Friday, June 19th, 2009

International Surfing Day - June 20

isd

Although it’s not officially recognized as a legal holiday (not yet anyway), International Surfing Day provides ocean lovers one of the few legitimate excuses to have a day at the beach. Now in its fifth year, ISD unites surf enthusiasts around the globe to to give back to Mother Ocean through various organized events and restoration projects.

This year, each regional event will host several “challanges” as a means to encourage creativity through active involvment. With a wide variety of themes ranging from “Most Unique Piece of Trash” to “Best Trash Sculpture”, contestants will submit photo and video essays of their projects for a chance to win cool swag and prizes.

With more than 100 event sites around the globe, chances are a needy beach near you is anxious for your participation. Check out ISD’s official website, here.

Monday, June 15th, 2009

Follow the Light to $5,000!

 header_3

June 15, 2009

Follow the Light Foundation Announces Call For Entries For 
The 2009 Follow the Light Foundation Surf Photographers Grant

$5,000 to be granted to the winning photographer

SAN CLEMENTE, CA- For the fourth year in a row, the Follow the Light Foundation (FTLF) will award $5000 to a deserving photographer in honor of the late Larry “Flame” Moore. The FTLF was founded after Moore’s passing in the attempt to continue his legacy of assisting up and coming photographers.  Photographers of all ability levels are encouraged to participate.  The application and details can be found on the FTLF website.

Applications will be due August 17, 2009.  The grant recipient will be chosen by a panel of judges chosen by the FTLF.  This year’s recipient will be announced on October 1, 2009.

The FTLF is proud to be working with SWELL, Hurley, Surfline, Surfing Magazine, and Oakley to provide this year’s grant. The 2009 Follow the Light Grant Recipient Dinner will be held at the Surfing Heritage Foundation on October 1st, 2009. 

For photos and coverage of last year’s awards visit HERE 

Read more about Follow the Light after the break. (more…)

Thursday, March 5th, 2009

Help Surfrider Foundation Establish Marine Life Protection Act

 

banner241

OFFICIAL PRESS RELEASE - Help The Surfrider Foundation Get a Better Understanding of YOUR Community and Surrounding Marine Areas.

The Surfrider Foundation is currently working with a wide variety of individuals and organizations on the Marine Life Protection Act –or MLPA. The MLPA is a state law that requires establishing a “network” of marine protected areas along the California coastline. This law is currently being implemented in Southern California.

Much like our National Parks protect special places on land, these Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) offer heightened protection for marine life to thrive and people to enjoy. In short, MPAs protect special places for their “intrinsic value”–preserving ecological abundance for generations to come. MPAs around the globe have become popular attractions for people to enjoy nature’s beauty and abundance.

Establishing MPAs can also help restore healthy fisheries. Studies show alarming declines in fish populations worldwide. Fishermen are now catching half of what they did in 1990 and the fish they do catch are 45 percent smaller. Some local fisheries may take 50-80 years to recover. MPAs allow marine life populations to increase and individual species to grow to full maturity–which increases the number of off-spring from protected areas. These larger populations may “spill over” the boundaries of MPAs and provide improved fishing in areas adjacent to MPAs.

The state of California adopted the MLPA in 1999 and created the opportunity for members of the public to participate in identifying special places worthy of heightened protection. Surfrider Foundation members represent a broad spectrum of people who enjoy time in the ocean surfers, fishers, divers, kayakers, sailors and others who just love the natural beauty of our coast and ocean. Our collective knowledge from this experience can help design an effective network of MPAs.

The Surfrider Foundation is gathering information and recommendations from local communities to help formulate a regional network of MPAs. Our goal is to balance our members’ commitment to restoring and protecting our coast and ocean for generations, with our support of sustainable and accessible fishing opportunities.

Help establish successful Marine Protected Areas by completing this survey (all responses are anonymous).

