FANATIC Sustainability ᐅ Save our Playgrounds!

LET'S FACE IT!

Our sport depends on a healthy environment - we all do! But up until today our sport is not the most sustainable thing in the world. We're consuming a large number of fossil fuels to develop, produce, transport and ultimately also get to the spot and ride our boards. Being out there itself is clean and the best we can do - but the way to get there leaves a trail. We at Fanatic are well aware of this and we're taking action to reduce our trail as much as we can - and more!

2023

CLEAN BEACH DAYS / From 28th of April to 1st of May 2023, our partners all over the world dedicated special attention to nature's beautiful resource.

2021

VIRTUAL CLEAN BEACH DAYS / Worldwide virtual event from 29.04. – 02.05.2021 to #SaveOurPlaygrounds!

2021

Our Fly Eco takes the 2nd place at the VICTOR Sports Buiness Award 2021 in the category "Sport & Climate Protection"

2021

Ray Eco - The most sustainable SUP Built by Michael Walther / Zero Emissions

2020

Save Our Playgrounds initiative by all B&M brands to streamline and optimize activities on sustainability

2020

Climate neutral production - Carbon Offset of emissions caused by production of Windsurf and SUP composite ranges

2020

100% plastic free packaging (majority products of our range)

2019

Jobrad initiative at B&M headquarters - supporting all employees with convenient deals on the latest bikes out there. Let's ride to work!

2018

Introduction of Fly Eco SUP range, complementing the Gecko Eco Freeride Windsurfing boards

2017

Bio Resin: Switch of composite production to Sicomin Bio Resin

2017

Introduction of Gecko Eco: Made of Flax, Cork and Wood

2016

Boards & More task forces on sustainability: Packaging, transport, materials, R&D, energy, NGOs and other initiatives

2013

Introduction of Cork Sandwich as alternative to oil based PVC

2012

Fanatic OCEAN MINDED initiative starts

2012

Ozone free foam blanks

2012

Audited facilities with filtration systems for all gases and particles

2012

Less paint, more picturesque - through the implementation of pigmented resin rather than painted colors in the graphics and finishing process

2023

CLEAN BEACH DAYS / From 28th of April to 1st of May 2023, our partners all over the world dedicated special attention to nature's beautiful resource.

2021

VIRTUAL CLEAN BEACH DAYS / Worldwide virtual event from 29.04. – 02.05.2021 to #SaveOurPlaygrounds!

2021

Our Fly Eco takes the 2nd place at the VICTOR Sports Buiness Award 2021 in the category "Sport & Climate Protection"

2021

Ray Eco - The most sustainable SUP Built by Michael Walther / Zero Emissions

2020

Save Our Playgrounds initiative by all B&M brands to streamline and optimize activities on sustainability

2020

Climate neutral production - Carbon Offset of emissions caused by production of Windsurf and SUP composite ranges

2020

100% plastic free packaging (majority products of our range)

2019

Jobrad initiative at B&M headquarters - supporting all employees with convenient deals on the latest bikes out there. Let's ride to work!

2018

Introduction of Fly Eco SUP range, complementing the Gecko Eco Freeride Windsurfing boards

2017

Bio Resin: Switch of composite production to Sicomin Bio Resin

2017

Introduction of Gecko Eco: Made of Flax, Cork and Wood

2016

Boards & More task forces on sustainability: Packaging, transport, materials, R&D, energy, NGOs and other initiatives

2013

Introduction of Cork Sandwich as alternative to oil based PVC

2012

Fanatic OCEAN MINDED initiative starts

2012

Ozone free foam blanks

2012

Audited facilities with filtration systems for all gases and particles

2012

Less paint, more picturesque - through the implementation of pigmented resin rather than painted colors in the graphics and finishing process

FROM THE IDEA TO YOU

OUR PROCESS

When it comes to sustainability, it's not sufficient to just implement natural materials and make our boards look more green.

Sustainability touches all areas: R&D, materials, production, packaging, shipping, and last but not least, the staff of our partners and our company. Sometimes it's even more sustainable to use recycled materials over natural resources. To explain what we're doing and why we do things the way we do, we'd like to go through all steps mentioned above to give you an idea of the challenges we're facing to offer you an affordable product you'll love and one that's as eco-friendly as possible.

All natural?

