Sustainable Surf
Annual Report
2022
For people and brands that love the ocean
Sustainable Surf is a 501c3 non-profit based in California. Our globally recognized programs, SeaTrees and the Ecoboard Project are “onramps” for brands and individuals to have a direct and measurable positive impact on our planet.
Sustainable Surf has a strong focus on sustainability and regenerative action campaigns. Our organization blends non-profit activism with an entrepreneurial business mindset, to create a highly innovative culture that engages businesses and individuals to take action to reverse climate change.
Kevin Whilden
Co-Director | Founder
Michael Stewart
Co-Director | Founder
A Message from our Founders
Sustainable Surf has entered its second decade as an organization, and we are incredibly grateful for all of the support of partners and donors throughout our first decade.
True story: we conceived the idea of Sustainable Surf on a surf trip in 2011, where the discussion of solutions to climate change exceeded the stoke of riding waves. We saw an opportunity for surfing and surfers to show true leadership on one of the most difficult problems imaginable.
To capture this opportunity, we launched a non-profit with climate change solutions as its core purpose. Although we recognized that in 2011, surf culture needed capacity building on sustainability, and our initial focus was on the Ecoboard Project, Deep Blue surf contests, and Waste to Waves.
Fast forward to 2019 when we launched our SeaTrees program, which develops blue carbon projects around the world. The success of SeaTrees has transformed our organization, brought on hundreds of new partners and donors, both within and outside of our core surf culture, and captured significant media attention for our unique approach.
In light of this success, we have updated the mission and vision of Sustainable Surf to better reflect our original vision and ambition. Our new vision statement is “Reverse climate change” and our new mission statement is “Regenerate the health of our ocean planet”.
Thanks to a generous capacity-building grant from our largest donor, Michael Schwab, we will continue the transformation of our company to exponentially grow our impact. This includes developing new SeaTrees projects, expanding the capabilities of our outstanding team, increasing the transparency of impact for donors, and creating more inspiring content and stories.
Together with our partners, donors, and staff, we will turn our vision into reality during our second decade. As we achieve our goal of developing one hundred SeaTrees projects by the end of this decade
Our values
VISION
Reverse Climate Change.
MISSION
Regenerate the health
of our Ocean Planet.
We believe the ocean is the hero of reversing climate change and its superpower is carbon sequestration.
To help enable this superpower, our programs work to plant, protect, and restore blue carbon coastal ecosystems, including kelp and mangrove forests, seagrass meadows, coral reefs, and coastal watersheds. These are the most impactful ecosystems on the planet for carbon sequestration and are biodiversity hotspots.
Our reach
Recognition as Ecopreneurs
2022 was a year of significant media coverage and reach for Sustainable Surf. In January 2022, we received recognition as "Ecopreneurs" and were featured in the first episode of "The Ecopreneurs" on Salesforce+. The Ecopreneurs series highlights everyday people stepping up to create extraordinary climate solutions. Our episode generated more than 3 million views, which is by far the largest viewership of any video featuring our organization.
To us, being an Ecopreneur means facing the most pressing issues on the planet and looking at how to solve them as part of a business while keeping the ocean at the center of every decision we make.
This has raised our public profile and allowed us to reach a much wider audience, which has helped us attract new supporters and raise more funds. These additional funds have allowed us to support more blue carbon projects, plant and restore more SeaTrees, and have a greater impact on our mission to regenerate the health of our ocean planet and reverse climate change.
Additionally, Sustainable Surf's message was distributed to an estimated 525+ million* people globally by leveraging the reach and following of brand partners and ambassadors.
*Social reach and impressions were calculated using the analytical tools and data metrics provided by the various media platforms. Maximum media reach was calculated based on the total circulation of publications.
Our Programs
SeaTrees and The Ecoboard Project are “on-ramps” for brands and individuals to have a direct and measurable positive impact on our planet.
SeaTrees
SeaTrees plants, protects, and restores blue carbon coastal ecosystems around the world to reverse climate change.
The Ecoboard Project
The Ecoboard Project transforms the way high-performance surfboards are made to be more sustainable.
growing our team
Sustainable Surf experienced a major transformation in 2022. We added seven new staff, growing our team from three to nine employees. This evolution of our company has allowed for improvements in our operations including meeting fundraising goals, producing more content, and progressing toward our goal of supporting 100 blue carbon projects by 2030. We're very excited to continue to grow our organization and impact in 2023 and beyond.
