Dive for Earth Day events in SoCal and globally

This month, as we head toward Earth Day on Apr. 22, you’ll get a jolly green earful of great festivals and events where you can celebrate our planet upon terra firma. But since over 70% of the Earth’s surface consists of water, it’d make sense to get a little wet for the occasion, don’t you think?

That’s where Dive for Earth Day comes in. Initiated by environmental nonprofit Project AWARE Foundation in 2000, the campaign has prompted thousands of divers in over 115 countries to volunteer and raise awareness about our fragile aquatic environments. Projects on and surrounding Earth Day largely consist of beach and underwater cleanups as well as educational events.

Last year, in Katowice, Poland, 280 volunteers collected 1,500 bags of trash from shores and sea. On the Isle of Wight in the UK, a “fancy dress beach cleanup” attracted the likes of a James Bond look-a-like and others festively collecting tar, cans, bottles and other rubbish. On Maui, Hawaii, divers collected 500 pounds of garbage and recycled some of it, including fishing lines and weights that were cleaned and got a chance at new life via a local shop, according to the Project AWARE website.

This year, for Dive for Earth Day, people of all ages globally — in wetsuits, swimming trunks or plain clothes — will be doing their part to clean up their local waterways and beaches, to make our planet a little cleaner, prettier and healthier for marine life and humans.

A handful of cleanups are being scheduled by groups, diving businesses and individuals in Southern California this month, including events in Catalina Island, San Juan Capistrano, Oceanside, La Jolla and San Diego. Search the full list of international events here.

And, since Earth Day should really be every day, all the time, even when you’re underwater, here’s something to check out before your next scuba venture: “Ten Ways a Diver Can Protect the Underwater Environment.”

Contact: Project AWARE

- Susan Derby, Special to the Los Angeles Times

[Photo credit: "Project AWARE Dive for Earth Day April 2008" on Facebook. Credit: Project AWARE Foundation]

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This entry was posted on Thursday, April 9, 2009 at 10:00 am by Susan Derby and is filed under California, Catalina Island, Eco-Travel, Family & Kids, Global, Islands & Beaches, Orange County, Outdoors & Adventure, San Diego, Spring. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a comment, or trackback from your own site.