A day at the beach shouldn’t include body surfing through plastic bags. But, equally detrimental is the harm that’s being done to wildlife when plastics photo-degrade (break down from the sun’s UV rays). In the ocean, birds and marine life often mistake these small pieces as food, and as they provide no nutrients, wildlife slowly starve to death.

The Surfrider Foundation recently announced the roll out of its long-awaited program Rise Above Plastics, which seeks to reduce the amount of plastics making their way into our beach and marine environments though education and outreach efforts.

“In certain areas of our oceans, the amount of suspended plastic particles outnumbers plankton by a ratio of six to one,” said program director Angela Howe in a press release. “Subsequently we see all this plastic making its way up the food chain, where it harms and kills birds and marine life.”

The Surfrider Foundation began the initial outreach for its Rise Above Plastics program earlier this summer as part of Jack Johnson’s All At Once tour (his songs can be heard on the Surfrider Foundation website).

“People are ready to make behavioral changes that benefit our environment,” said Johnson’s wife, Kim, who along with Jack, helped in the planning and launch of Surfrider’s program.

Log on to learn more about how plastics impact our marine and coastal environments and how to take steps to reduce your plastic footprint. Take the campaign pledge. To find a brick and mortar location and meet with like-minded souls, visit the area chapter page.

Image: guzzzt