Surf mentality | Teen Ink

Surf mentality

December 21, 2023
By trackgeek SILVER, Crawfordsville, Indiana
trackgeek SILVER, Crawfordsville, Indiana
6 articles 1 photo 0 comments

Favorite Quote:
“Love is a possible strength in an actual weakness. Marriage transforms a distraction into a support, the power of which should be, and happily often is, in direct proportion to the degree of imbecility it supplants.” ― Thomas Hardy, Far from the Madding Crowd


If you've ever been anywhere that there's surfers, you'll note that most of them are just trying to wind down after a long day, or trying to start their day off right if it's morning. Some are walking the beach, salt-water soaked hair, board shorts, sandals or barefoot, t-shirt or swim/surf top, some in bikinis. What you don't always see is us walking the beaches checking for turtles nests, little creatures washed up on shore that shouldn't be; or pollution like plastic or glass bottles, plastic things that hold drink bottles together for a "pack-buy", soda and alcoholic beverage cans, and even things like elastic hair-ties. Many friends and I over the years have collected bottles form the beaches and things we visit, whether they be on an ocean, sea, or lake, we have all gotten many sunburns from staying out away from our bags to clean up the recyclable items that people neglect to clean up when they're leaving the beach. You see people wearing bracelets like the Pura Vida ocean awareness and sea life awareness bracelets, but how many of them are actively trying to help the oceans and the organisms and animals that live there? How many of them aren't just wearing those to fit the "coconut girl/person" trend? How many of these people actually care about the animals and not just doing things like that to post on socials to look good and then stopping the second the camera's gone? My guess, with the way the generations are coming in waves of more and more entitlement and blame shift, is that not very many people actually care about the oceans an its inhabitants. THIS needs to change. If people woukd start raising their children to care about the environment and be more aware of the runoff from the sewers and creeks, then maybe there would be less polluted oceans and beaches, but I sadly can't say for sure. I'm not one of those "VSCO girls" saying save the turtles, I'm an environmental activist saying 'Save the beaches' and 'Save the oceans!' If we as a country, heck, a world even, don't start holding others and ourselves accountable when it comes to our trash and recyclables, then there won't be any beaches or oceans to enjoy here in the next 20 years. Do you want that for YOUR children when you have them if you haven't already started having kids? Would you want to have to tell your kids and grand-kids someday that they can't enjoy the oceans and beaches because younger you didn't do your part and help clean the beaches and oceans? I genuinely doubt it. DO YOUR PART!!!


The author's comments:

as an aspiring surfer, i hope this gets somewhere big and puts awareness out there that not all of us are bums and we do care for the environment. some of us care more about the environment than we do about ourselves (this includes me)


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