More than 24 percent of trash on our beaches around the world comes from discarded cigarette butts.
A young designer, Taylor Lane crafted a surfboard from thousands of littered cigarette butts picked up off California beaches to use as a teaching tool to propel environmental awareness.
Lane and his filmmaker cohort, Ben Judkins teamed up to create The Cigarette Surfboard documentary film. Their 93-minute movie, shown around the world at film festivals has become a platform to spark ocean stewardship and the symbol of a campaign to hold Big Tobacco accountable for their toxic, plastic waste. Surfing is the medium, but the message is universal.
Correspondent Tom Wilmer met with Ben Judkins at the 2025 SLO Film Festival where they visited on the sidewalk in front of the legendary Fremont Theater. Come along and join the conversation.
The Cigarette Surfboard Founders:
Ben Judkins and Taylor Lane met through the surfing community in Santa Cruz, California in 2014. We quickly became friends over our shared interest in the ocean and environmental issues. Together, we’ve embedded ourselves in the filmmaking experience, with the Cigarette Surfboards providing us access to the international professional surfing community and the wonderful world of ocean conservation.
Ben Judkins / Filmmaker says: Raised in Northern California, at age eight I found an old camcorder and discovered my medium to explore and create. After years videotaping my friends skateboarding and surfing, I landed at University of California Santa Cruz, majoring in Film & Digital Media. My senior film “Marshall” earned the Dean’s Award, and also won “Best Locally-Produced Work” at the 2017 Santa Cruz Film Festival. I’m an avid surfer who believes in the power of visual storytelling to move people to action. The Cigarette Surfboard documentary is an opportunity to inspire a generation of surfers to be stewards of the sea.
Taylor Lane / Ciggy Board Creator commented: Growing up with a garage full of tools, I always tinkered. In the “live and let live” ethos of Venice Beach, California, I learned to appreciate alternative perspectives. After graduating from San José State University in 2017 with a B.S. in Industrial Design, I took on freelance gigs, along with an internship at The North Face as an Equipment Designer. With the Cigarette Surfboard, I realized I am most fulfilled by seeking solutions that address social and environmental problems. Since childhood, I’ve often been the one asked to fix something. Doesn’t always mean I can, but hell, I’ll try.
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