Materials

Sourcing the right materials is a task which goes beyond just trying to find the ingredients which grow rather than being based on fossil fuels. A major factor for sustainability is quality and longevity. No one wants to buy a board that looks like a tree but also rides like a log or breaks like a match. Once a board has a reduced life span due to being made from natural elements its much less sustainable compared to traditional boards. It's most likely going to be returned for warranty, which results in a new board being produced, packed and shipped around the world.

There are a few materials we've made very positive experience with, such as flax fibres, cork, certain type of wood and also Sicomin's Bio Resin, which contains a certain degree of natural elements. Some of these are found throughout the Fanatic range, some others are used for specific boards and their field of use. The Gecko and Fly Eco models are our flagships in this direction, with a beautiful flax-cork sandwich in the deck and a wooden bottom. No PVC has been used for these boards.

We're constantly sourcing and testing more eco-friendly materials and layups, but we're just at the beginning and still quite far away from a board being 100% compostable.

A very important point to consider is - where do these materials come from? Which other effects does it have when we use them and when they are being grown and prepared for production? How much transportation is involved?

Last but not least our customer needs to buy these more eco-friendly products without being scared of any downsides. If we produce them for the shelf without being bought and used, then that's not very sustainable on the business side. So don't be scared to go eco! If we bring it - it's being well tested, it's going to work and it will deliver you tons of fun!

EXCEEDING THE STANDARD

PRODUCTION

It's not a secret - we're producing the large majority of our composite products at Cobra International in Thailand. Cobra is the leading production of the industry - not only in terms of quality, but also in terms of social responsiveness and sustainability. In their code of conduct Cobra states:

“COBRA will do business in a socially and globally responsible way. We will strive for standardized, clean and safe working environment, provide secure jobs for employees, and build products that promote happiness and enhance quality of life. We will develop products to be environmentally-friendly using natural resources in a sustainable manner. Apart from this, COBRA will organize further social activities that will create a happy society around us.”

As one of the market leading brands we’re in close collaboration with Cobra to further push social responsibility and sustainability in all fields. Cobra believes – as well as we do – in the concept of Cradle-to-Cradle products. There are still a lot of hurdles to overcome to produce truly sustainable boards with fully sustainable production processes, with the separation of technical and biological nutrients being one of the greatest challenges in the recycling process, but the vision to create truly C-2-C composite products is there – and we’re supporting that vision to make it reality one day. Cobra is reporting their efforts and activities frequently, next to many social initiatives, here are just some achievements regarding sustainability between 2015 to 2018:

Electricity consumption reduced by 26.5%
Water consumption reduced by 50%
Gasoline consumption reduced by 38,6%
Waste reduction reduced by 37%
Fuel Oil was replaced by Biomass
Green spaces with almost 2000 trees planted within the premises

Working with a partner like Cobra we’re not only securing the quality you expect – which is ultimately a key factor for sustainable products – also that we can push sustainability on a much higher scale together with them and other brands producing at Cobra believing in the same values as we do.

GREENER, SMARTER, BETTER

PACKAGING

Not long ago our shops have received their boards wrapped in plastic bubble wrap, hold together by plastic tape and securely packed with extra styrofoam – offcuts from the production. Generally a good idea to re-use these offcut blocks, but the problem is: Further recycling is out of our control, it’s handed to our customer. Between all Boards&More brands we’ve created a task force to improve packaging with the followings goals:

Reduce unnecessary packing material
Minimize single-use plastics and replace by paper/cardboard
Use recycled plastic if at all needed
Minimize weight and size of packaging to safe space and fuel for transportation
Pack in a way to make recycling convenient for our customer

Our smaller Sky Wing boards come in a unique protection, which is made from cardboard that’s redisigned in a cool and clever way to add strength and durability. The unique packaging is the future of packaging surfboards, but also of protective packaging as a whole – that saves time when unpacking and can even be re-used for traveling when unpacked carefully.

With public awareness around single-use plastics and the devastating effect on the marine environment at an all-time high, all these efforts help us and you to actively reduce our environmental footprint.

B&M SYNERGIES

SHIPPING & TRANSPORT

Let’s be honest. If we all look at our personal carbon footprint, we’ll be shocked by the amount of CO2 we all contribute by our travel behavior. Most of us drive to the spot by car to have fun in the ocean or the nearest lake, some of us take planes frequently. The carbon emissions of air travel is significant. Shipping and general transportation is a factor of the carbon footprint of our boards too.

