On International Surfing Day, our volunteers removed 15 lbs of trash, 2 lbs of recyclables, and 154 cigarette butts from Avila Beach, and we gave out 35 pocket ashtrays to smokers. The local NBC affiliate covered the event. Watch the video on the KSBY website.
"Surfers are asking, "hold your butts," and no, they don't mean your rear-end.
They're asking you to hold on to your cigarette butts, and properly throw them away.
Every third Saturday in June is International Surfing Day, geared to celebrate surfing while being environmentally-conscious.
The Surfrider Foundation's San Luis Obispo Chapter took the day to clean up Avila Beach, beginning with the Hold On To Your Butt (HOTYB) program.
The foundation says cigarette butts are the most common item picked up when a beach is cleaned.
Last year, volunteers picked up more than 17,000 butts from SLO County coastal areas.
They take up to 25 years to decompose and have various negative impacts on the environment, including harming animals that might mistake them for food, and clogging the sea with harmful chemicals.
The chapter worked to install and replace several ashcans around Pismo Beach (with the message "butts in here") and around SLO.
To find out how you can help, or to get more information on the program, follow this link."
