photo by N. Bennett

 Does your family love the beach? One of the best ways to teach your children good stewardship of the ocean in which they love to play, swim, and surf is to join together with them and help clean the place up.

Living in San Diego County affords us a wealth of opportunities to get involved in "greening" our beaches.

The San Diego chapter of the Surfrider Foundation schedules cleanups at various locations. You don't have to be a member to help out and children are welcome. Again, there's a great opportunity here to model caring for the environment at a place you enjoy frequenting. You can also print out a fun Kids Activity Sheet from the Surfrider Foundation.

San Diego Coastkeeper partners with the Surfrider Foundation to plan cleanups twice a month (once in North County and once in South County). Children are welcome; simply fill out the waiver available on the Coastkeeper website. If you can't make it out to one of the scheduled cleanups, they even offer a downloadable kit with their Beach Cleanup in a Box program-- the perfect tool if you'd like to do an intimate family outing cleaning up your favorite spot.

Another local organization that is involved in keeping beaches clean is I Love A Clean San Diego, who offers another unique way to help protect our oceans, which is stenciling storm drains with reminders not to dump toxins into the drains that lead to the ocean. This is a great way to help prevent polluted beaches.

Despite the best efforts of rangers and lifeguards, the only way our beaches are really going to stay clean and healthy for generations to come is if we do our part, too.

For more info: International Coastal Cleanup Day is Saturday, September 19th, 2009! Join in with thousands of others around the globe at your local beach. Visit California Coastal Cleanup Day to sign up in San Diego County or for more information you can visit the Ocean Conservancy. My daughter and I will be at the Swami's location- look for our event report next week.