The Cigarette Surfboard: A new Film With A Good Idea
words by Natalia Aiello.
The Cigarette Surfboard documentary was born following Taylor Lane’s 2017 win of Vissla and the Surfrider Foundation’s Creators & Innovators Upcycle Contest. Lane teamed up with filmmaker Ben Judkins to tell the story of how he created a rippable board with ciggie butts found along the shoreline of Santa Cruz, California.
A clash between art and activism is delivered through these attention-grabbing boards, which have been ridden by professional surfers and scientists across the globe. The film symbolically captures how the grime of pollution can be redeemed through the beauty of surfing and ocean protection.
Now online for the first time, the documentary embraces a raw relatability, displaying how surfing can ultimately inspire practitioners and non-surfers alike to deepen their connection with the ocean. The outcome is a stoked viewer that is educated in the process, reminding us that ciggie boards are a representation of duality. Small actions add up, whether it's the way we throw away trash or the way we care about the environment. Read on for insights from Lane and Judkins, before checking out the film for yourself.
THE CIGARETTE SURFBOARD will be available online September 15-27, 2026 (to celebrate International Coastal Cleanup Day, Sep. 19), as a call to action for our collective ocean stewardship. Check out the film and join the conversation to explore what you can do to take action in your life and local community. With your ticket, you’ll have access to a few live, virtual Q&As (come with questions!) featuring a few inspiring professional surfers and ocean activists from the film.
Stills and imagery courtesy of The Cigarette Surfboard.
How do you feel that the film represents intersectionality between art and advocacy?
B. The film combines art and advocacy. The boards are not only a conversation starter for people to talk about, problems facing the ocean and coastlines, but also solutions, things that people could do as well as a political symbol for campaigns across California to, influence local policymakers to ban the sale of single use, cigarette filters, As Taylor's done with these surfboards bringing cigarette butts into, one cohesive surfboard and having that juxtaposition between, surfing, the beauty of the ocean, and a nasty item of trash, cigarette butts.
There's inherently in this project and in this film, just that connection between, seeing something on the beach, Taylor doing something about it, creating these ciggy boards, and then eventually, using the ciggy boards, using media, using art and film to help push tangible change
T. Through capturing the story of the Vissla upcycle contest, and meeting with these other surfers and people around the world that are doing this grassroots activism, we got a deeper knowledge and sense of the extent of the problem.
Art can have a way of capturing our attention on an issue that we might not think is that big of a deal. Until people are enlightened by something, then they're not going to really know what to do.
What emotions were you hoping to invoke in the film, and what emotions do you feel motivate people to act?
B. Ultimately, we want people to walk away from the film, feeling fired up and excited to be part of something bigger than themselves. We don't want protecting the environment to feel like a burden or a chore, but more something that you want to get involved with.
It's kind of like reimagining what it means to be a surfer today with all the issues facing the ocean. How can we actually have fun while we do these things that protect the ocean? The film combines surfing and activism in a way to make it relatable.
T. The main question on our journey was: what is our role as surfers to be better stewards of the sea? The film is obviously tied to the impacts of cigarette butts. But even more than that, it’s about how the human condition can persevere, create change, and do something larger than a single individual can.
Is film media the most effective way to advocate for ocean pollution? Why or why not?
B. Film is an incredible way to help influence change and to provide stories for people that ultimately can inspire them to create change in their lives. But I think there's so many ways in which people can get involved and use their skill set to do something for this collective action of protecting our planet and the ocean.
The boards themselves, a form of physical art, have been these incredible components of this film. If we tried to make a film about cigarette butts and tobacco waste without having the ciggy boards, it wouldn't have had the same momentum behind it.
T. I think film is probably the most powerful way to, in this day and age, communicate problems and solutions. However, I don't think it's the only way. And there's something deep within the human condition that has allowed for those stories, those legacies, those tales, that sense of lineage, that sense of place, that sense of understanding to be told in an environment around a story. That's all a film is — a story that we can sit, watch, and listen to. It's not interacting with it. not asking questions. It's not a meriting response. You're simply, you know, on a ride.
How does the film deepen the connection between the surf community and ocean advocacy?
T. Surfers are the canaries in the coal mine. We study the ocean from a very scientific angle. All of these things that constitute a good wave or a good day of surf. So we're constantly observing this environment. The film explores these observations of how cigarette butts impact that experience. It's about the relationship that exists between surfers and the ocean, and who's going to stand up and do something about it.
B. As a whole, this project has combined the surf community with ocean advocacy through the lens of local politics. Taylor and local Santa Cruz surfers went to city council meetings to talk with their elected officials about banning the sale of single use cigarette filters. We really saw the power of that collective action of surfers when they get together, and they fight for something that is near and dear to them — like the health of the ocean.
It’s clear that many surfers care about the environment and want to do more to protect it. Equally so, there are many surfers that do not care about humanity’s impacts on the ocean, especially in the US right now. What message do you have for those surfers?
T. A lot of the time, we don't grasp the beauty that we're floating on this ball of life in the middle of nowhere. And also, you realize that not everybody's gonna care. And you kind of don't need everyone to care. You need a small amount of people that are committed to caring to actually make a difference.
There are real studies that show that we actually feel better when we're related to something bigger than ourselves or a cause that's beyond our own self-fulfillment.
The surf industry isn't propped up by an individual. It's propped up by people creating events, providing access to breaks, and making sure the environment is protected. And so I think our industry has to ask ourselves do we have an insecurity around relating to the environment? I think we're seeing that change, and that's a good thing.
B. Come watch our film. It's reimagining what it means to be a surfer today. I think when these professional surfers, such as those in our film, are leading the way and showing that it's actually fun and cool to care, I think that will inspire more people to get involved in care as well.
What is one thing you hope the film's viewers take away from the cigarette surfboard? Taking this a step further, what is an action people can take to make a difference in addressing ocean pollution?
B. I want people to see the film and walk away just inspired to do whatever is in their capacity. It doesn't have to be this huge thing. It doesn't mean this massive time commitment. It can be something small in your daily life, like looking at the single-use plastics that you could using in your daily life.
There's so many ways to get involved. I want people, first and foremost, to take that step back and see how beautiful surfing in the ocean is. Then, realizing that our one little small action really does add up.
T. We started with the intuition of making a small little short film, but it turned into something so much bigger. As we were working on it, we realized, There's something deeper to this project. And people just started coming into our orbit, and things started to happen. And you could call it luck, but I don't think luck happens to people that don't put in effort and energy into something.
What we hope people walk away with is a sense of inspiration and knowing that the human condition is possible of doing many things. And that's often because a struggle, at some point, is part of that journey. If we knew what the ending was going to be when we started out, it wouldn’t have been very fun getting there.