 

*GO HERE TO SHOW YOUR SUPPORT BY TAKING THE SURVEY

You can also help support the Surfrider Foundation by making a donation, becoming a member, or purchasing any PROJECT BLUE product, where part of the proceeds will fund coastline protection initiatives worldwide.

Wednesday, January 21st, 2009

RYAN SHECKLER TO HOST DOWN FOR LIFE: FIGHT FOR A CAUSE

sheckler11

Come help Ryan Sheckler fight for a major cause. His Down For Life event will take place on February 6 at 7:00 pm at the Grove in Anaheim. The night’s proceeds will benefit The Sheckler Foundation, which seeks to provide financial assistance to injured action sports athletes, as well as famalies affected by autisim.  Other athletes slated to appear are Travis Pastrana, Brian Deegan, Jason Ellis, Kit Cope, Erik Apple and Danny Abbadi. The evening will also feature a performance by a special musical guest. For more information visit www.shecklerfoundation.org

Monday, December 29th, 2008

SURFRIDER URGES: REDUCE, REUSE FIRST. RECYCLE AS A LAST RESORT

waterbottles1pa_468x3241
Rise Above Plastics is a new-ish Surfrider campaign, which hopes to bring attention to the problem of marine debris that is generated most typically by you and me and which you probably see floating in the line-up everyday. Other ocean junk tends to break down into its constituent elements in the ocean over time, but plastics are forever. They break down into smaller pieces of, well, plastic, all the way down to the molecular level - fish eat it, you eat the fish… you get the picture, and, ironically, the plastic.Recycling seemed to start as a “good” thing way back when, before drinks were dispensed in plastic bottles, but now often suffices as the knee-jerk, feel-good justification for picking up a few extra pallets of individual-serving water bottles. One of the original tenants of the Rise Above Plastics (RAP) campaign is that, “We all rely and use many forms of plastics each and everyday - but much of that use is a convenience choice, a choice that can be swayed toward the proper environmental path, often requiring no more effort on your part.” It’s not just flexing your purchasing power or exercising the right choice, it’s about a fundamental change in personal paradigm. The solution: Lead an “examined life,” turn off your automatic pilot to take a look at your actions that may affect the environment. Then ask yourself, “Is it worth it, to buy a plastic bottle drink versus one in a glass?” For me, the answer is a resounding no. I actively recycle SUPs that other people generate, but if I have to resort to recycling a SUP item that I’ve “created” because I chose to use it, then that’s a failure on my part. Recycling as a failure - think about that. Recycling as a last resort - act on that.

Even if 99% of all single-use plastics (SUPs) make it to the recycler (the hard part) and are actually recycled (the unknown part), we still have a monumental environmental waste problem (the tangible part). The dang stuff is produced in unbelievable volumes and just doesn’t go away. It takes energy and resources to create, ship and dispose of that bottle — a bottle that really only has a useful lifetime of 15 minutes — then it takes more energy and resources to render that same bottle into something else. Waste, followed by waste, and compounded by more waste. Lots of efforts put together just to produce and handle waste — efforts that, when realized as a waste, can and should be avoided.

Perhaps too abstract or radical a shift for the average Joe, but, like it or lump it, it’s where we all eventually need to be, and is the conceptual pillar of Rise Above Plastics — rise above the concept that single-use plastics are worth the price of the unseen repercussions of their use. Believe it or not, it’s a pretty easy change to make.

Now, with the economy hitting the skids, reports are showing that markets for recycled materials have died as well. Recyclable materials are sitting in piles, unused and unwanted — an ugly reality. Climb aboard the RAP train. Visit www.riseaboveplastics.org and help staunch the flow of garbage to the sea.

Scott Harrison is the Chairman of the San Diego County Chapter of the Surfrider Foundation.

