Photo Credit: @hannahtizedes
Programs
Your plastic pollution team has been crisscrossing the country attending Surfrider's regional chapter and club conferences. Our amazing network of activists include ocean lovers in the Hawaiian Islands, Washington, Oregon, California, Texas, the Great Lakes, Florida, Puerto Rico, the Southeast and the Mid-Atlantic. Stay tuned for a forthcoming post on the collective high points of our conference tour!
In the meantime, we're pleased to share that our Ocean Friendly Restaurant program continues to rebuild with a total of 520 businesses on board as of November 1. And with two months left in the year, we're closing in on tallying 200,000 lbs. of trash collected over more than 800 beach cleanups so far in 2023.
Policy
Several team members also recently went to Denver, CO for an annual gathering with partner organzations to strategize policy changes that support zero waste communities, shift corporate behavior and reset broader U.S. culture towards reducing plastic pollution. As lofty as this may sound, tangible progress is being made throughout the country. By working together to pass strong plastic reduction policies at the state level, momentum is being built to pass comprehensive federal legislation like the newly reintroduced Break Free From Plastic Pollution Act.
News
The Washington Post reported on a new study revealing the presence of microplastics in clouds above Mt. Fuji, likely from marine microplastics being dispersed into the atmosphere as waves splash into the air. This is only the latest in a long series of places microplastics have been discovered, from the Antarctic to human blood. You may have seen Surfrider's recent social media series on how humans may be consuming and inhaling up to 121,000 microplastic particles each year – to say this is an alarming amount of microplastic is an understatement.
That's why Surfrider continues the push to hold the producers accountable and to coordinate efforts across advocacy, conservation and health-focused policy. It’s time to choose our health and the health of our ocean. Please donate today so we can put an end to single-use plastics!