The lowdown on our first ever beach clean and how you can still get involved to protect our oceans...
It’s been a big year for SunGod as we take steps towards a more sustainable future. So far, we’ve been blown-away by the responsiveness of the community, and we’re stoked to announce that in record time, the Surfers Against Sewage Limited Edition Microfibres have now sold out! This means we’ve been able to match your £4 donations to raise a total of £8,000 for SAS.
A huge thank you to all of you.
Two sell-out years for the SAS Limited Edition microfibres is just the beginning though. We’re continuing to take active steps to tackle plastic pollution in our oceans with an exciting action plan for the road ahead. We kicked things off last week with our first ever SunGod community beach clean, here’s how it all went down and how you can still get involved…
The SunGod x SAS community beach clean: what went down…
On Saturday the 7th of August a team of SunGod Ambassadors were joined by members of the public at Eastney Beach in Portsmouth UK for our first ever community beach clean. The stoke was high, the sun was out (mostly) and we escaped the rain for the best part of the morning kicking the day off with a delicious brunch laid out by the Southsea Deli!
With full stomachs, we set off to clean the beach while the sun shone. At first we were impressed by the cleanliness of the beach, but the rubbish soon began to show itself when we started looking for it. Rubbish from picnics, BBQs and abandoned beach equipment soon accumulated until we had over 7kg of in total before the rain caught up with us… We rounded off the day with cold tins of beer kindly supplied by Urban Island Brewing while we discussed our thoughts from the day and ideas for the next clean up. If one thing is certain, it will be the first of many, so watch this space!
What we learned...
The beach clean was a great opportunity to bring our community together to make a difference. The feeling of accomplishment that came from the day was equal only to the disappointment we felt that the beach clean was needed at all. So much of the rubbish we found was avoidable and as a team we discussed ways that we could mitigate this both as individuals and on a larger scale. We’ve asked the experts, Surfers Against Sewage to share with the SunGod community, their top tips for how you can get involved and take action to prevent plastic pollution in our oceans…
Who are Surfers Against Sewage?
Surfers Against Sewage is a marine conservation charity created by surfers frustrated by the declining water quality in UK Oceans. SAS have been at the forefront of campaigns for water quality, decreasing plastic pollution and ocean and climate recovery. Plastic pollution has been at the top of the agenda and their continued work through the Plastic Free Movement has reached over 1 million students thanks to their Plastic Free Schools initiative. What’s more, in November SAS will be presenting a youth manifesto to the UN Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP26) to ensure the voices of young people are heard throughout the climate debate.
5 Easy tips to help protect the oceans we love, from SAS:
1. Sign the Ocean & Climate Petition: "Together we can all be the voice of the ocean! As hosts of the COP26, the UK government has the responsibility to make sure the ocean is at the forefront of climate negotiations. By signing the petition, you’ll be helping the voice of the ocean to be heard within climate negotiations."
2. Host your own beach clean or join a beach clean near you as part of the Million Mile Clean: "Or join the next SunGod x SAS community beach clean, it’s easy! Our beach clean community is a growing one and we welcome over 100,000 volunteers each year."
3. Remove and replace one item from your household with a plastic-free alternative: "The list is endless here! A reusable water bottle to avoid purchasing a water bottle on the move is a good start. For the bathroom consider re-usable cotton face wipes rather than single-use ones and bamboo toothbrushes instead of plastic ones. Finally, find out where you can refill your toiletries and if that isn’t available near you, opt for soap bars where possible!"
4. Download and use the Safer Seas Service App: "Our award-winning, free to use app is the only national real-time water quality service that protects all water users from pollution. In 2020 we’ve already had a huge success with water companies committing to providing year round information to the app, the only real time water quality information provider."
5. Email your local MP to call for an ‘all-in’ Deposit Return Scheme (DRS) to stop plastic pollution: "DRS schemes allow shoppers to pay a deposit on drinks containers that can be redeemed when the container is returned. And it works! In Norway they manage to capture 97% of their single-use plastic bottles through an all-in DRS. This means high-quality plastic material is kept in ‘the loop’ which is much easier to recycle into different products, so less new plastic bottles need to be created. Win-win!"
Sign the Ocean and Climate Petition here.
Learn more about our partnership with Surfers Against Sewage here.
Community will always form the beating heart of SunGod and as we move towards a more sustainable future, we know that you will be with us every step of the way! Register your interest for future beach cleans and events here.