Our Team
Kevin Whilden
Co-Founder / Director
Michael Stewart
Co-Founder / Director
Alexandra Von Winterfeldt
Finance and Admin
Haley Jain Haggerstone
Partnerships
Manager
Leah Hays
SeaTrees
Project Manager
Alena Riggs
Communications
Manager
Mark Alvarado
Program
Analyst
Sam Bennett
PT Project
Manager
Mark Marovich
PT Partnerships
Advisor
SeaTrees
SeaTrees is a program of the 501c3 non-profit Sustainable Surf that develops coastal restoration projects around the world to reverse climate change.
We believe the ocean is the hero of reversing climate change, and its superpower is carbon sequestration. Through SeaTrees we plant, protect, and restore blue carbon coastal ecosystems, including kelp and mangrove forests, seagrass meadows, coral reefs, and coastal watersheds. These are the most impactful ecosystems on the planet for carbon sequestration and are biodiversity hotspots.
SeaTrees funds this work through donations from brands and individuals who are committed to reversing climate change and creating sustainable livelihoods for local communities.
We partner with local nonprofit organizations at each project location to manage the restoration and protection work being done, providing a vast array of critical benefits to both the people and the planet .
On World Mangrove Day 2022, SeaTrees achieved the milestone of planting two million SeaTrees across 16 projects. Our next goal is to support 100 SeaTrees projects by the end of this decade (2030) and set various new milestones along the way.
We planted and protected 65,490 SeaTrees in 2019, 412,900 SeaTrees in 2020, 1,000,380 SeaTrees in 2021, and 1,361,362 SeaTrees in 2022.
As of the end of 2022, we’ve planted and protected a total of 2,614,044 SeaTrees.
Kelp Restoration
Mangrove Planting
Marereni, Kenya
Monterey Bay, CA
Watershed Protection REDD+
Mangrove Planting
Seagrass Restoration
Mida Creek, Kenya
Southern Cardamom, Cambodia
Kelp Restoration
Cascai, Portugal
Palos Verdes, CA
Atlantic Ocean
Indian Ocean
Kelp Restoration Science
Pacific Ocean
Kelp Carbon Science
La Jolla, CA
Biak Region, Indonesia
Pacific Ocean
Supiori, Indonesia
Mangrove Planting
Laguna San Ignacio, Baja, Mexico
Kelp Restoration
Sydney, Australia
Watershed Restoration
Maliko, Hawaii, USA
Coral Reef Restoration
Launiupoko, Hawaii, USA
Watershed Protection REDD+
Paramos and Bosques, Colombia
Ped, Nusa Penida, Bali, Indonesia
Crystal Bay, Nusa Penida, Bali, Indonesia
Mangrove Planting
Mangrove Planting
Why blue carbon
Blue carbon coastal ecosystems draw carbon out of the atmosphere and sequester it faster than terrestrial ecosystems. Despite these benefits, they are one of the most threatened ecosystems on Earth. The regeneration of these ecosystems provides critical habitat for countless species, sustainable long-term employment for local communities, and protection from climate change impacts.
Mangroves
Mangrove forests are being lost at a rate of 2% per year, and these ecosystems are 5x more effective at storing carbon than tropical forests.
Kelp Forests
Kelp can sequester ~200 million tons of carbon dioxide per year by absorbing CO2 from the atmosphere and the ocean and exporting a large portion of its biomass out into the deep sea, sinking it to the deep ocean permanently.
Coral Reefs
Coral reefs are home to 25% of all marine life in the ocean and are the most diverse marine ecosystem on earth. Coral can sequester huge amounts of carbon from dissolved CO as carbonate, so that carbon stays within the reef system and out of the ocean and atmosphere.
Seagrass
Seagrasses are being lost at a rate of 1.5% per year. They cover less than 0.2% of ocean floor, but store about ~10% of the carbon buried in ocean sediment.
Coastal Watersheds
Blue carbon ecosystems are most effective when they are connected to a healthy watershed, which can capture and store atmospheric CO2 at 10x the rate of a mature tropical forest by sequestering it in the ground.
SEATREES IMPACT REPORT
In 2022, we reached over 2 million SeaTrees planted or restored across our projects around the world.
