Surfrider Foundation SF Chapter is sponsoring on a special plastic cleanup this week at Ocean Beach.
Garbage has been collecting all summer throughout the Bay Area and delta, and the winter’s first big storm last weekend dumped it all on Ocean Beach!
The Problem: No one is paid to clean OB. The plastic on the beach will stay there until either someone picks it up or it washes out to sea. At sea, it can float around for hundreds of years, breaking into smaller non-biodegradable pieces, eventually polluting far-away beaches, killing sea life, or maybe just floating forever in one of seven ocean gyres. When you consider population growth and per capita plastic growth, it gets scary. When you consider that an estimated 100,000 ocean-based animals die every year from plastic injestion, the situation is critical.
Much of the plastic on the beach is small, between the size of a dime and a quarter. This plastic is just as harmful to sea life as a big plastic bag but more challenging to pick up. Right now, it is on our beach. Bend over, look closely, sift some sand, and pick it up! Try to find “sea plastic”* (description below) and separate it for use in a community mosaic to educate people about plastic on our beach.
If you collect “sea plastic*” you can drop it off at Aqua Surf Shop (Sloat & 47th) for a 10% discount on surf gear. To find “sea plastic” look in the high tide line, where the storm water surged. There is plenty just south of Noriega Street and between Sloat and Ft. Funston.
You can do this in 15 minutes this week and help . . . Stop the Plastic Wave!
*Sea Plastic – any small piece of plastic on the beach, it could range from a Bic lighter to a 2mm ground up piece of a Bic pen. Yes, Bic is the enemy! 
On the right is a mosaic made from sea plastic. We want to make an even bigger one! It is harder to pick up but is more effective in convincing retailers to stop putting plastic in EVERYTHING we buy.
SCHEDULE:
Tues – Friday: Individual clean-up.
Saturday: Meeting spot: South Sloat Parking Lot, 9 – 11 AM.
Other locations along OB TBD. Plastic and Styrofoam can be separated on site or brought to Aqua for a discount.
Sunday: Meeting spot: Stairway 17 at the Beach Chalet, North Ocean Beach. Plastic can be separated on site or brought to Aqua for a discount.
Reduce Your Plastic Footprint
Taking steps to reduce your plastic footprint is easy and should be a part of all of our daily routines:
1. NO MORE plastic bottled water. Use a canteen or glass bottles.
2. No bags (plastic or paper) from your grocer. Use your Surfrider, Trader Joe’s, Costco, or LL Bean bag. Look for products with reduced or NO packaging. Reduce use of disposable products (pens, lighters, etc.)
3. Look for beverages in aluminum or glass, both are much more recyclable than plastic and will break down someday in nature.
Related posts:
