Nearly every student has been to the beach and, consequently, most every student has seen the beach cluttered with trash. Besides being bad for the environment, seeing snack wrappers and discarded soda cans take up your favorite tanning spot is just unappealing; no one wants to go tanning in a junkyard.
Fortunately, though, the Surfrider foundation has a club here on campus that is dedicated to keeping the beach clean for all beachgoers, the world round.
Originally founded 25 years ago in Malibu, the Surfrider Foundation has expanded to fifteen countries and, as of last year, found it’s way into CHS. Senior Skye Rainey founded the club during the beginning of her junior year out of her care for the environment, and, more specifically, her love for beach.
“A lot of people don’t look out for the beach” Rainey said. “People think it’s ok to leave their trash at the beach.”
To counter this, the Surfrider club organizes beach cleanups. Periodically meeting at local beaches, the club picks up waste and raises awareness about the cleanliness of the beach. However, this year the club is branching out into different activities.
“We mainly just do beach cleanups” Rainey said. “ But we’re hoping to get some fundraising in for second semester.”
Even if the cleanliness of the beach isn’t very high on a student’s priority list, the sheer amount of community service hours that they stand to gain from participating in these cleanups is too valuable to pass up, and being a member of the club is not required to participate in the cleanups.
“Anyone can just show up and do a beach cleanup” sophomore Sydney Rheinhardt said.
Unfortunately, the club has a large amount of seniors and is looking for any underclassmen who would be willing to be the head leader of the club next school year. Any student interested in becoming an officer next year should go and check out the club.
“They should come in and join the club” Rheinhardt said.
And to dispel any rumors about the club, students looking to join don’t actually have to surf.
“That’s a huge misconception. A lot of students involved don’t actually surf” Rainey said.
So students who have any interest about the cleanliness of the environment or just want to rack up community service hours should check out the club’s Facebook page or CHSTV for announcements about upcoming meetings. The cleaning of our shores requires our support and dedication.
