Earth Day: How Tofino is Making Big Moves

Earth Day is about collective action, and here in Tofino, we’re leading meaningful changes that positively impact our environment and set our community apart.

On Earth Day (Today!), our town’s single-use plastic water bottle ban officially comes into effect. It’s a bold step toward reducing waste in a place where the connection to the ocean is part of everyday life. As surfers, business owners, and locals, we see firsthand how plastic pollution impacts our beaches and waters and this is one meaningful way to be part of the solution. If you’re joining us for a lesson soon, bring your reusable water bottle, it’s a small habit that makes a big difference!

Living and surfing in Tofino means being deeply connected to nature. But it also comes with a contradiction: the gear we rely on, especially wetsuits, has a heavy environmental footprint. That’s where innovation close to home is making a difference.

Just down the road in Ucluelet, ReSurf was created (Program under Surfrider Canada) as the first facility in Canada dedicated to surf gear waste. Through repairing, upcycling, and recycling, ReSurf is giving new life to gear that would otherwise be discarded in the landfill. 

At Surf Sister, we’re proud to be part of that effort. We repair (what we can and if not we  send to ReSurf) and resell wetsuits from our lesson inventory, helping make surfing more accessible while extending the life of each suit. When a wetsuit truly reaches its end, we act as a drop-off point for ReSurf, making it easy for our community to take part. We also keep things close to home in other ways, all of our Surf Sister Merchandise is screen printed locally in Vancouver, supporting local production and reducing our footprint where we can.

You can see this mindset come to life right outside our shop. Our marine debris art installation, created by Pete Clarkson, transforms discarded surf gear and ocean waste into something bold and eye-catching. It’s a reminder of what ends up in our oceans, and what’s possible when we choose to reuse and rethink waste! 

These actions might seem small on their own, a reused wetsuit, a recycled zipper, a refillable water bottle but together they represent a shift in mindset. Tofino is showing that when a community comes together, even a small town can lead meaningful environmental change! 

Happy Earth Day! 🌎