Not a bad star to the New Year indeed – Get those small kites out and get on it! Anyone not got wind??

No matter where you live in the world these days the hot topic is always “eco” or green”. We are all actively encouraged to recycle our used goods and packaging, think of our carbon footprint when taking airline flights, and save on paper waste by making all our finances digital. The recycled paper products are easy to find in everyday life (from stationary to the paper cup your sipping your latte from as you read the daily tabloid made from partially recycled paper and environmentally friendly ink. They all come branded with the consumer driven green recycled logo. But what about the plastic bottles and packaging?

Home insulation made from recycled bottles has been about for a good few years now but now some sports brands are now stepping up to the plate using recycled drinks bottles (and some are using coconuts!) to produce high tech, breathable fabrics to help us enjoy our outdoor sports with an even greater sense of environmental harmony.

Dakine have just released there ‘Re-Gen’ range (including the quintessential Heli Pro rucksack) made with recycled PET
(Polyethylene terephthalate) fabric from discarded plastic bottles and buckles from excess plastic materials. Clothing brand Patagonia started creating clothing from post-consumer recycled plastic bottles back in 1993 (they quote have saved nearly 90 million soda bottles from the landfill during that time!) Von Zipper have started making googles from built from 50 percent recycled thermoplastic polyurethane. We are also seeing some clothing manufacturers releasing clothing lines made with coconuts! This Cocona technology is being used as a breathable membrane consisting of carbon particles extracted from recycled coconut shells. Now that is thinking outside the box!

We already have surfboards with blanks being made from recycled foam off the shaping room floor that would previously gone into a trash can. Wetsuits have been using bamboo lining for many years……..So who is going to be the first kite manufacturer to step up to the plate and make a kite from recycled fabrics??

Until then, KITEDOC is giving us a helping hand and recycling our old kites into massive ‘Billbags’ that are ideal for chilling on the beach, at festivals or post-session evenings sat in front of the Xbox or PS! We’re a big fan of these at WM!

So it’s that time of year where us Brits start to make the move away for the season to enjoy what mother nature has to offer. Lewis and Chris from here at WM will be heading back south for the winter for the annual pilgrimage to Cape Town…..so the question for most of us is do we head to snow covered mountains or hit sun drenched coastlines this winter?

Chris on a Backcountry mission in Norway [Photo(2009) - Alex Webb]

 Lewis at Haakgat after a sunset downwinder [Photo(2008) - Chris Willmott]

Wind Forecast – Thursday 08th Dec 2011 @ 1200

Looks like we are in for a windy day today….with a succession of low pressures making their way over the Atlantic things aren’t going to drop off anytime soon. Watch out for some reports coming in from the big wave crews hitting up the UK coastline (West coast of Ireland is looking all time!).

Swell Forecast – 13th Dec 2011 @ 0900

Time to man up and get those 4m and 5m storm chasing kites out or stay at home with the kettle on and log fire going – the choice is yours but be save whatever option you chose!!

We’ve already had a great last few months of 2011 for swell and winds hitting the UK coastline so lets hope this continues through 2012!

Somewhere in Devon, 19th November 2011 (Pic courtesy of Hellman)

The Wind Energy Institute in Canada is currently testing some new turbine blade technology that they have ‘borrowed’ from our ocean going mammalian friends – the Humpback Whale!

They are using the nodules (named ‘Tubercules’) along the edge of turbine blades. These nodules help the whales to generate extra force in tight banking turns. The aim is to enable the turbines to generate more power at slower turning speeds and less noise, when compared to more traditional blades. For more information check out this months ‘Red Bulletin’ or visit WhalePower.