These 2 million SeaTrees breakdown as follows:
1.9M+
Mangrove Trees Planted
539K+
Sq-ft Kelp Restored + Protected
12K
Coral Fragments Planted + Protected
35K
Sq-ft of Watershed Restored
64K
Metric tons CO2 sequestered
Sustainable development impact report
The impact of each SeaTrees project is measured using the United Nations Sustainable Development goals, which are designed to transform our world for good by 2030. The success of our projects relies on creating jobs and livelihoods for the local people involved in maintaining healthy ecosystems for the future.
SeaTrees projects reduce climate change impacts, increase terrestrial and marine biodiversity, protect endangered species, create sustainable jobs, alleviate poverty and hunger, support education and gender equality, and more.
For more information on how SeaTrees supports sustainable development, please see a full breakdown by project at the link below.
Mangrove Planting: Marereni, Kenya
Key Impact Metrics
- 600+ jobs created for the local community.
- 40% of jobs are held by women.
- Increased access to healthcare and food.
- Provides training to the local villagers who will manage mangrove nurseries.
- Protection of local communities from storm surges and sea-level rise.
- Increase fishing activities and resources.
Kelp Restoration: Sydney, Australia
Key Impact Metrics
- Engages and educates local community members and increases the potential for the preservation of marine environments for generations to come.
- Provides ecosystem services such as nutrient cycling, carbon sequestration, oxygen production, coastal and habitat protection, and supports unique coastal biodiversity.
- Protects critical species such as wrasse, parma, abalone, lobster and herring.
Coral Reef Restoration: Bali, Indonesia
Key Impact Metrics
- Every 1000 corals planted creates approximately one week of employment.
- 25 local Indonesians are provided with employment - at a time when the pandemic had devastated Bali’s tourism-based economy.
- Habitat created for 500+ marine species.
Mangrove Forest Planting: Baja, Mexico
Key Impact Metrics
- 17,635 seedlings planted in the designated sites across 4.1 acres.
- 11+ women trained in project management and monitoring.
- 250 local community members have benefited from this project.
- Protects local areas and communities from erosion, sea-level rise and increased storm surges.
- Safeguards critical gray whale nursery habitat.
Watershed Restoration: Maui, Hawaii
Key Impact Metrics
- 10+ jobs created.
- 1,000+ livelihoods Improved.
- 85,000 sq-ft of coastal watershed restored.
- 40,000+ lbs of food grown and given away to the local community.
- Protects critical habitat in the watershed and offshore coral reefs.
A Community Effort
Our efforts this year to restore blue carbon coastal ecosystems and reverse climate change would not be possible without our amazing restoration partners. Because of them, we’ve made great strides in our mission to regenerate the health of our ocean planet.
Each of our SeaTrees projects is operated by local non-profits that conduct the restoration, planting, maintenance, and monitoring of their blue carbon ecosystem. And it is thanks to them - and all your support - we have achieved the monumental goals we've accomplished this year.
Project Media
Our marketing strategy creates compelling content showcasing our local project partners and the incredible work they do to regenerate ocean health and restore blue carbon coastal ecosystems around the world. Through these films, we are able to share our mission and impact with the world and help people understand the connection between surfing and the need for a healthy ocean. Check out our 2022 films below.
The
Ecoboard
Project
The Ecoboard Project is the first and only independent consumer-facing “eco-label” for boards.
The Ecoboard Project transforms production methods for high-performance surfboards to be more sustainable. The Ecoboard Project makes it simple for board builders to make more sustainable boards. Sustainable Surf verifies surfboard materials (resin and foam) and processes that reduce the carbon footprint, waste, and toxicity of boards during manufacturing. Our list of over 20 Qualified Materials makes it easy for board builders to find better materials to make their boards.
“The simple act of choosing a more sustainable board can be an on-ramp into a dramatically more sustainable, ocean-friendly life.”
- Michael Stewart, Co-founder of Sustainable Surf.
The environmental impact closest to waves is the surfboard we choose to ride.
Typical Poly Shortboard
Produces twice its weight in waste
High carbon footprint = 105lbs
Short lifespan and
made to be disposable
Cuts production waste by 50%
Cuts carbon footprint by 30%
Longer lifespan and more durable
Ecoboard
All surfboards are 90% plastic by weight.
Ecoboards significantly reduce plastic waste of surfboard production.
The “Verified Ecoboard” label is used by some of the world's best surfboard brands including:
~ 44,000
Verified Ecoboards were made in 2022
When a board displays the Ecoboard Level One or Gold Level label, Sustainable Surf has verified that it has one or more of the following attributes:
- A measurably reduced carbon footprint
- Renewable, recycled and/or up-cycled material inputs
- Uses materials and processes that reduce toxicity during manufacturing
- Reduces waste during manufacturing
The global surfing community now recognizes the Ecoboard Project label as indicating a board that protects ocean health without sacrificing high performance. This is a radical shift from when the program first launched in 2011.
