The Big Sea: a new film about watersports’ dirty secret
Are the wetsuit and neoprene booties you wear to paddleboard contributing to worker deaths?
“You try not to think about the fact that you’re being poisoned every day…”
Those are the haunting words said by one of the women workers at a US factory making neoprene. It’s in the trailer of a new documentary, The Big Sea, which is as much about surfing’s (and paddleboarding’s) dirty secret (what we wear) as it is about healthy working (ie, a capital or big C is also what we call a cancer diagnosis).
The problem is the way that wetsuits are made.
What do you own?
Despite being a relative newcomer to watersports, dating back to 2017, I already own two wetsuits – one for summer, and one a bit thicker for winter. Both are made of neoprene.
Whether you are a surfer, paddleboarder or wild water swimmer there are neoprene offerings of every type from spring suits to leggings. Neoprene is almost the only choice…
That’s why I also have neoprene gloves and I’m on my third pair of neoprene winter boots. They are so ‘good’ that I bought similar neoprene boots for my daughters so they can SUP with cosy toes in winter.
Actually, I did know that neoprene was a petro-chemical and in some ways bad for the planet. What’s more the care labels (buying info) hint that it’s not great, as you can have an allergic reaction. And there is some info on the web about its negative effects on the environment.
I’ve also used neoprene glue to fix a hole in one of my waterproof gloves. Oh my, the lingering, chocking smell of that thick black goo! This is not a clean product.
The Big Sea exposé
Lewis Arnold, from the North East, is the director of this independent, self-funded film. He’s surfed all his life and reckons he’s owned 20 wetsuits in his paddle life. Things changed three years ago when he began researching the impact of neoprene on the people who make it.
Neoprene is the commercial name for chloroprene rubber, produced by Denka. Their US plant is in Reserve, Louisiana, in an 85-mile industrial strip of the US (between New Orleans and Baton Rouge) known as Cancer Alley. As The Big Sea press release points out, “The town has the highest cancer risk in the USA due to emissions from the polluting Denka factory, which makes neoprene. The EPA states that the cancer rates are 50 times the national average for men, women and children due to well-known, ‘no-end-in-sight’ toxic emissions from the petrochemical plant.”
“The Big Sea film includes devastating stories of the many who have died, suffered or lost loved ones by the well-documented cancer risk in the town. The film also hints at a more positive future as surfers, surf brands, industry leaders, cultural commentators and environmental campaigners prove there is an alternative to perpetuating neoprene’s immense carbon footprint as well as its health risks,” from the press release.
So, who gets this exposure? The workers and their families, predominantly Black and low income, who live near the factory.
Updates about Cancer Alley and air pollution from chloropene (labelled as a likely human carcinogen by the EPA) do not show Denka trying to improve, see here.
Watch The Big Sea trailer
And make sure you see the full film when it starts screening at festivals throughout the autumn. At the moment there’s no schedule of dates, although it is due to be screened at Goals House during New York Climate Change Week in September 2023.
Next steps
Summer’s end is also the time the companies are pushing sales on us. Please people think hard about priorities. Buying cheap invariably means workers are missing out – usually on pay. But buying neoprene is much worse than that, it’s making Black workers and the people who live close to the chemical plant sick.
I’m so upset by the sacrifices that are considered OK. I’m a long way from Louisiana, and yet the Plaquemine Lock in Islington, London is a Louisiana themed pub just by Regent’s Canal and close to one of the community watersports centres that I coach at. This pub is decorated in Mardi-Gras jollity and serves spicy Cajun chips, making it a lovely place to drink and chat.
Passing that pub regularly does at least give me a reminder of how when it comes to what to wear to paddleboard, it cannot just be a consideration of price and fit.
The good news is that there are alternatives to neoprene. As well as limestone, oyster shell and natural rubber there are also experiments with various recycled materials (eg, nylon fishing nets, car tyres etc). Regrettably because the cost of worker sickness and family tragedy (the early loss of someone from cancer) is not factored into the cost of manufacturing your neoprene purchase, then this is all too often a cheaper price than more sustainable alternatives.
A rethink
This dilemma, cost versus conscience, is often thrown up as an eco problem. Back in the 1990s (when the damage humans were doing to the planet was not as well understood, or visible) people would insist that for the greater good there has to be some collateral damage (eg, I need paper to write a shopping list, so a few trees have to be cut down, with consequent habitat loss).
This is why environmental justice is so important. We can’t have a fair, green economy which tackles the climate crisis and nature crisis (and for that matter the cost of living), if we keep running our world in the same way. It is absolutely not OK to do sport in outfits that are harming Black workers and their families.
Ignorance is one thing, but thanks to The Big Sea documentary we know that neoprene wetsuits are far from clean.
With a hint of chill arriving in September and the wonderful opportunity for new kit that sales and Christmas can bring, it is important for SUP fans to buy slowly.
Maybe abandoning neoprene will have to be a gradual switch – so that you keep your wetsuit and leggings going for as long as you can with repair services. Or when you buy new (or secondhand) you aim for the items that have been made with neoprene scraps and recycled car tyres. Or, maybe if you want to stay warm all day then you accept the seasons and don’t SUP so much in the winter.
At the very least talk to other paddlers about what they find keeps them dry and warm without resorting to neoprene. Expect some uncomfortable conversations.
Alternatives & film link
Some brands stocking alternatives to neoprene include Wallien and Finisterre but please do share ideas for alternatives and repair services in the comments. Thank you!
Here’s the link to The Big Sea documentary website.
Feed back
Suggestion from Carolyn: “I have a Thermocline top made by Fourth Element. It's equivalent to 2mm neoprene, more comfortable, hopefully more ethical.... and more expensive! Interesting article. Thanks x”