Current goal for the project is to get to $300 on my page by June 30!! Let's work hard to help Surfrider Foundation save and protect our oceansc, beaches, and waves!

Come on all of you beach-goers, surfers, wakeboarders, etc. with summer just around the corner, and summer weather already in most places let's join forces to be a part of something cool!

Now is the time for all of us to do our part to help this awesome organization called Surfrider Foundation that makes it possible for us to go to the beach and have fun as well as protect our water and ocean ecosystems do its job! We can do a lot to help them: spread the word, join the team, and donate if/when you can!

To get updates on what Surfrider Foundation is doing to protect beaches, water, and waves follow them on Twitter at www.twitter.com/Surfrider or "like" them on Facebook at www.facebook.com/surfrider.

Here's a little bit about Surfrider Foundation:

Their main objectives are to protect the world's oceans, beaches, and waves. They have various programs that aim to protect our water in many areas in the world in about 15 countries. The founders of Surfrider are surfers and beach-goers themselves, so they want to make sure everyone has the chance to enjoy what our water and beaches have to offer. They also focus on environmental issues that affect our coasts.

Some of their current programs include (some of this is straight from surfrider.org because I think they can explain some of their programs better than I can. I hope it's not too long to read.)

"The Ocean Friendly Gardens (OFG) Program: educates and assists people in "applying CPR - Conservation, Permeability and Retention - to revive our watersheds and oceans:"

Conservation of (a) water, (b) fertilizers, pesticides and herbicides, (c) energy (moving & cleaning water use lots of energy), (d) wildlife habitat and (e) reduced use of gas-powered maintenance machinery (air pollutants) and yard waste through native or climate-appropriate plants, spaced with their mature size in mind.

Permeability through healthy, biologically active soil, and utilizing materials for - or making a cut in - driveways, walkways and patios that allow water to percolate into the soil.

Retention devices like rain chains, rain barrels and rain gardens retain water in the soil for the dry seasons or save it to water veggies, preventing it from running off the property."

Another program Surfrider Foundation has that is, in my opinion, one of the coolest is called "Rise Above Plastics"-This program encourages people to use less single-use plastics and recycle all plastics since plastic doesn't biodegrade, and can affect ocean ecosystems. 

Surfrider also has a Blue Water Task Force that they explain here: "The Blue Water Task Force (BWTF) is the Surfrider Foundation’s volunteer-run, water testing, education and advocacy program.  Our chapters use this program to alert citizens and officials in their communities about water quality problems and to work toward solutions.

BWTF water testing programs measure bacteria levels at both marine and freshwater beaches and compare them to federal water quality standards established by the EPA to protect public health in recreational waters."

A fourth program called "Know Your H2O" encourages people to think about where their water comes from and the process involved to get it to their faucet-clean and ready to drink, and also reminds everyone that water is our most valuable resource that cannot be taken for granted. They explain the program in more detail here: "Clean drinking water is one of the most rare and precious resources on the earth, yet we typically use it with little regard. Following a drop of our water from its origin, through its use to its disposal reveals an expensive and often wasteful journey and makes it clear we could be using water more wisely. Fortunately, we can alter this pattern by using the classic mantra reduce, reuse and recycle to fundamentally reduce our water consumption and solve ocean pollution issues at the same time."

If you'd like to help Surfrider Foundation spread their message that our water and the enjoyment of our oceans and beaches is something that should be cherished and protected, please simply tell those you know about Surfrider, join the team and help fundraise yourself, or donate.

Here's how your donation can help Surfrider besides getting them closer to winning a deserved $5,000 to continue protecting our oceans, beaches, and waves (from their website):

$20 pays for two water tests to make sure a day at the beach is healthy & safe
$25 provides bags and gloves to remove 500 pounds of trash from the beach
$50 provides bags and gloves to remove 1000 pounds of trash from the beach
$100 protects ¼ mile of U.S. coast through our beach preservation program
$500 educates 2,000 school children about recycling and keeping our waters clean
$1000 sends a Surfrider staff member to Washington DC to provide concrete, real-world testimony to inform and improve legislation on coastal issues

Austin Nichols wrote -

Water has been a huge part of my life since I was a little rascal. I could water ski before I could walk. Or that is what my parents say. But without our oceans, and water, in general, we would all perish. Let's take care of it.

My dad taught me to surf when I was about 13. I think I was surfing behind boats with tow ropes when I was real little, but I actually learned to catch a real wave in Florida at 13. And when I gave up water-skiing at 18, I moved to California and traded fresh water for salt. And then began my love-affair with the mother Pacific and all other salty bodies. I love to dive, fish, paddle, surf, canoe, sail, row, or just jump off dangerously high cliff cliffs. Please give what you can to protect our salty bodies!!