You might wonder – why are we producing far east when the main market is in Europe? Why not produce closer to our customer? That’s a legitimate question and if we’d have good options to produce closer to you – our customer, we’d surely look into these. The truth is, the options for a sustainable business with a production in Europe with the quality and standards we’ve accomplished with our partners in Asia aren’t available at this point, so we have to find ways to economize the shipping of our products as much as we can.

Our task force for shipping and transport between all Boards&More brands is constantly improving ways to combine shipping from our production lines to our centralized warehouse in Europe and to other key locations like our warehouse in the USA or other partners of our worldwide distribution. From these hubs we further combine shipments with our partner brands ION, Duotone Windsurfing and Duotone Kiteboarding to our shops. With our network of agents in key markets we’re very efficient and realistic in forecasting the markets needs. This allows us to plan way ahead and reduce air shipments to a bare minimum. All of this makes sure our products come to you with the smallest fuel consumption possible.

“GOOD THINGS COME TO THOSE WHO WAIT”

Even our professional planning can be slightly off the markets demands at times, so if one of our products isn’t on stock, keep in mind that we try to avoid air freight for a greener planet.

CLIMATE COMPENSATED PRODUCTION

CARBON OFFSET

Building our products will always have an environmental footprint. At Fanatic, we strive to minimize this footprint whenever possible. Check the "Our Mission" tab for details. We take these efforts very seriously because we are responsible for future generations to be able to enjoy our amazing sports in incredible surroundings as well. One important measure we take for this year is the compensation of carbon emissions generated by the production and transportation of our products.

In cooperation with Climate Partner, all of our windsurfing boards, the whole SUP range (composite boards, inflatable boards, paddles), and our foil boards will be produced climate-neutral from our 2021 models onwards by offsetting all carbon emissions caused.

Carbon offset by Climate Partner.

FANATIC SUP RANGE (ID: 12821-1910-1002)

HOW DOES IT WORK

Carbon offset projects demonstrably save greenhouse gases through activities such as afforestation or renewable energies. Independent organizations such as TÜV, SGS, PwC, and others check the exact volume saved. The project operator can finance the project through the sale of certified emission reductions. Only projects requiring additional financial support are recognized as carbon offset projects.

CRITERIA

INTERNATIONALLY RECOGNIZED STANDARDS FOR CARBON OFFSET PROJECTS

ADDITIONALITY
It must be ensured that the project can only be realized if it receives additional financing through emissions trading. This means the project must be reliant upon emissions trading in order to cover its financial needs.

EXCLUSION OF DOUBLE COUNTING
It must be ensured that the carbon emissions saved are only counted once — by the certificate owner. In particular, this means that certificates may only be sold once and then have to be retired.

PERMANENCE

Emissions savings must take place permanently. For example, carbon sequestration in forests must be long-term in nature. A reforested area that is turned back into a livestock pasture through slash-and-burn farming a few years later cannot receive recognition as a carbon offset project.

AUDITING ON A REGULAR BASIS BY INDEPENDENT THIRD PARTIES

Carbon offset projects must be audited in regular intervals according to the criteria listed above. Independent third parties such as TÜV, SGS, or PwC perform these audits. Audits like these retroactively determine the actual volume of carbon emissions saved.

STEP 1 / CALCULATING EMISSIONS

The calculation of each product´s carbon footprint is based on several factors such as raw materials, energy used during production, packaging and logistics. The calculation is done to gain information about the total amount of CO2, which is emitted to the atmosphere by the production of the product. CO2 emissions are measured in tons of CO2.

STEP 2 / OFFSETTING EMISSIONS

The exact amount of carbon, which is emitted by each product, is offset by supporting a carbon offset project that reduces the emission of greenhouse gases in the short or long-term. Such projects are validated and measured to ensure they produce authentic benefits and are genuinely “additional” activities that would not otherwise have been undertaken. The measured amount of CO2 that is compensated by the carbon offset project is then indicated by certificates. By financing carbon offset projects companies purchase these certificates for the amount of CO2 they need to offset.

