Woodsides Surfriders Club sparks environmental awareness and changes through coastal cleanups, preservation of aquatic ecosystems, and reusing/recycling of various materials to prevent litter on the coast; the club itself does not involve physical surfing of any kind.
Founded during the 2021-2022 school year, Surfriders Club contributes to California’s prioritization of environmentalism, in specific, the state’s battle to fight ocean contamination.
“My favorite part about the Surfriders club is that not only do the students who attend the meetings learn about what is going on with our oceans, but we do as well,” Senior and President of Surfriders Club Carolyn Fabian said. “There is always new information arising as time goes on with how we as humans are affecting the ocean.
Surfriders club is not limited to strictly the Woodside community. The Surfriders Foundation is a state-wide organization that holds chapters in various schools around the state to promote the prevention of ocean contamination.
“I started Surfriders Club with Sydney Garcia and Savannah Karlsten because I was getting credits in leadership by going with Sydney to the beach and picking up trash along it,” Fabian said. “I saw MA [Menlo-Atherton] show up with their [surfriders] club to do a beach cleanup and had told my counselor about what I did. He said I should start a club, so I decided to, and got two other girls involved in it as well.”
Over the summer, the club founders decided to engage with the organization by creating a new way for ocean-goers to keep the ocean clean.
“We made a take-a-toy/leave-a-toy box for beach toys and necessities like poop bags, leashes, harnesses, and collars; we did this because every little bit helps save the beach,” Fabian said. “The box was made completely from recycled materials.”
With the creation of this new box, the club observed the effectiveness of reusing materials to benefit others and prevent beach waste. However, their efforts were quickly subverted.
“We checked on the box 2-3 times a week for 2 weeks and it was getting a ton of attention and love but then on the fourth week, it just disappeared,” Fabian said. “No one contacted us even though our information was on it.”
The surfriders club meets on Thursday A days in E-19; to rally support for the fight against climate change and keep California, as well as our oceans, clean.
“We hope to encourage students to donate directly to the surfriders organization, possibly create another take a toy/leave a toy box and further students’ knowledge on ways to save the ocean,” Fabian concluded. “Our mission is to help save our oceans and the wildlife/ecosystems that live in them before it is too late.”
Carolyn Fabian • Oct 4, 2022 at 8:15 PM
Love it Cebelli!