Plastic pollution doesn’t take vacations—and luckily for us, neither does the Surfrider network! Even as summer winds down, Surfrider activists have been hard at work reducing plastic pollution and protecting the places we love.
Here’s a look back at our top five highlights from this summer:
1. Dirtiest Beach Day 2026
Every year, after the fireworks fade and the crowds head home, America’s beaches are left covered in trash. Fortunately, Surfrider activists across the country were ready to take action, coming out in droves to clean up the trash left behind after the holiday celebrations.
During the Dirtiest Beach Day, 37 Surfrider chapters across 13 states hosted over 50 cleanup events! 2,000 volunteers removed over 44,000 pounds of trash and recyclables in just one day! We’d like to give a huge thank you to everyone who helped clean up their community after the holiday celebrations.
The top items found during these cleanups were fireworks, cigarette butts, plastic fragments, and lots of plastic foodware, including takeout containers, food wrappers, plastic bottles and caps, and straws.
Want to join the fun? Join a Surfrider Beach Cleanup! Beach Cleanups provide an easy way to volunteer and give back to the places that matter most to you.
2. Ocean Friendly Businesses Make the Case to Oppose Offshore Drilling
The Federal Government is pursuing a dangerous new plan that will open vast stretches of U.S. coastlines up to new offshore oil and gas drilling. Coastal businesses depend on clean beaches and waters, abundant wildlife, and scenic viewsheds – all of which would be compromised by the expansion of offshore drilling and an increased risk of spills.
Ocean Friendly Businesses (OFB) are standing up to this highly risky proposal and making their voices heard. By speaking out, these businesses are sending a clear message: healthy oceans and thriving coastal economies go hand in hand, and our coasts are worth protecting. Over OFBs signed the Surfrider comment letter opposing the drilling plan and signed the surfboard against Offshore Oil Drilling, which also added them to the Pacific, Atlantic, or Florida Gulf Business Alliance Against Offshore Drilling.
Join our Ocean Friendly Businesses to demand Congress protect our coasts from offshore oil drilling.
Annapolis Ocean Friendly Restaurant, Forward Brewing Signed the Surfboard
3. Mythbusting Bioplastics
Most of us try our best to reduce single-use plastic and make sustainable swaps whenever we can. But what if some swaps aren’t what they seem?
At first glance, bioplastics, or plastic products advertised as compostable or biodegradable, seem like a great alternative to regular plastics because they perform like plastic but are “eco-friendly.”
That’s why we’ve created a bioplastics blog series to help you better understand the complex world of bioplastics and why they aren’t all cracked up to be. Spoiler alert: bioplastic materials are not a preferred alternative to conventional plastics. Most bioplastic materials do not break down in the marine environment, shift the burden to other resources, and perpetuate a single-use, “business as usual” mentality. Through the blog series, we’re breaking down the basics of bioplastics, diving into straw research with a chemical engineering professor, showcasing what policies are driving bioplastics’ growth, and more!
To learn more, check out the resources on our Bioplastic Facts & Resources webpage and explore the series to get the facts you need to make informed choices.
4. Leading the Way to Creating an Ocean Friendly Community
Recently, the Select Board of the Town of Orleans, Massachusetts, unanimously voted to adopt a Resolution officially committing the town to becoming the first “Ocean Friendly Community.”
The resolution formally endorses the Orleans Coastal Stewardship Initiative and the Town's pursuit of Ocean Friendly Community designation. This action demonstrates the Town's commitment to protecting the coastal and freshwater resources that define Orleans while creating a framework for continued environmental leadership.
The first phase is to certify 60% of eligible local food service establishments and accommodations to become Ocean Friendly Businesses with continued growth over the next two years.
This effort recognizes that creating an “ocean friendly” community goes beyond a single ordinance or cleanup effort. It requires sustained collaboration, measurable progress, and community-wide participation. Through public outreach, business engagement, waste reduction initiatives, environmental education, cleanup and data collection efforts, and support for local policies, the initiative aims to create a replicable model that can expand to other coastal towns across the region.
Want to help cultivate more ocean-friendly communities? Support an Ocean Friendly Restaurant or Hotel! Enjoy a delicious meal or stay at a beautiful hotel while supporting businesses helping to make a world without disposable plastics a reality.
5. New Reports and Resources!
ICYMI: Two notable products were launched recently! These resources are full of useful and eye-opening information to help tackle plastic pollution. Check them out!
Beach Cleanup Report
We’re excited to share our seventh annual Beach Cleanup Report, highlighting beach cleanup data, regional case studies, and current science of 2025. Over the course of 2025, 34,000 volunteers removed nearly 340,000 pounds of trash and recycling from America’s coastal environments during 1,058 cleanups, ultimately intercepting and reducing the amount of plastic pollution flowing into our ocean.
A major focus of this year’s report is the incredible activists working tirelessly to clean up their beaches and sharing their stories of why cleanups are important to them and their communities.
The report also explores the harms of smoking waste — including the top littered item in the world, cigarette butts, and their alternatives, and the ongoing need for widespread action to reduce the negative impacts of these toxic pieces of trash.
Ocean Friendly Foodware Guide 3.0
The Ocean Friendly Foodware Guide 3.0 is an updated version of the Ocean Friendly Foodware Guide 2.0. Since that edition of the guide was launched in early 2024, even more foodware products have entered the market, all while the plastic industry is working overtime to water down existing plastic-reduction policies, push false solutions, and ramp up the production of plastics and bioplastics. This resource is designed to equip restaurants and hotels with the tools to choose the best “ocean-friendly” products for their businesses and avoid greenwashing.
Components of the Ocean Friendly Foodware Guide 3.0 include:
- Updated definitions of common labels and terms
- New graphics to better understand the different types of bioplastics
- A decision matrix to help review products and avoid greenwashing
- An interactive foodware quiz to help determine, 'Is This Product Ocean Friendly?'
- Buying guide with new products categorized as ‘best choice,' 'good alternative,' ‘what to avoid,' and 'what is assessed case-by-case'
Case studies of real OFRs - Exclusive vendor discounts for OFBs
Summer is still going strong! Whether it’s attending a beach cleanup, signing an action alert, donating, or supporting an Ocean Friendly Business, we hope you’ll join us in taking action to help reduce plastic pollution!
Thanks to our Better Beach Alliance Partners, REEF and Costa, for their continued support!
Miho is the Plastic Pollution Initiative Senior Manager. She has a Masters in Environmental Science and Management from the University of California, Santa Barbara, and served as a California Sea Grant State Fellow for the California Natural Resources Agency.