Surfers+Without+Borders

**NGO Overview, Mission, and Purpose: What We Are About and Who We Help** Surfers are the real barometers of the earths health. //Surfers Without Borders// is a humanitarian aid organization dedicated to creating Projects that Teach Environmental Awareness, Reduce Ocean Pollution, and Foster Good Relations between Surfers and Coastal Communities around the world. We believe that a dedicated group of individuals can change the course of environmental destruction and cultural intolerance. We serve as ambassadors for an ever growing, global group of concerned athletes and activists. Ocean pollution is reaching an all time high. Plastic and agricultural chemicals mix with human waste and heavy metals to form a toxic brew; one that we as surfers bathe in as often as possible, and one that provides food for many Coastal Communities. It is a costal epidemic that we as beach goers cannot ignore. There should never be a time where our toilet water is cleaner than our ocean. Let’s face it, we are basically making life more difficult for ourselves, along with many other species, by believing that there is such a thing as “waste”. Waste creates pollution. Pollution creates disease. With no permanent sustainable plan yet most of our pollution ends up in the ocean. Our vision is to find a sustainable reliable way to deal with pollution that taxes our environment in the least. Our chief concerns are how we deal with plastic in the environment, human waste, unsafe food and unsafe drinking water. All of which can be fixed.

Goals: Protect and clean the environment from further pollution Execute sensible design for pollution control Make plastic extinct in the environment Control human waste pollution Make our food and water safe to consume

**NGO "Bottom Line": How Me Make an Impact** There are various ways to make an impact. You can do something as simple as a beach clean up, which makes our oceans less toxic, or something requiring more effort such as implementing a recycle system at home or growing your own produce. Listed below are ways in which to decrease your carbon footprint and keep our oceans and surrounding areas pollutant free.

__//ISSUE: PLASTIC IN THE ENVIRONMENT//__ __SOLUTION 1:__ Plastic is made from oil. Fuel is made from oil. Turn plastic into fuel. __SOLUTION 2:__ Because plastic is oil it burns. Gasification turns plastic into electricity without pollution. __SOLUTION 3:__ The Water Bottle Refill Program reduces the amount of plastic bottles used __SOLUTION 4:__ BAN THE BAG, AND BOTTLE!

__//ISSUE: HUMAN WASTE POLLUTION//__ __SOLUTION 1:__ Composite toilets use no water and process human waste into fertilizer. __SOLUTION 2:__ Biogas digesters convert organic material into methane gas which can be used like natural gas.

__//ISSUE: UNSAFE DRINKING WATER//__ __SOLUTION 1:__ Slow Sand Filters are cheap to build from locally available materials and filter 99% of harmful bacteria. __SOLUTION 2:__ Teach the children to keep the land clean and we will have long term solutions.

__//ISSUE: UNSAFE FOOD//__ __SOLUTION 1:__ Grow Your Own __SOLUTION 2:__ Sustainable Agriculture can help to redesign our food production systems __SOLUTION 3:__ Buy Local, Buy Organic

**NGO Organization Details and Location: Headquarters and Global Outreach**

The Ocean Foundation 1990 M Street, NW, Suite 250

Washington, DC 20036 P: (202)887-8992

F: (202) 887-8987

E: info@oceanfdn.org

**NGO Job Openings: Who, Why, Where, When, and for How Much?** There are various internships that are offered by our organization. There are various fields you could assist us in; our water bottle refill program, slow sand filter, compost toilets, youth education, sustainable agriculture, marine plastics debris study, plastic to oil and Surfonomics programs. We need people who for one and most importantly feel passionately about fixing pollution problems in our oceans. You could assist us by helping people in foreign countries get clean water through our sand filters, fix/maintain our plastic to oil machines, build compost toilets in 3rd world countries or simply do a beach clean up with us. There are many volunteer opportunities.

**Why You Should Join Us…** Surfers Without Borders is a made up of a group of people who are dedicated to creating a safe, clean environment for ocean creatures and humans to live in and enjoy. The problems we are facing are pressing, and in order to create a livable ecosystem we need to educate the public on environmental awareness. As one person, this message is hard to spread, but as a society of environmental activists we can achieve an unpolluted, nontoxic, environmentally aware future. Every wave started with a ripple.

**Our NGO Website** **http://www.surferswithoutborders.org/SWoBs_Home.html**