To learn more about the process of certifying Ecoboards and our mission to build a more sustainable future for surfing, please visit the website.
Number of boards
Number of Ecoboards Produced by year
75,000
50,000
25,000
0
2012
2013
2014
2015
2016
2017
2018
2019
2020
2021
2022
Year
**Note, annual production of Ecoboards dipped in the past two years from a combination of supply chain shortages that reduced the availability of more sustainable surfboard materials and reduced demand for new boards due to the economic downturn in 2022. However, we hope for production to rise in 2023 as supply chain shortages ease and material availability increases.
2022 Financial Summary
2022 was a year of significant growth for Sustainable Surf.
$2.5M
2022
Total Income
In 2022 our income was $2,505,000 and our total expenses were $2,224,000, compared to $1,390,000 and $997,400 in 2021. Our indirect cost rate for 2022 is 8%.
This growth was driven by the SeaTrees Program, which has become a compelling fundraising platform and accounts for 91% of our income. SeaTrees income sources include foundation grants, brand partnerships, and individual donations through the SeaTrees website.
SeaTrees income is used for program delivery, which includes developing and funding ecosystem projects, creating educational content and films, and evaluating program impact with project site visits and other data collection methods. SeaTrees income is also used to launch new SeaTrees projects in order to meet our goal of 100 SeaTrees projects by 2030.
$2.2M
2022
Total Expenses
8%
2022
Indirect Cost Rate
10 years of Income and Expenses
3,000,000
2,000,000
1,000,000
0
Income
Expenses
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
2016
2017
2018
2019
2020
2021
2022
2022 Income: $2,505,516
2022 Expenses: $2,224,383
Merchandise
0.6%
In-Kind
1.8%
SeaTrees Science Project
8%
Foundations/Grants
18.9%
Program Service Fees
1.3%
Individual Donations
6.8%
Corporate Donations
5.3%
SeaTrees Brand Partners
57.4%
Fundraising
2.6%
The Ecoboard Project
4.7%
Administration
5.2%
SeaTrees Projects
87.5%
Case studies
Ocean Positive brands are taking action NOW to sequester more carbon emissions than they’re creating - having a positive impact on the ocean and the life it supports.
10 Ocean Positive+ Brands Added in 2022
22 Ocean Positive+ Brands to Date
OSEA
OSEA became the first Ocean Positive beauty brand in 2022. They’re also Climate Neutral and have been since 2020.
As a seaweed-based skincare brand, it was a natural progression for them. “We’re going from climate neutral to ocean positive, which we see as a leveling up,” says Melissa Palmer, Co-founder and CEO of OSEA. The company calculated their carbon footprint with the help of Climate Neutral and wiped it out with SeaTrees.
OSEA also looked at their carbon footprint and found ways to minimize it by managing their paper usage in the office, eliminating invoices in customer orders, and installing solar panels on their rooftop.
Head High Wines
Head High Wines is one of the most environmentally conscious wine brands in the world, and responsible stewards of the land.
In order to become an Ocean Positive partner, SeaTrees calculated Head High Wine’s carbon footprint and discovered the largest part of their footprint as associated with the glass bottles, which allowed them to make changes to their operations. Opting to make the shift toward lighter, locally sourced glass bottles with screen printed labels (rather than plastic), Head High Wines was able to lower their carbon footprint significantly, and wiped out the remaining impact with SeaTrees Tokens - becoming the first Ocean Positive wine brand.
HULA
We have worked with HULA, a technology-driven coworking campus, business incubator, and venture capital fund, to wipe out the entire carbon footprint of their campus. This has helped all businesses located in and operating out of the campus to wipe out the climate impact of all office operations.
If you would like to learn more about becoming Ocean Positive, please visit our website or contact our Partnerships Manager at haley@sustainablesurf.org.
The Lost Beings Collection
In August 2022, we partnered with Court of the Forest to support their "Lost Beings" NFT project. This innovative approach to fundraising proved to be incredibly beneficial to the SeaTrees mission.
The Lost Beings collection was created to help rebuild the world's forests through the power of art. Each piece in The Court of the Forest "The Lost Beings" collection plants and protects degraded coastal mangrove forests at our SeaTrees project site in Kenya. In total, this collection planted 4,627 mangrove trees!
