Starboard’s Plastic Offset Program (POP)

Starboard has created some of the world’s best windsurf and stand up paddleboards since 1994, and is the top choice for many champions and beginners around the globe. Although Starboard is not directly responsible for marine littering, they still use plastic in their production which means they still participate in a plastic economy that pollutes those waters with toxic plastic materials.

Starboard Co. has taken the SUP lead in offsetting the impacts of the plastic used in its business by creating the first Plastic Offset Program (POP). After calculating their Plastic Footprint, Starboard took the leap to “price in” its plastic use by assigning a financial value to the plastic used in production according to three different factors: duration of use, toxicity, and creation of waste. By accounting for these factors with an offset price, the Plastic Offset Program acknowledges the dynamic nature of the problems caused by plastics and further clarifies – and quantifies – the investment necessary to mitigate the impact of plastic used. This pricing scheme also encourages companies like Starboard to rethink and reinvent how they use plastic in an effort to reduce the external cost of the plastics they use. Eliminating plastics from production, or switching to less harmful varieties (and thus with lower offset prices) will lead to a reduced investment in the Plastic Offset Program, incentivizing companies such as Starboard to reengineer and reduce their plastic consumption habits.

SUPboarder is fully behind Starboards efforts in reducing their impact on the environment, and hopes that other brands follow suit so we can all feel happier using the boards beneath our feet.