Super Rad Organization II...

Hello loyal readers. Awhile back we profiled one of the many organizations (Invisible Children) that we make travel-related donations to for our clients. If you'd like to know more about how this program works, please click here. Today I want to draw attention to another one of our partners near and dear to our hearts: Surfrider Foundation. Like Invisible Children, Surfrider definitely falls into both Jessica and I's self-proclaimed "rad" category. This is an organization that started here in Southern California and has blown up throughout the country as a non-profit grassroots organization dedicated to the protection and enjoyment of our world’s oceans, waves and beaches. Founded in 1984 by a handful of visionary surfers in Malibu, California, the Surfrider Foundation now maintains over 50,000 members and 80 chapters worldwide. Basically, Surfrider started as a bunch of surfers just wanting to make sure our beaches and waves are safe, clean and protected. Yes please.

Surfrider spearheads numerous projects, and if you'd like to see many of their recent successes click here, but I want to talk about one in particular today: their Rise Above Plastics Campaign. Now if you're like me, you hear facts about pollution etc all of the time and 99% are forgotten two seconds later. A lot of times I can't adequately understand or put into context the scope of the problem, and hence forget all about it. Jessica and I recently went to a Surfrider chapter meeting and were made aware of one of the most disturbing facts I have ever heard. Here it is (straight from Surfrider's site):

There is a section of the Pacific Ocean twice the size of the continental United States called the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. Within it, 100 million tons of plastic swirl in a vortex of currents. There is so much plastic in the water that it outnumbers zooplankton by six to one! This plastic ends up in the stomachs of marine birds and animals. In fact, one million seabirds and 100,000 marine mammals die globally each year due to ingestion of or entanglement in plastics.

Twice the size of the U.S.!! I almost fell out of my chair. Worse still, this plastic dump was only the size of Texas four or five years ago. This situation has gone haywire; totally out of control. Surfrider needs help from each of us to help curb the madness. There's currently a member from their team touring with Jack Johnson (who backs Surfrider 100% and wants to get their word out to the masses), trying to educate the public. I was recently at a concert of his where he dedicated a song to Surfrider, and even wore one of their shirts throughout the whole concert (Save Trestles!). We donate a portion of any of our client's vacations that are coastal or onboard a cruise ship to Surfrider. Surfrider has a section of their Web site where you can pledge to help this massive problem with plastics, and get involved today:

- Using reusable bottles for my water and other drinks. By using just one reusable bottle, I will keep 167 single-use plastic bottles from entering the environment.

- Using cloth bags for groceries and other purchases. For each reusable bag I use, I will save approximately 400 plastics from being used.

- Recycling the plastic bags and bottles I already have. For every thirteen plastic bags I don't use, I will save enough petroleum to drive a car one mile.