Fifty percent of the carbon dioxide produced from burning fossil fuels gets absorbed by the ocean and reacts with water to form carbonic acid. This carbonic acid increases the overall acidity of ocean water. There has been a 30 percent increase in acidity in our oceans since the Industrial Revolution.

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This Saturday, June 12th, is the Santa Monica Pier Paddle Board Race. They’re expecting up to 250 paddle contestants and will also host a dory competition and a paddle gear exhibition all to benefit Heal the Bay.

The races will start and finish on the sand adjacent to the Santa Monica pier with the courses running north and south in the heart of the Santa Monica Bay. Both the stand up paddle and prone paddle races feature 5.5 mile and 1 mile courses.

Registration starts at 8am with the first race at 9:30am.

For more info see the Heal the Bay website: http://www.healthebay.org/events/special/2010_06_12_SMPaddleBoardRace.asp

Of course don’t forget to outfit yourself in one of our stylish pair of boardshorts as well as protect your skin with a rash guard shirt or KoreDry UV shirt.

We here at Buy Board Shorts know that many states are having to cut back on services but California’s state parks have taken an especially bad beating from Governor Schwarzenegger this past year, with many parks being forced to close along with parking and camping fees shooting sky high!

The California State Parks Association is holding an event this holiday weekend called ‘Stand Up for State Parks’.

Their idea is that the best way to show support for California’s state parks is to go out and visit them! The event will also raise awareness to the fiscal problems the state parks are facing and generate public action for the protection and funding of California’s state parks.

What better time to Stand Up For State Parks than the unofficial start of summer, Memorial Day weekend.

Participation in this event is fun and easy – and can help make a big difference! All you need to do is visit a state park, and then share your experience!

Of course we always advocate wearing a pair of our boardshorts along with a UV protecting shirt such as a rash guard or KoreDry shirt, along with environmentally friendly sunscreen while you’re outside enjoying a hike or swim at your favorite state park. 

A group called Matter of Trust is collaborating with thousands of salons along with groomers, wool farmers, individuals and pet owners throughout the US and abroad, to  donate their  clippings to soak up oil spills. They also accept fur and other “natural fibers” waste wool, alpaca fleece, horse hair, feathers, etc.

You can find out more about this unique program here: http://www.matteroftrust.org/programs/hairmatsinfo.html

That’s why we were thrilled to learn about a project that the 1st graders at Jefferson Elementary School, (Carlsbad, CA), recently completed…

Seems the kids were inspired by a presentation made to them by San Diego Surfrider RAP activist Heather Benson, then guided  by their teacher Arlene Gnade, and local “gARTbage” artist, Teresa Espaniola to spend over 5 months collecting plastic garbage from nearby beaches to create a giant “whale” they named Lil’ Gray.

You can see photos and read about their experiences on their blog.

Not only is Matunas non-toxic, biodegradable, petroleum-free, and wrapped in labels using 100% FSC certified recycled paper with soy ink – it has a awesome bead and super grip (crucial for those late drops!)

While it’s new to us it’s been around since 1998. Grown on Matuna’s farm in Northern California, it’s 100% natural and scented with REAL strawberries, raspberries, and jasmine flowers!

Good for the environment, good for your nose and good for your stick. 

Do you know what makes up over 1/2 of all that waste?? PAPER!!

So when you or your kids head back to school in the coming weeks we here at Buy-Board-Shorts hope that you’ll keep that in mind and try to take a few simple steps to reduce YOUR paper waste. 

The easiest ones that come to mind are to use both sides of you paper and recycle. You can also use paper made from recycled paper, (is that like reincarnation?).

They found that 3 out of 5 offer inadequate protection from the sun or actually contain toxic ingredients. They discovered that 42% of tested sunscreens still contained the chemical oxybenzone, shown in laboratory tests to disrupt the endocrine system and release reactive oxygen species that could contribute to skin cancer.

When our customers buy a pair of board shorts from us and head out for some fun in the sun, we want to be sure they are safe and armed with knowledge so they can make the best and most informed decision about their sunscreen! That’s why we’d like to pass along our own recommendation for an all natural, biodegradable mineral sunblock that our staff members have actually used: Mexitan Sunscreen.

The Mexitan line of sunblocks use all natural ingredients including the mineral zinc and titanium to block the harmful UVA and UVB rays of the sun. PLUS they got very high marks from the EWG and are in their list of top 10 sunscreens!

You can read the EWG report here.

You can buy Mexitan suntan lotion here.

Looking for something fun to do Wednesday nights in Santa Barbara? Wanna help out the local chapter of the Surfrider Foundation?

OK – then get off yer butts and head over to their Big Wednesday event:

Start Time: Wednesday, July 1, 2009 at 9:30pm

End Time: Thursday, July 2, 2009 at 1:00am

Location: SANDBAR

Street: 514 Sate Street

City/Town: Santa Barbara, CA

And since this IS a surfer-type of event you can certainly show up in yer board shorts and be totally stylin’.

Huntington Beach, (aka Surf City), is known around the globe for it’s waves and beaches and tomorrow local Surfrider members, (and non-members), will spend a couple of hours doing their part to keep the beach liter free and beautiful – so why not join them?

You can find them at the south side of the Pier near Huntington Street from 8:00am to Noon.

You can even park for free if you enter at the Beach Blvd gate and tell them you’re there to participate in the Surfrider beach clean up. Once you get parked, hit the sand and look for the blue Surfrider Tent at Tower 11. Clean up supplies provided along with service hours of community service proof, if needed.