The month of July 2017 was marked by the organization of the Beach Tour in France. From Cannes to Arcachon, a team of Surfrider went to meet the holiday makers to make them aware of 5 eco-friendly actions! The event was also happening on social networks with #OceanDetox! Let’s look back on this new mission of the oceans and coastline’s protection.
Vacationers made aware directly on the beach
To make holidaymakers aware, Surfrider has traveled through France every weekends of July by organizing practical and fun activities mainly for children on the beaches of Cannes, La Grande Motte, Hendaye and Arcachon.
In order to minimize their environmental impact throughout their mission, Surfrider used French craftspeople in an eco-responsible way to create their stand where the events took place. The structure, which was exclusively made of wood and bamboo, housed several activities for children, including pedagogical boxes to show the diversity of aquatic waste, an educational fresco and a photo booth.
The fresco, designed by Stephane Bouillet from the Remedact agency in Toulouse, represented animal figures enjoying the beach in a responsible way or not. The goal for the children was to find the right and the wrong behaviors at the beach in order to empower them.
The team also provided a free kit composed of the “Schtroumpfrider Booklet“, a water mister and a cardboard pencil contained in a Surfrider tote bag. For several years, Surfrider has been working with IMPS’s Smurf team in designing environmental education tools for children. The Beach Tour booklet included 5 Smurfs comics, games and coloring on the theme of ocean protection.
Before leaving, the onlookers had the possibility to make a photo booth with beach accessories and take away the picture made with a Polaroid.
Sharing eco-friendly tricks between Internet users
The Beach Tour was also broadcasted as a challenge on Internet! Every Wednesday during the month of July, on Facebook et Instagram, Surfrider published one of the 5 eco-actions put forward on the Beach Tour. The 5 actions chosen were:
1/ Respect your beach
2/ Do not throw anything on the ground
3/ Protect you from the sun
4/ Hydrate you frequently
5/ Keep the water clean
Through this challenge, Internet users were encouraged to adopt the right actions at the beach and to share their tricks to respect the environment and their health. The challenge reached more than 80,000 people and generated many interactions through comments on each publication. Exchanging views on the net helped put forward responsible behavior even during holidays. With seriousness but also with humor, fans have played the game and have managed to pool valuable tips such as garbage collection, the use of reusable containers on the beach and many DIY tricks. A big thank you to them for their participation!
For our pleasure, here is a compilation of the best tricks shared on Facebook:
The Beach Tour is over but the actions to protect our oceans and seashore is far from over. Let’s carry on with these eco-actions on a daily basis to protect our coastline and ocean!