Step 3 / TRACKING AND CONTROL

Internationally acknowledged quality standards guarantee the adherence to the criteria for carbon offset projects. They especially ensure that CO2 emissions are actually compensated in the amount stated. International standards like Verified Carbon Standard (VCS) or Gold Standard are covering most of the market. Both fulfill the requirements to the Kyoto Protocol. Additionally, independent organizations such as TÜV, SGS, PWC and others check the exact volume saved regularly.

STEP 1 / CALCULATING EMISSIONS

STEP 2 / OFFSETTING EMISSIONS

Step 3 / TRACKING AND CONTROL

OUR PARTNERS AND PROJECTS

CLIMATE PARTNER

Climate Partner is a leading solutions provider for corporate climate protection. Together with its clients, Climate Partner implements customized solutions for calculating and offsetting CO2 emissions to achieve climate neutrality for companies, services and products. As part of this process, Climate Partner ensures transparency through a clear labeling system that is anchored in an IT solution certified by the Austrian technical inspection authority (TÜV Austria). Climate Partner is considered to be the inventor of the climate neutral printing process and participated in the creation of ISO 16759 for carbon footprinting for print products. For offsets, Climate Partner develops its own carbon offset projects and offers a broad portfolio of recognized carbon offset projects in cooperation with a global network of partners. Founded in 2006 in Munich, the company has 40 staff members in Germany, Austria and Switzerland, as well as over 1000 clients. Climate Partner works closely with environmental associations and provides expert opinions on various international committees.

Supported Projects

Wind energy Gujarat, Indien - Clean electricity and support for local communities. The project activity involves the construction, commissioning and operation of a 51.2 MW wind farm in the state of Gujarat in India. The power plant comprises 64 wind turbine generators with a rated capacity 800 KW each and of the type Enercon E-53. How does wind energy help fight global warming? Since wind energy is created without burning fossil fuels, it is considered emission-free. The growth of renewable energy production is essential to limiting global warming and securing energy supplies for the future. The amount of emissions saved by a wind power project is calculated using the baseline method: how much CO2 would be released by generating the same amount of energy using standard energy production methods for the region?

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Afforestation Analong, China - Improving livelihoods through afforestation. The project saves greenhouse gases through afforestation in the counties of Huangping, Wengan and Anlong in Guizhou Province. These counties belong to China’s most impoverished areas, with most residents having no education and ethnic minorities make up a large share of the population. Irrational exploitation of soil resources have led to increasing rocky desertification and land degradation, which in negatively affect the survival of animal and plant species as well as socio-economic development.. How does afforestation help fight global warming? Forests are not only among the planet's most important carbon reservoirs. They also are home to an enormous diversity of species and are the livelihood for all people. However, global forest areas have declined sharply in recent decades due to increasing settlement, agricultural use, illegal logging and mining.

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PARTNERSHIPS IN SUSTAINABILITY PROJECTS

OUR AMBASSADORS

LIZZY CARR

PLANET PATROL

Thankfully, one incredible Stand Up Paddleboarder – Lizzie Carr - is spearheading a global mission to rid the world of plastic pollution, by tackling it from its root - canals and rivers all over world – thereby intercepting it before it reaches the oceans.

Already a keen adventurer and environmentalist, Lizzie originally got into SUP for fitness, but soon noticed that the waterways around London where she paddled were clogged with plastic waste. Lizzie set up a non-profit organisation that has grown to become a global movement of like-minded people working together on land and water to protect the environment we love.

Planet Patrol (formerly called Plastic Patrol) helps to organise clean-ups all over the world (44 countries and counting), bringing communities together at specified events to identify and collect plastic waste, photograph and log the evidence through the Planet Patrol App, before clearing it away. On World Cleenup Day Planet Patrol was organising global clean up actions in differents segments - a great achievement - which we're proudly supporting!

MORE INFORMATION

DONATE

PASCAL RÖSLER

PURE WATER FOR GENERATIONS

In 2017 Pascal Roesler, a businessman from Munich, paddled from Munich to the mouth of the Danube into the Black Sea, 2 467 km and 63 days on the water with his Falcon Air, about 600 000 paddle strokes in total. He did that all for a good cause – to raise awareness of the need for clean water, essential for our planet’s survival. In 2018 he went down the river Salzach, accompanied by our river SUP ambassador Oliver Heldt. The Salzach runs 225 kilometers before flowing into the river Inn. Pascal started his tour from the source near the Salzachgeier to demonstrate how the river changes on its way. In July 2019 he visited several schools in Bavaria to demonstrate awareness towards our water and environment. With 30 Fanatic SUPs, SUPing was a big part of this programme with over 1000 students enjoying the experience and learning more about sustainability and the role they can play in safeguarding our planet for future generations. In the meantime, Pascal has left his full time employment to
dedicate his time and effort to saving the environment with many exciting new projects to come.

