Stop Pollution At The Source
Plastic is a problem before it reaches the beach. Extraction, production, consumption, and disposal carry serious environmental and humanitarian consequences. Single-use plastic is particularly detrimental as bags, bottles, straws, expanded polystyrene foam, and food wrappers consistently top the list of items our volunteers collect at cleanups. Researchers estimate up to 11 million metric tons of plastic waste enter the ocean annually, and by 2025, 11 billion metric tons will have accumulated in the environment.* This pollution impacts our marine ecosystems and wildlife, including seabirds, dolphins, fish, turtles, and whales. Plastic fragments are even displacing plankton as the base of the food chain. It's not just ocean life at stake - plastic contains toxic chemicals that can transfer from containers, cups, cutlery, and straws directly into the food we eat. Not to mention the hundreds of thousands of microplastics we're exposed to daily through our food, water, and air.* *Sources can be found on Beachapedia
While the problem may be complex, the solution is simple - we must stop plastic at the source!
The Surfrider Foundation's Ocean Friendly Restaurants program does just that. We recognize restaurants committed to cutting out wasteful single-use plastic and offer a straightforward framework to help them make sustainable choices for our ocean. The result is a community of like-minded restaurants we can promote, support, and lift up as examples of success in influencing plastic reduction legislation. The larger our network of Ocean Friendly leaders grows, the more mainstream the concept of plastic-free becomes.
