I have always loved the ocean and have surfed almost my whole life. So keeping it clean is my main focus. The Surfrider Foundation is a nonprofit that does just that. I have been a part of this foundation for a while now. My dad was the first one to show it to me because we have surfed together forever so he thought it would get my attention seeing how I am into a greener healthier earth. Their website has many different categories. When first going onto their website they give you their daily news update. Todays news is about a major oil spill thats had been cast off Orange County and then it gives you the option to read more or donate to help clean it up. This off the bat shoes how much they want people to get involved which really interests me. I love to be apart of something that you know is actually trying their hardest to make an impact on our generation. This foundation fights for plastic pollution, which I will get into soon enough, ocean protection, beach access, coastal preservation, and lastly clean water. These all are of the same importance of course but I think that focusing on plastic pollution can help al lot of their problems.
I know This foundation focuses on many qualities of life, but plastic pollution is their big portion of it. They give you many facts to inform you on how much plastic goes to waste, big contributors, and how others can get involved to help clean up. Their website is full of details on anything you would want to know about plastic waste especially in the ocean.
Over 11 million tons of plastic fill the ocean to this day. But this foundation has done a lot to help work for a better cause. They have been taking on plastic waste for over a decade and have 2k beach cleanups to this date. Out of those cleanups, they have cleaned up 650,000 pounds of trash. This also couldn’t have been possible without all their volunteers. They have had about 100,000 volunteers getting involved to help clean these beaches so none of this could have been possible without them. They have put in tons of effort and encourage people to donate or volunteer whenever possible. Their website makes this easy too. If you need to donate there is a button on their page that gives you easy access and if wanting to volunteer, you can find any place close to you and do a beach cleanup for the day. Their website also does offer clothes and accessories that show your support and spread awareness to others. And another plus to buying these promotional shirts and things is that all their money from this goes to help protect the oceans and beaches. They have reached to very broad audiences, so it is a very popular nonprofit foundation. If you ever want to get involved just check out their website and start to help keep our earth clean and healthy.
Im big into ocean conservation too. I believe that the oceans are the most important things to protect since a lot of the world is affected by them. I was wondering if you know if the partnered with Oceana ever or Ocean Conservancy, these two organizations being two of the largest non-profit ocean cleanups in the world.
11 million tons of plastic is an insane amount of plastic to be found just in the ocean. It is crazy what us humans do to this planet we live on. Although we think it’s just one plastic bag or one plastic fork, it all ends up somewhere. I’m so glad there’s things such as beach cleanups because although it doesn’t get rid of all the trash it get rids of some of it which is still making a difference.
Yes, Surfrider participates in the annual Ocean Conservancy International Coastal Clean-up Day! Maybe they partner on other initiatives too.