Thursday, December 18th, 2008

TRESTLES SAVED! THE HIGHWAY TO HELL CRASHES!

nixon-saved

The Trestles toll road crashes today after the Department of Commerce upheld the California Coastal Commission’s objection to the proposed environmental nemesis of San Clemente. After years of debate and dedication from rightfully concerned residents, surfers, and environmental activists, the commission objected to the proposed project under the federal Coastal Zone Management Act on the grounds that the toll road was not consistent with the state’s coastal zone management program. Woot, woot! Read more about the Trestles Toll Road fight here. 

Wednesday, December 17th, 2008

SPEND 15 MINUTES AND SURF THE REST OF YOUR LIFE

logo

WOULD YOU SPEND 15 MINUTES, IF IT MEANT SURFING THE REST OF YOUR LIFE?

We thought you would. And the good news is you can. All across the country, surfers are facing access and environmental fights that fail to consider their needs and enormous impact. While fishermen and other recreational ocean users flex big muscle in courthouses and town halls, surfers get pushed aside a ’segment group.’ A minor hobby for punk kids - instead of healthy lifestyle for whole families. That’s because we let them. Go to www.surf-first.org and be a part of changing the impact surfers have on supporting their cases or saving their breaks.

Monday, December 15th, 2008

GLOBAL SURF BREAKS GET AN EARLY CHRISTMAS

Save The Waves Coalition

 In what is sure to be a monumental partnership in the race to protect surf breaks world wide, the Save The Waves Coalition and the International Surfing Association (ISA) have ljoined to launch the World Surfing Reserves program. “The ISA is very pleased to act as a catalyst in this new program,” said Fernando Aguerre, president of the International Surfing Association. “We’re not saving the waves for surfers, because we’re surfers. We’re protecting these special places as citizens of the world, because community surfing areas are not only an important part of the natural coastal environment, but they are increasingly an important part of local and national culture…” Dean LaTourrette, executive director of Save The Waves, explained that the ISA’s support was critical toward future efforts in reaching regional leaders where wave zones are located. “Without the grassroots support of local communities, we couldn’t move forward with this program.” Other key elements of the program will include the creation of a World Wave Sites Fund to finance signage, research, and campaigns for the protection of waves, and pending partnerships and endorsements with the Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP), National Surfing Reserves (NSR) Australia, United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) World Heritage Center, Global Heritage Fund (GHF), as well as other groups that will help support and implement the program worldwide.

Thursday, November 13th, 2008

Ever Try Planting a Tree??

My friends at Holiday Matinee are teaming up with Plant-It 2020 to help plant, maintain and protect indigenous trees worldwide! So instead of just sitting under a tree, or building a tree house, go here and learn how to buy a tree friendly organic cotton shirt where all proceeds go toward helping save our friends the trees!

Plant-It 2020

Monday, October 20th, 2008

WHAT??!! PLASTIC PATCH INVADES THE OCEAN

 north_pacific_gyre_world_map.png

Whenever I’m at the beach, I try to pick up a few pieces of trash on my way out of the water. It harms wildlife, pollutes the water, and looks nasty.   

But what about the trash we don’t see? I recently had a chance to hear Ximena Waissbluth from Surfrider Foundation’s Rise Above Plastics campaign and learn a bit about the North Pacific Gyre. A gyre is sort of a vortex produced by circulating ocean currents. The problem is that more plastic trash than ever is being dumped in our oceans and these currents have created a giant garbage patch (twice the size of Texas!) in the middle of the Pacific. This story has been around for a while, but considering the speed that the patch is growing, I wanted to bring it up again.

What can we do? The main thing is: reduce your consumption of single use plastics. That means using stainless steel water bottles, reusable grocery bags, etc. The more disposable plastic you reduce from your life, the less there is to end up polluting our beaches and seas. But be forewarned: you’ll be surprised how much single-use plastics are in your daily routine once you consciously make a decision to get rid of them.

Learn More:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Pacific_Garbage_Patch

http://riseaboveplastics.blogspot.com/

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tnUjTHB1lvM