MORE INFORMATION

DONATE

OUR PROJECTS

CLEAN BEACH DAY

From 28^th of April to 1^st of May 2023, our partners all over the world dedicated special attention to nature's beautiful resource. Because our watersports rely heavily on the ocean and clean earth, it was important for us to take the responsibility seriously to take steps to clear our watersport spots of washed ashore plastic.

To give you some impressions of how the watersports community united at more than 17 different spots worldwide and enjoyed the time together on the spots while collecting plastic, we want to show you some photos and insights of this successful event. Therefore, a big thank you to all participants for providing us with footage.

We are happy to announce that this year we will donate 15.000 € to organizations that help globally and locally to clean our earth from ocean plastic, educate about a clean earth and making our world a better place.

We are thankful for all participants as every single person counts to #SaveOurPlaygrounds!

The money will go to following organisations:

The Ocean Clean Up

As in previous years, we again want to support the Ocean Clean Up, as the largest clean-up mission in history. It is important for us to contribute to cleaning the oceans of plastic pollution to save our playgrounds. @theoceancleanup

Pure Water for Generations eV

Also, we are happy to support a local organization, that helps educate the younger generations about the importance of clean water. @pure.water.for.generations.e.v

Clean Hub

To not only help collect plastic all over beaches and oceans, we also wanted to support an organization that is committed to recycling it. Therefore, we have partnered with CleanHub to fund the removal of 5.000 KGs of plastic from the environment over the next 12 months. Through this partnership, we are able to not only help collect plastic but also invest in resilient waste management solutions to treat the plastic. Starting in June 2023, Clean Hub will start collecting plastic across Asia, with the goal to reach 5,000kg of plastic removal in 12 months. @cleanhub.io

about Fanatic / Boards & More

Company culture

FANATIC is a brand run by passionate people, whose first love was watersports. Launched back in the days, we initially focused on windsurfing and SUP. FANATIC's unique combination of high quality products wrapped in a progressive style and design found fans all over the world.

In the end, we just love to shred. No matter what kind of board we ride. This mindset is reflected in our brand philosophy: Fanatic is about challenging yourself, experiencing nature and feeling the force of gravity. Therefore we develop gear that is not only smart and innovative, but also transforms our passion into a unique design.

Home office

As a forward-thinking company, we believe working from home gives our employees new opportunities and the flexibility to spend more time with their families rather than wasting time every day commuting to the office. This is why, employees living further away from the office have one fixed day per week on which they are free to work from home.

As a measure of health precaution we are currently extending this measure to multiple days available to everyone.

FREE ON WINDY DAYS

Once in a while, conditions are just too god not to make the most of them. Meetings can be resumed and work can be caught up on. But whenever there is wind is on at the local lakes are calling our employees are free to get together and enjoy their session. The importance of team building is highly valued which is why we are flexible about giving time off.

At the end of the day we develop gear that expresses our passion and...to be honest, we just create the best possible stuff to have the most fun out on the water.

WORK-RIDE-SLEEP-REPEAT

SPOT OFFICE

The area around our main office in Munich is not exactly a water sports hotspot. So we have devised a way to give our employees more days out on the water each year. Everybody has the chance to work remotely from a Wing Foiling hotspot for two weeks per year. Of course this also applies to other watersports spots.

A session during lunch break sounds like a fair balance, right?

Jobrad

At Boards&More, we believe sustainability starts at home. The first step involves the people who show up every day to our main offices in Munich, Germany, which is why we decided to invest in them. By teaming up with JobRad, Boards&More offers every employee the opportunity to lease a bike, which they can use to commute to work, get around town, or for whatever other activity they want. Lots of our employees have taken advantage of this scheme and now get their exercise on their way to and from work. Not to mention lowering emissions by leaving their cars at home.