Jack Ventura, the man with the vision in this here passion project. Photo: Courtesy JV
Surf travel is not, usually, the first thing that comes to mind when discussing sustainability in surfing. Surf travel has often been touted as the negative side of surf culture: self-indulgent, wasteful, and a contributor of fumes into the air if that travel involves flights.
Within the larger topic of sustainability, surf travel falls somewhere under the umbrella of necessary evil and overconsumption. However, the idea that surf travel is always bad fails to include the possibility of the butterfly effect. One trip could change the trajectory of someone’s entire life, inspiring them to do good, spread environmental awareness, and apply ethical business practices to their own company, then encouraging others in the industry to do the same.
Such is certainly the case for Jack Ventura, founder of FARO Board Bags, which is now, slowly but surely, contributing to improving business practices within the surf industry. Through using sustainable materials and offering lifetime warranties, the small company has attracted a hardcore following for its products. Some of this following also comes from readers of the FARO blog, which offers zero-cost-to-consumer information on topics ranging from treatment of surfer’s eye to a look at how surfboards are made.
The simplest way to explain FARO’s business practices is through the words of Patagonia’s Gabe Davies, in that “the most sustainable product is the one you’ve already got.” Unlike many large corporations, Ventura was not solely motivated by money or success when taking on this creative project. Ventura was looking for a creative outlet within surfing where he could make a positive impact on the community by allowing consumers a product with soul and a long lifetime of use, reducing waste in the process.
Yes, FARO board bags are made of eco-friendly materials (including recycled plastic!) and sourced in the USA. But the best, and most sustainable part about them, has nothing to do with the materials. The bags are designed to be anti-fast-fashion and last a lifetime, plus, they can be repaired through FARO “for a modest price,” incentivizing people to hold onto things they already own instead of purchasing new items.
FARO board bags are also designed to withstand trends from a visual standpoint: the bags come in neutral colors: tan, green, white, black. Unlike fast fashion, which thrives on high turnover, FARO bags survive despite the seasonal colors that are “in style,” lasting decades as opposed to just years.
Jack is not necessarily someone who would be immediately associated with environmental activism. Despite being a surfer — one who makes board bags, no less – he is far from the stereotype of a dirty, hitch-hiking hippie. Ventura is usually dressed sleekly. He’s calm, and pensive. When I asked him to explain himself, he simply said, “my name is Jack. The best way I can describe myself is through a Walt Whitman quote: ‘Do I contradict myself? Very well then, I contradict myself. (I am large, I contain multitudes.)’”
In the moment, I was unsure of what, specifically, that meant. Later, I realized that one interpretation Ventura could be offering us, as surfers, is that one does not need to be fully good to do good. In other words: one can fly around the world, as most surfers do in search of perfect waves, emitting gas and using energy, while still keeping the Earth on the front of their minds. Doing good is not all or nothing. It is better to do something good and something bad than only something bad.
One example of the many layers of thoughtfulness and care woven into not just the fabric of FARO board bags, but the ideas behind the company, comes from the name, FARO. “FARO means lighthouse in Spanish, Italian and Portuguese,” Ventura explained. “We borrowed it from the Spanish language.”
“The brand was inspired by my travels abroad to places like Mexico and Spain, where old lighthouses dot the coastline once protecting seafarers as they sailed in and out of harbors,” he said. “Now, like those old lighthouses, FARO Board Bags protect surfers as they are traveling up and down the coast.”
Here, again, while travel is often frowned upon by environmentalists, it is also precisely what led Ventura to think more about environmental impact and offer surfers a way to reduce their own impact with their purchasing power.
“There wasn’t one specific moment that made me realize I could make a difference through building long-lasting board bags. Instead, it was a series of small moments and conversations with people that encouraged — and continue to encourage — me to keep doing what I’m doing.”
Encouragement also played a large role in FARO’s journey, because while FARO is now based in Oceanside, California, it has been almost five years since its debut. FARO was first formed in none other than Ventura’s mom’s basement in Long Island, New York.
Ventura, who grew up boogie boarding and skimming Rockaway Beach, moved with his family to Long Island from Brooklyn, and that’s when he fell in love with surfing. The board bags came later, but in the same spot where Ventura’s love affair with surfing began.
“The first bags were sewn by me in my mom’s basement,” he said. “This was an unfinished space: think boiler room, cobwebs, and lurking black mold waiting for one rainy month to make an appearance.”
It is hard to imagine sticking it out in a dark, moldy basement, but that’s the kind of perseverance that comes with the territory. Surf travel isn’t always for the faint-of-heart, and Ventura took that ethos and applied it to making board bags, with an emphasis on environmental ethicality.
“For anyone else pursuing a similar path, I’d like to add that these moments aren’t always obvious,” he said. “Doing something great can often be lonely, but embrace that solitude as a way to learn about yourself. Cherish and believe in yourself when someone acknowledges your hard work.”
Ventura’s wisdom comes from these years of trials, errors, and overall persistence. Where would Jack like to see FARO — and the surf industry as a whole — go from here? “Since day one, my goal hasn’t been money — it’s been to inspire others to care about who makes their products, how they’re made, and where they come from. I’d love to see the industry as a whole move towards smaller companies focusing on fewer, but better, product lines.”
It’s one thing to talk the talk. So far, Ventura has also walked the walk. Hopefully, more surfers, and businesses, follow in his footsteps.
