What We Do

Beach Clean-Ups. One of the most frequent activities conducted by Surfrider Foundation chapters around the world is the "Beach Clean-Up." This is where we gather for an hour or so, don plastic gloves and grab a garbage pag (provided by the chapter), and pick up litter at one of our local beaches.

Our chapter's first official Beach Clean-Up is the one at the "Coldwater Surf Fest" at Duluth's Park Point Beach on June 6, 2009, at 10:00 am. We hope you can join us!

Also come see us at our BBQ at Lake Calhoun on June 20 in honor of International Surfing Day! (Click graphic at right.)

“Rise Above Plastics” campaign. This a major national program of the Surfrider Foundation. It’s about stopping the craziness that single-use plastics are causing in our society! Plastic is forever, with virtually every piece of petroleum-based plastic ever made still in existence. (Yes, certain types of plastic can be broken down into smaller pieces, but none of it is completely bio-degradeable.) And a large amount of it ends up in our oceans, beaches, lakes, and rivers!

That's why it's so critical that we dramatically reduce our use of plastics, especially single-use plastics. Consumers and business owners can take the “Rise Above Plastics” pledge here: http://actionnetwork.org/campaign/rap_pledge.

Not only are MN-Superior Chapter members promoting that consumers take this pledge, but we're also seeking local retailers -- both within the Twin Cities, or anywhere in our region -- who will also take the pledge. We seek those who will agree to stop using single-use plastic bags in their stores, and to help us promote the "Rise Above Plastics" campaign -- by displaying poster(s) in their windows or within their stores. If you are such a retailer, please let us know you'd like to help us in this campaign! Just send us a message from our contact page.

"Hold Onto Your Butt" campaign. This is another initiative we're working on, This campaign was originally conceived and launched by Surfrider's San Diego Chapter, and we're out to bring it to Minnesota! Here's more info about this campaign. Our chapter chair has approached the State of Minnesota's Department of Transportation (DOT) to seek their cooperation in allowing us to post signs at freeway off-ramps, encouraging people to stop littering our landscape with their cigarette butts!

Read more about the extent of the cigarette butt littering problem in this post at Surfrider's "Ocean Waves Beaches" blog post.

But all this is just the beginning! We're also working with the Minneapolis Parks & Recreation Board to help with beach and coastline clean-ups in our home town -- stand by for more info on that! And even more initiatives are on the way! To volunteer to help us with any of these or other initiatives, please get in touch with us via the contact page.