Written by: Sharmane Estolano, Ocean Activist and CaliBaja Founder*
My Clean H2o story began back in the 70’s as a suburbia kid growing up in Chula Vista, CA; we were inland beachgoers who spent summer days at the Silver Strand and Coronado Beaches, purposely avoiding Imperial Beach...because, you know.
I love the beach and everything about it – the salt spray, tidepools, sea life and simply splashing in the waves. Life and Oceanography are my favorite sciences and I’m also a saltwater/reef hobbyist.
Hi - my name is Sharmane Estolano, a south county resident, ocean lover, and founder of CaliBaja, a regional apparel brand.
In late 2016 when CaliBaja was created, the social aim was to support an organization in the region and to use the platform of the Brand to help bring awareness to their cause. At the time, we didn’t know what that looked like, or which organization we would align with, but knew it had to be something regional to dovetail into the Brand, and an organization that would share the same values as CaliBaja.
A few months later in February, the “Great Spill” of 2017 occurred - a 215-million-gallon raw sewage spill, which created a health and humanitarian crisis that affected our region on both sides of the border.
This was the cause we knew we wanted to be a part of and the crisis event that led us to the No Border Sewage community group, which today has become a Surfrider initiative called Clean Border Water Now.
Since focusing our commitment and support to Clean Border Water Now, our volunteers have assisted with letter writing campaigns, attended marches and meetings on both sides of the border, and have logged over 100 hours of beach and upstream cleanups. CaliBaja is proud to support initiatives like these that fight for our right for clean water!
For 2019, we will continue to support the organizations that protect our waterways and the marine life dependent on them.
There are No Borders in the Water.
*#mycleanh2ostory is written by local activists who are fighting for clean water.