Surfers put their differences aside when they joined on the beach for a blessing of the waves.

Surfing can be good for the soul, but with petroleum-based surfboards and PVC-filled wetsuits, it’s not always good for the environment. Luckily more and more companies are offering greener alternatives to help us hang 10 without harming the environment.

20:54 minutes (4.79 MB)
Don Matthewson visits the Fitness Guru to discuss how he lost 40 lbs. in 2007 to better prepare himself for the sport that he loves--surfing.

Usually, when we seek more balance in our lives, we think first about getting rid of things—clean out the closet, stop working so much, schedule some "do nothing" time. But what if balance instead meant you added something to your busy schedule?

That was the solution for Ashley Fieglein, 34. Five years ago, the Silicon Valley venture capitalist was on vacation in Costa Rica with her expert-surfer brother. A surfing novice, she took lessons with Alvaro Solano, a six-time national champion in the small Central American nation. There, she had an epiphany: she had too much stress and not enough happiness. But rather than cutting back on her busy life, she made it busier. Within months, the San Francisco resident changed jobs, purchased property near Jacó, on Costa Rica's wave-blessed Pacific coast, and broke ground on what became the Vista Guapa surfing and yoga camp. The camp is now in its fourth season, with Solano and his family managing the three-bungalow resort full-time.

Check out the latest green-lifestyle newsflashes in The Grist List: U.S. manufacturers will begin selling biodegradable socks made from corn next year. A group of Southern California surfers is protesting a planned highway that could damage a legendary break in California known as Trestles. Sony Pictures just picked up “EV Confidential,” a whodunit documentary about the death of the electric car (green celeb Tom Hanks is all over the trailer). And the foxy young eco-warrior Thomas Hand – of Project BioBus and the Road to Detroit campaign – now has a spot of honor in Cosmopolitan magazine's 2005 Bachelor Blowout. Hand describes his love of the outdoors and why a single flower bests a dozen roses.