We will continue exploring innovative ways to use blockchain technology to further our mission to reverse climate change and protect our ocean planet.
To learn more about this project, click here. To learn more about SeaTrees Digital Currency Donations, click here.
Thank you
Our Supporters
We would like to thank all of our supporters for helping make our work possible. Without you, our work to reverse climate change by regenerating the health of our ocean planet would not be possible. We're all about partnerships that deliver tangible impact and create engaging content/stories for a global community of people who care about the ocean. We look forward to diving deeper into our partnerships in 2023 and beyond.
Board of Directors
Ambassadors
Jim Moriarty
Brian Thurston
Kevin Tighe
Scott Coleman
Steve Shipsey
Cathy Campbell
Justin Wilkenfeld
Michael Stewart
Kevin Whilden Surf
Advisory Board
Dr. Margaret Leinen
Brian Spitz
Eric Chin
David Yuan
Chris Malloy
Steve Reiss
Charles Adler
Robin Graham
Yves BĂ©har
Dr. Jess Ponting
Dr. Gregory Borne
Dan Fitzgerald
David Hertz
Dr. Wallce J. Nichols
Pamela Wilhelms
Dr. Allen Hershkowitz
Jeff Mendelsohn
Gary Groff
Dr. Octavio Aburto
Alison Teal
Ashley Lloyd
Bianca Valenti
Bo Bridges
Chris Bertish
Danni Washington
Greg Long
Kassia Meador
Kevin Mirsky
Miguel Blanco
Pacha Light
Pedro Bala
Ron Machado
Ryan Harris
Sarah Lee
Tyler Fox
Zane Kekoa Schweitzer
2022 Corporate Partners*
12 Tides
4ocean
Aerial
Agency73
Alimo
AltamarCAM
Alvarez & Marsal
Anabela Chan
Another Tee
Arcadia Earth
Aspiration
Avocado Green Brands
Baloo
Bank of the West
Bates Wells
Beachly
Benevity
Bitski
Boardriders Foundation
Bumble Bee Seafoods
Burgeon Beer Company
Canada Computational Unlimited
CANOPY
Ceres
Channel Islands
Composed Creative
Conserving Beauty
Corona Island
Custom Patch Hats
DailyKarma
Designers Remix
Dorai
DPR Construction
Duff and Shuffle
Ebb & Flow
Eisbach Riders
Ettitude
Experience Travel
Faro Board Bags
Firewire Surfboards
Florence Marine X
Form Nutrition
Freshpet
Fullmoon Digital
GetGreen
Glo
Goodr
GoPro
Green Circle Salons
Green Story
Grounded Packaging
GSI Outdoors
Handprint
Head High Wines
HOKALI
Hula
INBLOOM
ISLE Surf & Sup
JuneShine
Kassia+Surf
Kindhumans
Los Angeles Yacht Charter
Lost Pirate Coffee
MaCher
Maine Salt Farm
MARA Beauty
Missing Link
Monitor Premiums
Natural Selection Tour
Nixon
North County Board Meeting
Oasense
One Ocean Beauty
Offshore Opex
Onomao
Orlebar Brown
OSEA
P&Co
PANGAIA
Parkit
PEDAL Electric
Pledge
Point B
Preserve
Prosper Insurance
R.A.G.E. Nation Apparel
RallyUp
REUZBL
Salcombe Distilling
Salesforce
SEA-el
Seagreen
SeaVees
Seek Discomfort
Sk*p
Slimes
Solento Surf Festival
Sonos
Spooked Kooks
Starboard
Stasher
StorQuest
Stylecard
Surftech
The Garment
Third Eye Blind
Tidemark
Unita
Venus
Visitor Store
Waiakea
Walrus Oil
Waterhaul
We Are Ndependent
WeTransfer
World Surfaris
*Donated $500+ in 2022
We cannot say it enough - your support of our organization has been a key part of our continued success, and we want to thank you for believing in our mission.
Stay tuned for a new wave of SeaTrees projects in 2023. With several new restoration and planting projects in the pipeline, we're well on our way to our goal of supporting 100 blue carbon projects by 2030.
Sign-up to our newsletter today to plant your 1st mangrove tree.
PO Box 3058 Manhattan Beach, CA 90266
@sustainsurf
@sea.trees
www.sustainablesurf.org
