a stand, and act the way you think.

I ask myself the basic questions and answer them in complete honesty. Can we feel satisfied if we deteriorate everything (ocean, environment, resources, human lives) in order to satisfy our whims? As a Tribe, we can find a way where it doesn't have to be our only choice.

My dream is to make this a possibility for everyone, and this is the path setting out before me.

Spread the stoke,

~ Paul. One Ocean, One Planet, One Tribe.