Cork is slowly entering the surfboard world. Shapers are giving it a go; surfers like its consistency. But we had never seen a board shaped from recycled cork stoppers.
A group of social entrepreneurs from Murcia, Spain, has shaped and developed a patented-protected surfboard made of traditional cork stoppers.
When the wine's over, cork stoppers are excellent buoyant materials. So, why couldn't they be cut and shaped into a classic shortboard? Is it forbidden? If not, let's get the hands dirty.
The final result is truly amazing. You can actually look through this unusual cork surfboard and appreciate the warm color of the sun.
Breaking Taboos
The Spanish collective - Rich People Things - behind the project "Connecting the Corks" aims to "break taboos and cliches" with the help of this natural material.
"When we receive the cork stoppers, we have to classify them by size. As we've learned from the bees, we form hexagons until we get the full board. Surfboards are aquatic love poems. They generate dreams and smiles and show us secret paths," the brand explains.
"Sometimes they're mirrors, too. When we shape a surfboard, we do it with total respect for the environment - from the pine resin and beeswax we use to glue the holes between the cork stopper to the natural fiber, and bio-resin used to finish it."
Rich People Things believe that more than 2500 tons of cork stoppers are thrown away every year in Spain.
Fortunately, the creative minds from Murcia have other plans for this impermeable material and, inspired by honeycombs, will keep placing together groups of fix stoppers to create innovative wave riding crafts.