Our monthly chapter meeting will be next Thursday, Mar. 19 at Big Time Brewing Brewery & Ale House (4133 The Ave, Seattle, WA 98105). All ages welcome. We will be celebrating the Plastic Bag ban, discussing upcoming beach cleanups and partnerships, planning out upcoming events, and bringing together the Seattle Surf/Ocean community. With recognition to COVID-19, we have booked a larger than normal venue to allow for personal space between members. We also ask that if you are sick to please stay home.
Surfrider Foundation chapters are led and run by a small group of dedicated volunteers. At our February meeting we voted in a new slate of leaders for our Seattle Chapter. Congrats and thank you for volunteering to help lead our chapter.
Chair – Call Nichols (chair@seattle.surfrider.org)
Vice Chair – Colleen Cushnie (vicechair@seattle.surfrider.org)
Treasurer – Drew Albenze (treasurer@seattle.surfrider.org)
Communications Chair – Julia Jaynes (social@seattle.surfrider.org)
Volunteer Coordinator – James Roubal (volunteercoordinator@seattle.surfrider.org)
Beach Cleanup Coordinator – Brianna Haugen (beachcleanups@seattle.surfrider.org)
Ocean Friendly Restaurants Coordinator – Chelsea Ruka (OFR@seattle.surfrider.org)
On February 26 -28 our chapter chair Call Nichols and Washington State Policy Manager Gus Gates joined over 150 Surfrider members, industry leaders, and surf ambassadors in Washington D.C. to meet with federal leaders about ways to protect our ocean, waves, and beaches. Along with other Surfrider Foundation Washington Chapters , great meetings were held with Congresswoman Schrier and staff, staff from Congressman Larsen’s office, staff from Senator Cantwell’s office, staff from Congresswoman Jayapal’s office, and Congressman Kilmer and staff. During meetings, Surfrider presented federal leaders with surfboards and letters signed by thousands of citizens and businesses asking for immediate action on climate change.
Surfrider had four key lobby priorities: Take Action on Climate Change; Protect Clean Water & Public Health; Reduce Plastic Pollution; and Defend Public Lands & Water. You can read more about the full experience here and Washington chapters involvement here.
On Monday afternoon Washington became the eighth state to ban Plastic Bags. With Senate Bill 5323 passing the senate with a vote of 35-15 and in the house 67-29 the bill now makes its way to the desk of Governor Jay Inslee to sign the bill into law. The bill eliminates most single use plastic carry out bags. The bill was sponsored by Senator Mona Das (D-Kent) and Representative Strom Peterson (D-Edmonds) sponsoring the companion house bill. The bill was supported by a broad coalition of stakeholders, including retailers and environmentalists. More details about the passage of the bill and specifics can be found here. The approach of this bill of a bag ban/fee hybrid is also one component of the comprehensive Break Free From Plastic Pollution Act on the national level that we are supporting, show your support via our action alert today!