Coastal Blog — Rise Above Plastics
August 19 2011
Big Plastic Rewrites History
Well, that's not true, but their lobbying group did influence curriculum for California schools. In a front page article today, The San Francisco Chronicle exposes the American Chemistry Council for their tactics to change the environmental curriculum which included a section for the 11th grade teacher's edition textbook titled, "The…
August 08 2011
Can you help stop plastic pollution?
The Surfrider Foundation recently released the 'Rise Above Plastics Activist Toolkit' to help Surfrider Foundation Chapters and everyday activists plan plastic reduction initiatives at home, work and in your community. It's a great resource guide that provides insight on the dangers of plastic pollution and how one person can help…
August 04 2011
Tidal Wave of Trash
The Surfrider Foundation Huntington Beach / Seal Beach Chapter recently had an award-winning float in their local Independence Day parade that was made from beach trash. Back in March, chapter member Andre Faubert started his own 30/30 experiment: collecting trash in Huntington Beach for half an hour a day for…
July 21 2011
Portland is next as the plastic dominos start to fall
Earlier this month news came out of Washington that the City of Bellingham banned plastic bags and put a fee on paper bags. Last week a similar story is coming out of Portland, Oregon. After state legislators failed to act on SB 536 this year, which would have enacted a…
July 14 2011
California Supreme Court Rules for Bag Bans
Today, the California Supreme Court ruled in favor of the City of Manhattan Beach’s single-use plastic bag ban, holding that state law does not require the City to complete a full Environmental Impact Report (“EIR”) in order to impose the ban. This decision undoubtedly will make it easier for cities…
July 13 2011
Bellingham Washington ‘Rises Above Plastics’ and Reduces Carryout Plastic Bags!
Four months after initially presenting an ordinance to Bellingham City Council members to reduce single-use bags, on July 11th, the Bellingham City Council voted 7-0 in favor of the ordinance to ban carry out plastic bags and implement a 5 cent fee on brown paper bags starting July 2012. This…
July 11 2011
We’re going on tour with Blink 182 and My Chemical Romance!
We're going on tour! Surfrider Foundation has been invited to go on the 2011 Honda Civic Tour this fall with Blink-182 & My Chemical Romance! Surfrider will be partnering with Reverb, a company dedicated to creating "green" tours with a goal to engage fans and raise awareness regarding environmental issues…
June 30 2011
Bad News and Good News, Heartbreaking and Uplifting
Shocking news out of Australia recently as stories started circulating about the sea turtle in Australia that was ashore dead with 317 pieces of plastic ingested in it's stomach and intestines. Uplifting news out of California as the Surfrider Foundation San Diego Chapter hosted it's second annual Rise Above Plastics…
June 21 2011
Albertson’s Goes Bagless!
Albertson's grocery chain announced earlier this year that two of their stores in California were going bagless - no more plastic or paper disposable bags, only reusable bags would be offered! It kicked off for Earth Day and featured reusable bag giveaways to get the community more free bags in…
June 16 2011
‘Plastic: A Toxic Love Story’ Book Discussion
This week the Surfrider Foundation Portland Chapter hosted a book discussion with Susan Frienkel about her new book, ‘Plastics: A Toxic Love Story.” It was held at a local coffee shop and Portland Mayor Sam Adams kicked off the evening with a call to action to ‘Ban The Bag’ in…
June 13 2011
Virginia’s Five-Cent Fee Fails To Gather Support
The 2011 legislative session in Virginia featured three proposals to limit plastic bag use: an outright ban, a 20 cent fee on plastic bags modeled on Ireland’s ordinance, and a five-cent fee on plastic and paper bags as used in neighboring Washington, DC. The Surfrider Foundation’s DC Chapter, as part…
June 13 2011
Maryland’s Proposes Five-Cent Fee On Disposable Plastic And Paper Bags
The Surfrider Foundation and their coalition work together to collect more than 5,000 signatures from Maryland residents to support a five-cent feel on disposable plastic and paper bags.
June 13 2011
A Bill Whose Time Has Come…And Will Come Again
Nothing symbolizes the Plastic Age and our disposable, throwaway culture more than the single-use plastic bag. How many of us have drawers or closets full of these colorful bags that we don’t know what to do with? And how often do we see these toxic tumbleweeds blowing in the wind,…
June 13 2011
Oregon’s Statewide Bag Ban Fails To Make It Out Of Committee
Building upon the great efforts led by the Portland Chapter over the past three years to ban single-use plastic checkout bags within the City of Portland, Senators Mark Hass and Jason Atkinson, and Representatives Ben Cannon and Vick Gilliam introduced SB 536, giving Oregon the opportunity to be the first…
June 13 2011
California Legislators Address Marine Debris With SB 568
Even though AB 1998 failed to pass out of the Senate last year, legislators are currently working to address another prevalent form of plastic pollution - Polystyrene Food Containers, with the introduction of SB 568.
June 07 2011
California Foam Bill Clears First Hurdle
Last Thursday the California State Senate voted 21-15 to approve SB (Senate Bill) 568 which could ban expanded polystyrene from being used by restaurants or food vendors unless communities can adhere to strong recycling requirements. The bill authored by Senator Alan Lowenthal from Long Beach needed 21 votes to pass…
June 01 2011
China Gets Stricter and EU Considers a Bag Ban
Promising news for international plastic pollution prevention has been coming out of China and Europe lately. China has banned the thin and flimsy plastic bags at supermarkets and convenience stores since June 2008 and recently announced the ban will extend to pharmacies and book stores. The European Union is talking…
May 31 2011
Trash Free Seas Act Introduced
The Trash Free Seas Act (S.1119) was introduced on May 26, 2011 by Senator Daniel K. Inouye to address the pervasive issue of marine debris (also known as largely "plastic pollution"), which diminishes the quality of our oceans, waves and beaches. The bill is actually a reauthorization and strengthening of…
May 24 2011
Big plastic sues reusable bag company, story at 11.
In the latest of a series of desperate measures, plastic industry giants have sued a California reusable bag company. The ChicoBag Company, a reusable bag company, has announced it is the sole defendant in a lawsuit filed by Hilex Poly Company, LLC, Superbag Operating, LTD., and Advance Polybag, Inc.; three…
May 18 2011
Keep It Up California!
Good news on the plastic pollution front: the City of Long Beach passed a carryout bag ordinance last night that will ban carryout plastic bags at supermarkets, large pharmacies and farmers markets within city limits. Meanwhile, SB 568 to ban styrofoam at restaurants sits in the state senate and ready…
