Coastal Blog
March 2012
March 30 2012
Week In Review: Videos and Kickstarter
This past week saw some great plastic pollution awareness videos making the rounds along with a couple of Kickstarter plastic pollution projects worth mentioning. Not familiar with Kickstarter? Kickstarter is a funding platform made especially for creative projects with a clear goal that will eventually be completed, and something will…
March 26 2012
Senators request funding for water quality monitoring
Blue Water Task Force Water Quality
Thanks to your calls, tweets and emails and the hard work of our partners at Heal the Bay, Clean Ocean Action, NRDC, Surfers Environmental Alliance and the Waterkeeper Alliance, we were able to get 18 Senators to join Senator Lautenberg to request that the federal funding for water quality monitoring…
March 26 2012
Great Student Urban Runoff Videos
Blue Water Task Force Youth Water Quality
We love receiving videos from students who understand the connection between what we do on land and how it affects the ocean. Here is a "First Flush" video from "Team Marine" at Santa Monica High School and an Urban Runoff video from the "Green Team" at Hughes Middle School in…
March 26 2012
What Is the Monetary Value of a Healthy Ocean?
ScienceDaily (Mar. 22, 2012) — Professor Robert Diaz of the Virginia Institute of Marine Science is a co-editor of "Valuing the Ocean" a major new study by an international team of scientists and economists that attempts to measure the ocean's monetary value and to tally the costs and savings associated…
March 23 2012
Superior Court Upholds Los Angeles County Bag Ban
Legal Rise Above Plastics Bag Bans
In a Los Angeles Superior Court hearing today, Judge James C. Chalfant upheld the County of Los Angeles ordinance to impose a single-use plastic bag ban with a 10-cent fee on paper bags.
March 22 2012
Blue Water Task Force 2011 Annual Report
This World Water Day, the Surfrider Foundation and partner Emergen-C Blue issued the Blue Water Task Force Annual Report to share water quality testing results from the Foundation’s volunteer-run testing labs. Download the report to read the full results.
March 22 2012
Happy World Water Day! What’s It To You?
Today is World Water Day! Founded in 1993 by the United Nations, this global observance highlights the need for the care and management of the world’s water resources. This year’s theme, “Water and Food Security” seeks to highlight the relationship between water and global food supplies. When I think of…
March 20 2012
Teach Kids About Plastic with a Hands-On Sand Dig & Scavenger Hunt!
A few years ago the Portland Chapter was asked to attend the Portland Children’s Clean Water Festival, where over 1,400 kids come and learn all about water in one day! With hundreds of other booths and games to play, I was going to have to make something fun, engaging and…
March 19 2012
3 Steps to Fund Water Quality Monitoring
We have an opportunity this week (March 19th) to urge our Senators to support New Jersey Senator Frank Lautenberg in asking the Senate Appropriations Committee to restore funding for water quality monitoring. Here are the 3 easy steps to encourage your Senator to join him.
March 17 2012
Let’s Restore the Gulf!
The Senate has passed a bill to help restore the Gulf of Mexico using revenue from fines collected from the BP oil spill. The measure will next be considered by the House of Representatives. Thanks to all of you who have taken action so far!
March 15 2012
Rise Above Plastics this St. Patricks Day!
St. Patrick's Day is a festive time for many people and a perfect day to truly be green. Leave the dye out of the river, but bring out the green clothes for sure. On the plastics front, leave the disposable items at home when you go to the local parade.…
March 14 2012
Help Celebrate the Clean Water Act’s 40th Anniversary
The Clean Water Act was signed into law 40 years ago. Here are 5 things you can do to help celebrate the CWA's 40th anniversary.
March 14 2012
Clean Water Act 40th Anniversary
The Clean Water Act was signed into law 40 years ago in response to massive water pollution problems in this country. We rely on the Clean Water Act to make sure that our waters remain clean for drinking, swimming, fishing and of course, surfing.
March 12 2012
Tsunami Debris – Coming to a beach near you?
Rise Above Plastics Tsunami Debris
This past Sunday marked the one-year anniversary of the tragic earthquake and tsunami that struck Japan with devastating force and sadly took thousands of lives. As Japan continues to rebuild the most impacted areas, much of the international chatter over the past few months has been about a field of…
March 06 2012
The Clean Water Program
Blue Water Task Force Know Your H20 Ocean Friendly Gardens Water Quality
The Clean Water Program has grown into a suite of complementary programs, campaigns and tools that Chapters and activists can use to help solve water pollution problems and to educate communities about the many benefits of responsible land and water management.
March 03 2012
Surfrider Hits the Nation’s Capital
Legal Rise Above Plastics Water Quality Oil Spill
This past week Surfrider Foundation staff visited Washington DC to promote our federal priorities on Capitol Hill. As a grassroots organization, our federal priorities stem from the work of the over 80 local Chapters in the United States. The common issues that have risen to the top of our local…
March 02 2012
The Plastic Bag Dominos Continue To Fall
It's been a good week for the environment as more cities embrace meaningful plastic bag reductions. (For a list of ineffective plastic bag reductions, see yesterday's blog post) In Southern California, Laguna Beach finalized their plastic carryout bag ban while Carpinteria and Ojai passed first readings of their own bag…
March 01 2012
No Surprise - San Diego’s Recycled Water is Better Than Imported Water
The City of San Diego’s Water Purification Demonstration Project has been on-line since last summer, and based on a report issued February 1, the purified water met all drinking water standards, which included testing for more than 300 compounds. In fact, it did even better than that. The City also…
March 01 2012
Voluntary Plastic Bag Reductions Don’t Work
As carryout plastic bag usage in the United States soars over 100 billion (115 billion now by one estimate), more cities and states are looking at ways to reduce litter and the impacts of plastic bags. Bag recycling programs have been set up across the country but as bag recycling…
