March Chapter Meeting

By washdc

At our March meeting, we discussed upcoming events and had a guest speaker! See our notes below:

Chapter Updates:
- First meeting without GW Chapter
- Coastal Recreation Hill Day
  - 150 surfriders/industry reps/pro surfers
  - Over 100 meetings with reps
  - High level meetings with WH and dept of int
  - Pro surfer: Greg Long, Leah Dawson
  - Articulated federal priorities
    - Addtl funding for EPA
    - Break free from pollution act
    - Coastal conservation
- Volunteer fb group introduced: https://www.facebook.com/groups/658175608289902/?ref=bookmarks
  - All members are welcome to join
- Advocacy committee: email volunteercoordinator@dc.surfrider.org if interested
Upcoming volunteer opportunities: CANCELLED
- Rock n Roll – March 28 - CANCELLED
- Storm drain markings - TBD (weather has to be over 50 degrees)
Anything but Surfrider:
- Beth Porter - Climate Campaigns director from GreenAmerica
  - Break free from plastic pollution act
    - 850 mil metric tons of GHG due to plastic production
    - Plastic production to ramp up 40% in the near future
    - House bill has 56 cosponsors
    - Senate bill has 8 cosponsors
    - Producers are becoming more open to discussion
    - Touches on:
      - Investing in recycling and composting infrastructure
      - Stopping pollution at source
      - EPR- extended producer responsibility
    - Includes:
      - Nationwide “Bottle Bill” – 10 cent deposit on a bottle
      - Moratorium on the building of plastic production facilities
      - Ban shipping plastic to developing countries
      - Other specific policies:
      - Focus on addressing issue of fishing gear
      - Standardize recycling and composting labels that make sense to the consumer how to properly dispose
      - Ban single use plastic
    - Action: Ask reps to co-sponsor
      - Senate: S 3263
      - House: HR 5845
  - Things Surfrider DC could also support:
    - Zero Waste Act (b23-0506): Aligns with zero waste and that we should alert council members to vote.
    - Boomerang bag program in Mt. Pleasant might be in the works
    - Skip the slip campaign:
      - Change to phenyl-free receipt paper
      - Switch to electronic delivery
      - Shorten receipt length
Brad: emergency preparedness panel