Earth Day Everyday for Wild Birds

My friend shot this photo in Costa Rica last summer as I had asked for some wild bird photos.  The same friend had introduced me to The Surf Rider Organization.  At first I thought surfers…what?   The Surfrider Foundation is a non-profit environmental organization dedicated to the protection and enjoyment of the world’s oceans, waves and beaches for all people, through conservation, activism, research and education.

From their website: “The Surfrider Foundation recognizes that protection of the coastal environment requires protection of an interconnected coastal zone that includes the open ocean, near shore water, beaches, estuaries and coastal watersheds.

The Surfrider Foundation further recognizes while some coastal lands and beaches have been set for permanent protection as wilderness areas, parks, reserves, preserves, conservation areas, and sanctuaries less than one percent of our marine environment has any protected status. Many of our most valued marine areas have already suffered significant damage from pollution, mismanaged fishing practices and coastal development impacts. The Special Places campaign is designed to identify and protect special ocean and coastal places through the establishment of marine protected areas.”

There is a video on their website that will astound you.  It show the massive trash pits on our oceans called jires.  There are 5 in the world, having to do with ocean currents, it’s where all of the waste in our oceans accumulate.  Most of this waste come from land to begin with.  Single-use plastic is a major problem, as it breaks down, but never dissolves.  With their many water quality analyses, these plastic particles actually outnumber plankton…pretty scary stuff!  The fish ingest it, and guess who eats the fish?

I purchased a recycled wild bird feeder a few months back–it came with a lifetime guarantee and looks great.  The sticker on the bird feeder was even better saying it reused 33 plastic containers!  Just think if everyone would recycle and use recycled products!  By the way…the bird feeder was manufactured by BackYard Nature Products.