Skip to main content
  1. Home
  2. Fashion & Style

Feel Good Friday: The Surfrider Foundation Cleans the Waves They Ride

TJ Carter
By

Surfrider Foundation
Image used with permission by copyright holder
Since our planet’s oceans seem so vast, it’s easy to forget how vulnerable they are. In reality, a piece of plastic here and a drop of oil there can add up, and contaminants become especially noticeable when they wash up on our coastlines. In 2013, the Ocean Conservancy reported that International Coast Cleanup volunteers picked up more than 10 million pounds of clutter in one day.

surfrider-foundation-912x760The Ocean Conservancy isn’t alone in their efforts: The Surfrider Foundation — a conservation non-profit organization run by surfers and other beach lovers — has been working since 1984 to protect oceans, waves, and beaches.

Recommended Videos

In 30 years, they’ve chalked up more than 300 coastal victories, including a 1991 reauthorization of the Clean Water Act, the prevention of a hazardous petroleum test burn along Washington state’s coast, and increased public beach access in Maine. Many of their other victories involve lifting surfing bans, combating pollution, and keeping overzealous developers at bay — or more accurately, away from the bay.

By their estimate, the Surfrider Foundation has enlisted 250,000 supporters, volunteers, and activists to join their cause. Today, the foundation is comprised of 84 chapters and 30 high school and college clubs.

Related: Watch the Story of Ramon Navarro, Professional Surfer Turned Activist

volunteers_3
Image used with permission by copyright holder

If you like the type of activism that also enhances your personal style, you might check out the SPY + Surfrider Frazier sunglasses — a collaboration between the Surfrider Foundation and sunglasses manufacturer Spy Optic. Not only do these sunglasses provide 100% UV protection, but the frames are also made of 100% biodegradable Plantate. Plantate, in case you’re curious, is an all-natural, non-toxic plant polysaccharide material. Don’t worry, these shades won’t decompose on your face — but nor will they last 10,000 years, like plastic sunglasses might.  

sunglasses burned
Image used with permission by copyright holder

These biodegradable eco-shades are in step with Surfrider’s commitment to reducing the amount of plastic on our planet and, more specifically, in our oceans (they were long-time supporters of a single-use plastic bag ban in California, which was eventually passed in 2014). Also, $5 from each purchase will go toward Surfrider’s Rise Above Plastics campaign.

If you’re at all interested in joining Surfrider’s cause, we urge you to check out their ongoing initiatives. As of this writing, the Surfrider Foundation is engaged in 98 campaigns — including efforts to increase public beach access, evaluate water pollution, and protect coastal wildlife.

SPY + Surfrider Frazier sunglasses are available for sale at Spy Optic’s website, $145.

Editors' Recommendations

Topics
TJ Carter
TJ Carter
Former Digital Trends Contributor
TJ Carter wears many hats, both figuratively and literally. He graduated from the University of Oregon in 2011 with a degree…
New dial colors, slimmer design for IWC’s Portugieser watches
The IWC Portugieser Collection nods to its 1930s roots while bringing new details to the line
The IWC Hand-WOund Night and Day watch.

If you've been orbiting through the same collections of watches looking for that perfect addition to fill that something missing in your arsenal, stop your search. Swiss brand International Watch Company, known more appropriately to wearers and collectors as IWC Schaffhausen, has a heavenly lineup at this year's Watches and Wonders you've been waiting an eternity for. If unmatched caliber and exceptional craftsmanship — along with a touch of planetary elements — are a few things you look for in a luxury watch, the Portugieser Collection from IWC is the right fit for your wrist.
The IWC Portugieser collection

The collection throws it back to the Portugieser of the 1930s, where the design got its first inspiration from those gorgeous navigational watches on the deck of a ship. Keep that nautical theme in your head because each piece in the collection has celestial details as the star.

Read more
Ready for a comeback? PUMA’s Easy Rider is back
Easy Rider Sneakers

 

With many sneakers coming back in recent seasons, PUMA is getting ready to blow them all out of the water. Once again, one of the company’s staple sneaker designs is ready to grace shelves and give us the true retro sneaker. While still iconic and recognizable, there’s no doubt that PUMA’s Easy Rider sneaker was the beginning of a new era for the casual sneaker, and to many regarded as one of the first of its kind. 

Read more
This new Cartier watch tells time backwards
Turn back time with the new Santos
Cartier Rewind on wrist

Wristwatches may be distinctly masculine pieces of hardware now, thanks to some very popular people in pop culture and in our own history adopting them. British super spy James Bond, movie stars, and athletes are the people we look up to who wear watches that catch our eye. Soldiers, cops, firefighters, and first responders wear watches they trust to ensure they can save lives. Pilots and divers created an entire industry around watches specifically designed for their vocations. And the very first pilot's watch was none other than a Cartier watch.

Alberto Santos-Dumont was a pioneer in the flight world and was one of the first people on Earth to achieve air travel. He was a competitor of the Wright Brothers, and, depending on the source, he preceded them in flight. In any case, the French celebrity went to Louis Cartier, another pioneer of his craft, and procured a square timekeeper meant for the wrist. The Cartier Santos Dumont was born. Over a century later, Cartier attended Watches and Wonders and presented the newest in the line of Santos watches, one that reverses time.
The Rewind tells time backwards

Read more