Southern California - Chapter News - April 2011

The cities of Santa Barbara and Long Beach are one step closer to banning the bag!  Both cities have directed city staff to draft ordinances, which are expected to go before council for a final vote in the coming months.  Tell Santa Barbara to ban the bag!

Ban the Plastic Bag in Long Beach!

Ban the Bag - Santa Barbara

Plastic: The Real Sea Monster program will continue to visit preschools and K-12 programs throughout the year to educate kids and families of the dangers that single use plastics pose to our marine environment.   The West Los Angeles / Malibu Chapter has also teamed up with The Children's Nature Institute (CNI) of Los Angeles  for a year long residency.  CNI, which is located close to downtown LA is providing space and support for the creation of five wearable plastic sea monster costumes to be used at various events, rallies and campaigns.  The five costumes will be named after the five great garbage patches in our oceans. The "The North Pacific Monster" was begun at the Los Angeles Natural History Museum in the North American Mammal Hall as a part of the Museum's World Water Day in March.

Plastic: The Real Sea Monster at the Natural History Museum

Kids love Sea Monsters, Moms love the message

The West Los Angeles / Malibu Chapter's Rise Above Plastics' Make A Bag station has already made numerous appearances at chapter events.  They transform old T-shirts and tank tops into re-usable bags and silkscreened them with the RAP and Ban the Bag logos.   View their “How To” instructional video on Facebook.

Huntington Beach / Seal Beach Chapter activist Andre Faubert wanted to show his love for the ocean and give back to the thing he holds dear to his heart.   Simply named "The 30/30 Experiment", his goal was to pick up plastic debris along his local beach for 1 hour a day over 30 days.   By day 28, Andre had collected a total weight of 537.3 lbs - an average of 19.2 lbs of trash per day!   Activist Sarah Bayles is going for 365 non-consecutive days of collecting beach trash in Santa Monica.   She has 160 more days to go.   Follow Sarah’s blog "The Daily Ocean"

Huntington/Seal Beach activist Andre Faubert

Raising Watershed Awareness was the goal of the Newport Beach Chapter's 4th Annual RockWater Relay Race from Mountain to Ocean.   The winning team reveled in the glory of being the team who collected the most trash along the 28.9 mile course.  Volunteer teams included Between Rock & Wet Place, RockHarbor Runners, and the Watershed Ducks.   Many thanks to Hurley, Tattooed Steel, Cliff Bars, HDS water supplement and Cabo Chips.

The Watershed Ducks go for the "best dressed" award

Members of South Orange County Chapter's youth program traveled to Sacramento with Surfrider Global staff for Oceans Day 2011.   They discussed the importance of marine protected areas, the need for legislation to reduce and stop pollution from plastic bags and polystrene, and a strong State Water Board Trash Policy.  They also engaged state legislators regarding their support for marine animal and sustainable seafood legislation.

Rise Above Plastics in the San Diego Chapter had a busy Earth Month with a screening of 'Bag it' and several booth events in honor of Earth Day.   They are also joining efforts with the Kids for Clean Water program to include plastic pollution in their presentations, and are developing a new presentation to college students in their SDSU club.