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Marine litter

Every year, 8 million tons of waste end up in the biggest bin for modern societies: the ocean.

This pollution makes marine mammals choke to death, asphyxiates oceans, and creates threats to humankind, among the many harmful impacts on our environment. Waste minimization is the only way to sustainably and effectively fight against this catastrophe.

Break the plastic wave

To stop plastic pollution of the Ocean, change is needed now. Citizens, businesses, public institutions and governments; every level of society must all work together to transform the way we produce and consume to fight plastic pollution and preserve Ocean health.

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Art campus

The Art Campus develops projects that place art at the heart of the link between the environment and human beings. It is a real laboratory of innovation in terms of education, constantly seeking for new ways to make awareness fun and sustainable. Throughout the year, exhibitions and artistic residencies offer the viewer a complementary look at our relationship with the environment.

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A life without plastic

Disposable plastic is ubiquitous in our lives and it becomes difficult if not impossible to part with it. Surfrider Europe offers you throughout 2021 “Plastic Free Guides” to reduce your consumption of plastic in your daily life. For every situation, there are solutions!

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Ocean friendly restaurants: the eco-friendly charter for restaurant owners

A charter offering restaurants an easy way to show their commitment to making sustainable choices for our Ocean.

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Plastic origins

To reduce marine litter, we have to think beyond beach clean-ups and act directly at the source of the problem. Plastic Origins, a Surfrider Europe program, invites volunteers on a river quest to monitor inland plastic pollution and build local solutions to prevent it from reaching the Ocean.

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Biomedia

Used in many wastewater treatment plants since the early 2000’s, filtrating medias beach in large quantities on the coasts worldwide. After ten years of investigation, Surfrider Europe publicizes the first report on the subject.

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Ban the bag

Plastic bags are a plague to the oceans and environment. Along with Surfrider, learn good practices to fight against this pollution. Let’s take action and mobilize our communities to come together and say “No to plastic bags”.

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Reset your habits

Surfrider is engaged in the fight against plastic bottles, the “serial polluter”. Plastic bottles are in the top 10 of items of waste collected on beaches every year during Ocean Initiatives. It’s time to change, let’s reset our habits and forget single use plastic bottles!

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Ocean’s Zero

Ocean’s Zero is an app to teach you good habits that will help you reduce waste and save the oceans!

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Ocean Initiatives

Ocean Initiatives are clean-up actions on beaches, lakes, rivers and sea beds all over the world. These litter collections are organized by volunteers with the support of Surfrider Foundation Europe.

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Our actions and our demands

Understanding where waste comes from

All these activities are reinforced through extensive scientific research aimed at understanding the issue of marine litter better. By studying the waste in water from sources, to oceans, via rivers, we are looking for effective solutions to reduce that waste.

Creating awareness and educating citizens

Since 1995, Surfrider Foundation Europe has been leading awareness advocacy to educate Europeans. The goal is to draw attention to the issue of marine litter by cleaning beaches, lakes, and rivers. Through these actions, each participant can become aware of the impact of their daily activities on the marine environment.

Putting pressure on local authorities

From the local to the European level, Surfrider is leading campaigns, in particular against single-use plastics, as we believe that the best kind of litter is one that is not produced. Being able to mobilise citizens also sends a strong message to European political institutions. For this reason, Surfrider is campaigning for appropriate lobbying; we are advocates for quality and quantity-focused goals to fight this threat.