Earth Day is every day, right? It seems like Earth Day has extended into Earth Month, so that’s a good start :) While Surfrider is working year-round to help protect the coast, April marks the start of the busy season for our chapters that lasts through October. Here’s what Surfrider chapters and staff were up to in California during Earth Month.
Highlights include an LA beach cleanup at Dockweiler Beach that was arranged in response to reports of large amounts of litter that washed up and 195 volunteers picked up almost 800 pounds of litter. Throughout California, Surfrider hosted 60+ beach cleanups in April with over 4500 volunteers who collected over 6 tons of litter.
Additional highlights include the launch of Hold On To Your Butts outdoor ashcans by the Sonoma Coast Chapter, an Ocean Friendly Gardens native plant restoration event with the North OC Chapter, Blue Water Task Force water quality testing by multiple chapters, and general outreach by Surfrider chapters at dozens of community events. See below for all of the details from south to north.
San Diego County
Beach Cleanups: 20 with 1,465 volunteers and 1,520.5 pounds of litter removed. We also published our joint Beach Cleanup report with San Diego Coastkeeper on Earth Day.
Chapter Meeting: Chapter Meeting w/ a Living Shorelines Presentation from Alex Ferron.
Program Events: 11 program meetings + 1 Core Volunteer Orientation + 1 BWTF Core Volunteer Training
Outreach at community events: Surfrider tabling at Bountiful Benefit in Vista, Stay Classy O'Side Earth Day Community Event, and La Mesa Earth Day Fair. Imperial Beach Creek to Bay Cleanup with I Love a Clean San Diego.
Other highlights: Tijuana River designated as Most Endangered River by American Rivers led to increased awareness of the border pollution crisis.
South Orange County
Beach Cleanup — Laguna Beach on 4/20 with over 50 volunteers who collected over 20 pounds of litter.
North Orange County
Beach Cleanups: 4/19 at Seal Beach with 45 vols who collected 585 pounds of litter.
4/20 at Bolsa Chica State Beach with 446 vols who collected 726 pounds of litter.
4/21 at HB Pier with 76 volunteers who collected 90 pounds of litter.
Program Events: 4/6 Ocean Friendly Gardens native plant restoration
Outreach at community events: 4/16 Surf City Nights
4/23 Surf n Science Night @ HB Intl Surfing Museum:
Long Beach
Beach Cleanup: 4/6 Belmont Shore cleanup with 64 volunteers who collected 540 pounds of litter.
Chapter Meeting: 4/8 screening of Creando Olas: Pictures here
Program Events: 4/21 Ocean Friendly Gardens workday.
South Bay
Beach Cleanup: 4/20 Manhattan Beach Pier cleanup with 90 volunteers who collected 50 pounds of litter.
Program Events: Bi-weekly Blue Water Task Force / Teach & Test water quality testing.
Los Angeles
Beach Cleanup Highlights: 4/13- Santa Monica- SFLA + LMU / Surfrider University Clubs - 122 volunteers/97 pounds of litter. This cleanup was in collaboration with our national communications team and our Surfrider CEO Chad Nelsen. This event was not only covered by "The Talk," a popular CBS Talk Show, but also featured in a separate interview, providing Surfrider with exceptional national exposure on television. Click here for the recap.
4/21- Point Dume - Beach Cleanup + Dune Restoration with Bay Foundation- 49 volunteers/30 pounds of debris with over 3,500 foam and plastic fragments recorded within the dune sites.
4/22- Venice Pier south - 60 volunteers/ 91.5 pounds of trash.
4/27-Sunset Point @ PCH - Day of Service with local Rotary Clubs- 35 volunteers/168 pounds of trash/debris.
4/28- Dockweiler Tower 49 - 195 volunteers/ 792 pounds of trash/debris
+9 additional cleanups in Santa Monica & Venice with 216 volunteers who collected 514.5 pounds of litter. Overall Surfrider LA totals for April: 14 cleanups, 677 volunteers, 1,693 pounds of litter.
4/28 Dockweiler call to action cleanup: This cleanup was an urgent call to action in an effort to be responsive to community needs. We heard from a local BIPOC surf collective, Color the Water, that there was an extreme influx of trash accumulating at their surf spot at Dockweiler Beach in the South Bay chapter territory. We identified several possible causes for the influx including a recent sediment dredging project at the nearby marina within our LA territory. Our team at SFLA, with the blessing of the South Bay chapter, decided to pivot our volunteer registration of over 200 people from our regularly scheduled monthly cleanup to Dockweiler beach. On 4/28, 195 volunteers came out and picked up 792 pounds of trash in 2 hours at Tower 49 in Dockweiler beach. Our two chapters are looking forward to strategizing ongoing collaborations to address the variety of issues that contribute to ongoing higher levels of trash at Dockweiler Beach relative to the rest of LA County.
