The third beach I visited this semester was Surfer’s Point at ‘C’ Street, in Ventura. This is a beach I frequent due to the monthly Surfrider Foundation volunteer cleanup events and the annual Coastal Cleanup Day. This beach is the location we have discussed in class that is undergoing managed retreat. There is evidence that mitigation strategies on this beach are necessary, due to narrowing shorelines. While we were there, areas of the shoreline were completely within the swash zone, and we had to retreat back from the coast to pick up trash in a dry space.
These monthly events are organized by the Surfrider Foundation, a nonprofit that focuses its efforts on beaches, waves, and coasts. It utilizes programs like fighting against single use plastics, blue water task force, ocean friendly gardens and restaurants, and SmartFin, which is a technology installed on fins of surfboards to analyze water quality in areas surfers visit. They use donations to fund projects to further their voice in the environmental policy area, and send out members, volunteers, and employees to help campaign to push forward. Issues like beach access, clean water, and marine pollution are Surfrider Foundation’s focus points, and organizing chapters across the United States helps the chapters stay aligned and successful. They create many hands-on and accessible opportunities for the public to participate and be engaged in environmental issues and learn how to affect policy by actions they can take individually or as a community. Surfrider Foundation was my introduction to contributing in environmentalism and had a heavy influence on my personal decision to study environmental science and pursue it professionally.
Non-profit organizations are spearheading the public into becoming more excited about environmentalism and their beaches. Events like beach cleanups, blue water task forces, and invasive species removal puts more events and experiences into the world to learn from. These events individually are impactful; the October 2018 clean up event I participated in derived 234 pounds of trash eradicated from our coast, and 3,000 cigarette butts. This information is carefully calculated by volunteers and event coordinators and shared out. This creates a sense of pride in the work done on the beaches and continues to inspire large turnouts month after month. I encourage everyone to reach out to a local non-profit that has similar values to themselves and get involved.
Marovitz, great post. Local events such as this help foster community stewardship, especially through the engagement of high school and community college students. It’s easy to turn a blind eye when we visit a beach for a day trip. Generally we are there for the purpose of engaging with nature and it’s not till we first notice litter on the beach that it becomes obviously apparent that it is a far larger problem than we are generally let on to believe. 235 pounds is a lot for just a few hours, and even more so for when just one month from the prior clean up. Non profits such as Surfrider Foundation help facilitate this awareness and in a more positive setting of engaging outdoors with our local community as well as our friends and family.
Surfrider Foundation is such a great non-profit. They’ve been so instrumental in getting our local community and businesses together to impact our local beach systems. It’s fascinating to switch my view from enjoying time recreationally at the beach to studying sensitive systems and participating in its protection and management.
Great post and great pictures! It is always good to give back to your community and do your part in keeping our beaches clean. 3,000 cigarettes is an insane amount of cigarettes to find on a beach let alone anywhere in general. I was at the same cleanup! It was definitely cool to see young kids there helping out! You have to start them young. Thank you for sharing!
It was so inspiring to see how many people came out for a monthly cleanup. I know that these events usually have a large turnout, and seeing these numbers for one month feels so rewarding to have taken a part in.
Loving this post! As an advocate for keeping our beaches clean, I love hearing how others stay involved. It is crucial for members of a community to be the face of how they want their beaches, parks, and neighborhoods to be treated. It is easy to turn a blind eye and think someone else will take care of it. The first step is making the continuous effort to pick up the trash, the next step is discouraging the use of so much single-use plastic. If we ever have a hope in changing and saving our environment, we are going to need to continue encouraging our communities to get and stay involved.
It’s always so inspiring to see how many people get involved at beach cleanups. Each time I go, I meet people that are engaging in their first cleanup event. I hope that they’re able to discuss how empowered they felt getting involved with individuals in their circle in hopes to get their friends and family to participate.