The Save Our Shores July 4th “Pollution Prevention is Patriotic” efforts dramatically decreased the amount of trash left behind on Santa Cruz County beaches after the fun and often rowdy July 4th celebrations. 

SOS staff and volunteers launched a widespread awareness and pollution prevention campaign leading up to this year’s Independence Day holiday that helped celebrators at the beach ensure that their party didn’t leave a big mess.  Last year on July 5th 40,000 pounds of trash were hauled off of seven Santa Cruz Beaches, but this year the total amount of trash generated on the July 4th was only 15,000 pounds! 

SOS has been involved in July 5th beach cleanups in Santa Cruz County for over 10 years and is excited to see this year’s pollution prevention efforts make a real impact.

The first Dockwalker event is this Saturday, July 12th from 9 a.m.- 2 p.m. at the Santa Cruz Harbor.

This program engages the community to get involved in oil spill prevention in our harbors through boater education and helping to get the word out about used oil recycling and proper boating methods. SOS staff will be running DockWalker events on the weekends from July through September in all four harbors of the Monterey Bay.

On July 14th President George W. Bush lifted the executive ban on offshore oil drilling. Save Our Shores is following this issue closely and will be mobilizing its constituents to contact state and federal elected officials to protect our shores from offshores oil drilling.

If you are in the California 17th District please call U.S. Representative Sam Farr and tell him that you do not want to have the Congressional Moratorium on Offshore Oil Drilling lifted and that the Federal Government should promote better energy alternatives for two reasons: to reduce demand for imported oil, and to reduce carbon-emissions.

Surprisingly Representative Sam Farr has been recieving calls of support for Offshore Oil drilling!

SOS urges all its constituents to CALL REPRESENTATIVE SAM FARR TODAY and have your VOICE HEARD!

Save Our Shores, the leader in ocean awareness, advocacy, and action on the Central Coast, was started 30 years ago when a group of citizens of Santa Cruz banded together to fight offshore oil drilling on the Central Coast of California. As residents with a remarkably rich ocean in our backyards, we realized the urgent need to protect these important ecosystems from the environmental hazards that offshore oil drilling could cause. Stop the threat of offshore oil drilling off our coast by contacting your Representative.

Fast forward to today - June 18, 2008 - President Bush joined Senator John McCain in calling on Congress to end the ban that has protected America's most pristine coastlines from oil drilling since 1981.

We need your help!  Come be a part of the largest Marine Debris Prevention efforts all year!  Every year thousands of people pour onto Santa Cruz County beaches to celebrate our July Fourth Independence Day holiday.  Every July Fifth, thousands of pounds of trash are left behind on our beaches.

This year Save Our Shores is collaborating with the Clean Beaches Coalition and various public agencies to spread a "Pollution Prevention is Patriotic" message. We hope our efforts will mean cleaner and safer beaches and oceans for all to enjoy.

Join Save Our Shores on July 4th in the Aptos Parade or on our busiest beaches to distribute garbage bags and educate the public about the impacts of marine debris. Then come back out on the morning of July 5th to clean up the big mess left behind!

Save Our Shores, with the help of some of our Santa Cruz Sanctuary Steward volunteers as well as Coastsider volunteers, coordinated a cleanup along Pilarcitos Creek on May 17th. In total, volunteers removed 906 pounds of trash and 161 pounds of recycling from the creek! Some of the more memorable items collected included: 11 shopping carts, 1 metal bed frame, 4 tires, one metal couch frame, an oxygen tank, 3 pallets, 2 coolers, 3 camping stoves, a stereo and tape player, a City 'No Parking' sign and post, 2 car batteries, 3 used motor oil containers, and much more.

Email your support for underwater state parks, or speak your mind on April 22 or 23 in San Rafael. California is in the process of creating Marine Protected Areas along the North Central coast, from Half Moon Bay to Point Arena. These underwater state parks and wilderness sites will help protect diverse habitats and let fish and marine wildlife thrive. On April 23, the Governor's Blue Ribbon Task Force will recommend a network of protected areas for our coastal waters.

We need your help to make sure they choose the best plan that includes the most important places along our coast — Package 4, which gets the highest marks from scientists and provides the highest level of protection to special places like the rocky reefs along the Sonoma Coast, seabird nesting areas at Point Reyes, historic Fitzgerald Marine Park and the Farallon Islands. Package 4 offers the most protection to the best places in the region, while still allowing small boat fishermen access to the sea to sustain traditional fisheries. Designed with input from local residents, conservationists, and fishermen, Package 4 offers California a true ocean legacy.

Oceans need our help now more than ever! Declining fisheries, increasing quantities of marine debris, and oil and toxins polluting near shore waters are just a few of the threats facing our oceans today.  Save Our Shores is holding an Ocean Leadership Conference on March 12-22 for Coastside communities in the Half Moon Bay area!  Participants will learn about current marine conservation issues such as Marine Protected Areas, marine debris, and local coastal watersheds.  Presentations will be given by Bob Breen, Brenda Donald, Dan Temko and other members of the Coastside communities.

The conference will also provide hands-on tools for empowering participants to become advocates for healthy oceans.  After the conference, participants will work with Save Our Shores staff to assess the needs of Coastside communities and then design and implement activities to engage their community in ocean conservation.