We are your local chapter of the Surfrider Foundation, a grass-roots nonprofit protecting beaches, oceans, and waterways across the United States.
Our beaches and waterways are our playground and where we feel most at home. They are also incredible ecosystems with fascinating and important jobs: Our beaches are the birthplace of beautiful sea turtles. Our waters are the source of shrimp, fish, and oysters that feed hundreds of people each year. And the natural beauty of our coastline draws over 5 million visitors and $4.2 billion to Charleston each year. Our entire lives are built upon the amazing natural environment of Charleston.
Walking along Folly Beach we notice cigarette butts floating in the waves. Looking for shells and shark’s teeth on Sullivan’s Island we find bits of plastic. Kayaking down Shem Creek we discover sea turtles sick from having ingested plastic bags and fishing line.
But together we aren’t just collecting litter. We’re taking action to prevent it in the first place. We’ve successfully advocated for plastic bag bans on Isle of Palms, Folly Beach, and Mt Pleasant. We’ve converted 32 local restaurants to ocean-friendly practices and motivated 135 restaurants to ditch plastic straws. We’ve designed ocean-friendly gardens that filter pollution and sequester carbon.
