If there's one thing San Diego is known for, it's surfing. And since surfers are often hyperaware of environmental issues (who better to notice and care about problems affecting the coast), it's no surprise that San Diego is home to Sticky Bumps, a pioneering maker of earth-conscious surfboard wax. (Parent company Wax Research is now located in Carlsbad, but rumor has it that Sticky Bumps founder John Dahl started mixing waxes back in 1972, a stone's throw from Swami's in Encinitas.)
Surfers wax up their boards to release water, thus allowing for better traction. Since oil and water don't mix, petroleum was the preferred base for most early surfboard waxes. Even today, "regular" bars of surf wax get that sticky feeling using petroleum or synthetic rubbers with heavy alcohol agents. The problem with these types of surf wax is not just the environmental cost of their manufacturing, but how they flake off and stick around in the ocean (pun intended).
The problem comes with finding a tacky substance that does it all: rubs on easily, stays on, stays sticky, doesn't melt, yet eventually biodegrades. Newer, more "natural", types of surf wax are made from a combination of biodegradable vegetable, soy, and beeswaxes. Sometimes they even come wrapped in recycled paper and soy ink. Sticky Bumps was one of the first companies to break away from paraffin and start offering soy-based surf wax ($2/bar vs. industry average of $1/bar). You'll find Sticky Bumps in just about every local surf shop, like Clairemont Surf Shop (6393 Balboa Ave).
BOTTOM LINE: 4 Stars ****
Big props to local company Sticky Bumps for leading the way in eco-friendly surf wax, but with only one soy-based type of wax and the rest seemingly proprietary (read: ingredients are a company secret, revealing only "Vaseline-like softeners"), there's always room for improvement.
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