Plastic Pollution Initiative Update: Think Global, Eat Local

Going global

Anticipation for International Surfing Day 2023 is building and, appropriately, Surfrider is launching into an international campaign! We’ve joined with our global affiliates to demand that the forthcoming Global Plastics Treaty includes strong, binding commitments to stop and reduce the ocean, health and climate harms caused by plastic production and pollution. The second round of treaty negotiations takes place in Paris, France from May 29 to June 2. Plastic Pollution Initiative Manager Jennifer Savage will attend along with colleagues from Surfrider Europe. Stay tuned for a report on what progress is made and how activists from Surfrider’s global network – Europe, Australia, Senegal, Argentina, Canada and Japan – are coming together to help create an ocean-friendlier world. 

Plastic-free public lands?

Closer to home, we expect the Department of Interior to follow up on last year’s World Oceans Day directive by Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland to reduce single-use plastic products and packaging on DOI-managed lands by 2032. This year, on June 8, DOI will release the highly anticipated roadmap to how exactly that goal will be achieved by the agencies and bureaus it oversees. We’re appreciative of the commitment, but adamant that eliminating plastic waste from our national parks must happen sooner! You can join us in calling for a speedier timeline by signing our petition.

Local Favorite, Locals Collective

Our Ocean Friendly Restaurants are unique, each with their own culinary flare, origin stories, and reasons for reducing single-use plastic. This month, the New York City Chapter sat down with the co-founder of an OFR in New York, called Locals Collective. Locals Collective is a coffee shop and community space where you can do everything from enjoy an iced coffee, to join a beach cleanup, to even store your surfboard. This OFR started off as a surfing school and has become a haven for surfers to gather and enjoy a nice cup of joe! Learn more in our spotlight here!