Chapter Meeting: Surfrider LA transformed our Earth Day Celebration and Chapter Meeting at the LA Chapter office parking lot into a vibrant fair by inviting local artists to join us. Alongside 85 volunteers and live music, Kathryn Dressendorfer from Ocean Friendly Gardens shared her work, making it a truly enriching event.
Program Events: Our Blue Water Task Force team organized an Earth Day celebration at the lab, featuring an art exhibition by Kyle Rebar, with the participation of more than 20 volunteers.
Outreach at community events: The remarkable Ocean Friendly Restaurants program from our Chapter took part in tabling the Earth Day Event at California State University, Northridge, where they engaged with over 125 students.
Ventura County
Beach Cleanups: 4/13 Respect the Rincon Parkway Cleanup - 5 volunteers & 42 pounds of litter.
4/18 Cleanup with Starbucks employees - 9 volunteers & 51 pounds of litter.
4/20 Ormond Cleanup & Restoration - 121 volunteers & 1,696 pounds of litter / 3,140 pounds of invasive plant material.
4/21 Ormond Cleanup with Oxnard United Youth Soccer - 76 volunteers & 2,944 pounds of litter.
4/27 C St/Ventura Promenade Cleanup - 202 volunteers & 530 pounds of litter.
Chapter Meeting: April 2nd with CA Policy Manager Laura Walsh.
Program Events: 4/22 Monthly Ocean Friendly Gardens maintenance day at Loma Vista.
Outreach at community events: 4/20 Ventura Earth Day and Thousand Oaks Earth Day. 4/28 Ventura EcoFest.
Santa Barbara County
Beach Cleanup: 4/20 at East Beach with Rincon Brewery, an Ocean Friendly Restaurant. 30 volunteers picked up 100 pounds of litter.
Chapter Meeting: 4/18 with a special guest speaker from Santa Barbara Channelkeeper.
Outreach at community events: 4/28 at Santa Barbara Earth Day.
San Luis Obispo County
Program Events: Bi-weekly Blue Water Task Force water quality sampling.
Outreach at community events: Cambria Earth Day.
Monterey County
Beach Cleanup(s): 4/22 Earth Day Plogging. 30 joggers pick up 23 pounds of litter.
4/27 Beach cleanup and yoga with 137 volunteers who collected 112 pounds of litter.
Chapter Meeting: 4/27 Blue Beers mixer.
Outreach at community events: 4/20 Carmel-by-the-Sea Earth Day, 4/13+14 Monterey Whale Fest.
Other highlights: Check out their chapter Earth Month blog.
Santa Cruz County
Beach Cleanups: 4/13 Santa Cruz Harbor cleanup
4/27 beach cleanup at Pleasure Point during the Log Jam
Program Events: Weekly Blue Water Task Force water quality testing.
San Mateo County
Beach Cleanup: 4/21 Half Moon Bay cleanup with 250 vols who collected 384 pounds of litter.
Program Events: Blue Water Task Force water quality testing.
San Francisco
Beach Cleanup: 04/21/24 Earth Month Beach Cleanup & Coastal Dune Ecology Education-
- 586 signups, 333 checked in volunteers, 593.25 hours
- Blog Post
- Instagram Post
- Instagram Post
- Over, the San Francisco Chapter hosted 8 cleanups in April with 697 volunteers who collected 808 pounds of litter.
Program Events: 4/28 - SF Blue Water Task Force Volunteer Group Training
Outreach at community events: 4/12-4/14 - International Ocean Film Festival - tabling
Other highlights: 4/20 - Surfrider SF made signs and attended Bayview Hunters Point Community Peoples Earth Day Peace Walk & Environmental Justice Rally - Hosted By All Things Bayview For Equitable Communities - @all_things_bayview_
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- Instagram Post - @greenaction_ej - Surfrider team on second photo
- Instagram Post - @pslbayarea
Marin
Beach Cleanup: 4/7 at Stinson Beach.
Chapter Meeting: 4/10 chapter meeting & social.
Outreach at community events: 4/21 Mill Valley Earth Day.
Sonoma Coast
Program Events: Hold On To Your Butts outdoor ashcans launch!
Humboldt
Chapter Meeting: 4/4 Kelp Themed Ocean Night. Activities included interactive displays, tide pool touch tanks, kelp themed films, and more!
Additional Activities
Beach Cleanup: 4/22 Earth Day cleanup in Santa Monica hosted by Surfrider HQ with 60 Mother Denim employees who collected 120 pounds of litter.
Other highlights: Climate Action Program launched and the Save San O campaign heats up. Major preparations for California Ocean Day on May 7th.