Save Our Shores thanks the 220 community volunteers who participated in our July 5th Star Spangled Beach Cleanup , where we cleaned up 2,750 lbs. of trash & 400 lbs. of recycling from our Santa Cruz beaches in just 3 short hours. Thanks to you, 3,150 lbs. of pollution did not make it into the Monterey Bay, and our oceans as a whole.

During our July 4th Pollution Prevention efforts the day before, over 1,600 trash and recycling bags were handed out to beach goers on the busiest beach day of the year at Main Beach, Seabright Beach, Twin Lakes Beach, Moran Lake Beach, and Seacliff/Rio Del Mar Beach. On the 4th, our Pollution Prevention volunteers and staff reached about 3,400 people on these same beaches, educating them about ocean pollution and how to properly dispose of their trash. Check out our July 4th Pollution Prevention video!

Hands Across the Sand is an international protest that happened around the world on Sat, June 26th. People participated at 800 spots across North and South America, Asia, Europe, Australia, and Africa. The protest was about protecting our marine life, our fisheries, and our coastal economies from the disastrous effects of offshore oil drilling, and to send a clear message the White House and the world that we will not tolerate another disaster like what's happening in the Gulf Coast. 

Save Our Shores &  Surfrider were joined by over 250 protesters at Main Beach in Santa Cruz.

Check out the Hands Across the Sand website for additional locations and details: http://www.handsacrossthesand.com/.

The image is powerful, the message is simple.  NO to Offshore Oil Drilling, YES to Clean Energy.

Find more information on how to help in the Gulf...

Save Our Shores was originally founded as a citizen-action organization in 1978 to keep offshore oil drilling out of the Monterey Bay and Central Coast waters. We succeeded. Today, we continue to lead efforts to protect the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary we helped establish throughout 1988-1992.

The BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico is a serious national disaster and we hope this tragedy will inspire citizens, legislators, and organizations around the world to advocate for clean energy and the complete termination of new fossil fuel explorations off of our coastlines. 

Read more about how YOU can help in the Gulf...

Save Our Shores extends a HUGE thank you to everyone in the community who voted for Save Our Shores as Best Non-Profit in the Good Times 2010 Best of List.  We owe it all to your amazing volunteer work and constant support of Save Our Shores' ocean advocacy programs.

Thank you Santa Cruz! Your commitment to the Save Our Shores mission is paying off, and a more ocean-aware community is arising. Your participation in beach and river cleanups inspires, motivates, and teaches others; your voices advocate for the health of our oceans; and your actions help our youth learn how simple, responsible choices result in a happy, healthy, ocean community.

Thank you again for Living Blue & Saving Our Shores!

On April 14, the Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors voted in unanimous support of an ordinance to ban the use of plastic bags at retail shops and impose a surcharge on paper bags. The goal is to cut down on the amount of plastic bags found in our oceans, harming marine life, and littering our waterways, while promoting reusable bags as an energy saving, environmentally responsible, and simple alternative to plastic bags.  Save Our Shores has been working tirelessly on our Plastic Bag Ban Campaign for years now, and from June 2007 – March 2010 removed over 19,887 plastic bags during beach and river cleanups. Read more about SOS Plastic Bag Ban Campaigns...

The ordinance, originally sponsored by Supervisor Mark Stone, calls for a 10-cent fee for every paper bag used, eventually rising to a 25-cents per bag, with the revenue collected to be kept by the retailer to provide funds to implement no-bag programs, such as offering reusable bags for a low price.

Are you a thrill seeker or an adrenaline junkie? Come get your fill at the Adventure Film Festival hosted by Save Our Shores.  The Adventure Film Festival will be held at the Rio Theater on April 8th from 7pm to 10pm, doors open at 6pm. Tickets are $12 or $10 with student ID, all proceeds go to funding Save Our Shores programs.  The evening will feature a selection of award winning films highlighting surfing, kayaking, conservation and more in an effort to illustrate the many ways we are connected to the ocean.  Join us in an exclusive screening to celebrate our blue planet. 

Based in Boulder, Colorado, Adventure Film Festival is currently in the middle of a worldwide tour.  Lucky for us, they picked Santa Cruz as a stop along the way.  "The Adventure Film Festival is excited to partner with Save Our Shores for a fun evening of award-winning films featuring adventure, conservation and a glimpse into how the ocean plays a role in everyone's life" says Mark Reiner, Producer of Adventure Film Festival.