Surfers Against Sewage (SAS) is a

marine conservation Marine conservation, also known as ocean conservation, is the protection and preservation of ecosystems in oceans and seas through planned management in order to prevent the over-exploitation of these marine resources. Marine conservation is i ...

charity working with communities to protect oceans, waves, beaches and marine life. It was created in 1990 by a group of Cornish surfers from the villages of St Agnes and

Porthtowan Porthtowan ( kw, Porth Tewyn, meaning ''cove of sand dunes'') is a small village in Cornwall, England which is a popular summer tourist destination. Porthtowan is on Cornwall's north Atlantic coast about west of St Agnes, north of Redruth, w ...

on the north coast of Cornwall.

History

Set up as a single-issue campaign group in 1990, Surfers Against Sewage led a nationwide campaign for improved water quality. Their campaign's success was helped by key pieces of EU

legislation Legislation is the process or result of enrolling, enacting, or promulgating laws by a legislature, parliament, or analogous governing body. Before an item of legislation becomes law it may be known as a bill, and may be broadly referred to ...

including the Bathing Water Directive. In 2012, Surfers Against Sewage was recognised as a national marine conservation charity focused on the protection of waves, oceans, beaches, marine wildlife and coastal communities. In 2018 it was one of the seven charities nominated by

Prince Harry Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, (Henry Charles Albert David; born 15 September 1984) is a member of the British royal family. He is the younger son of Charles III and his first wife Diana, Princess of Wales. He is fifth in the line of succ ...

and

Meghan Markle Meghan, Duchess of Sussex (; born Rachel Meghan Markle; August 4, 1981) is an American member of the British royal family and former actress. She is the wife of Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, the younger son of King Charles III. Meghan was ...

to receive donations in lieu of wedding presents.

Campaigns

Today the organisation represents an ever-expanding supporter base and campaigns on a diverse range of issues. SAS campaigns for both the UK's

coast The coast, also known as the coastline or seashore, is defined as the area where land meets the ocean, or as a line that forms the boundary between the land and the coastline. The Earth has around of coastline. Coasts are important zones in ...

al environment and the health of all surfers and other recreational waters users. Recently, SAS has expanded its remit into the protection of the wave resource and surfing spots through the Protect Our Waves (POW) campaign. Since 1990, SAS has secured a multitude of campaign successes on behalf of all water users.

Plastic Free Coastlines

More recently, Surfers Against Sewage have turned their attention to battling the new sewage -

plastic pollution Plastic pollution is the accumulation of plastic objects and particles (e.g. plastic bottles, bags and microbeads) in the Earth's environment that adversely affects humans, wildlife and their habitat. Plastics that act as pollutants are catego ...

. Through national initiatives such as the Big Spring Beach Clean and the Autumn Beach Clean Series they hope to empower communities to protect their coastlines. Further up in the chain of events, SAS are using their Waves All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) to encourage politicians to explore and introduce policies to prevent plastic emissions from entering the environment.

Protect Our Waves

SAS launched the Protect Our Waves campaign to increase public awareness to the importance of waves in the

socioeconomic Socioeconomics (also known as social economics) is the social science that studies how economic activity affects and is shaped by social processes. In general it analyzes how modern societies progress, stagnate, or regress because of their l ...

fabric of many UK coastal communities. Behind the scenes SAS has been consistently representing surfers and waveriders on rights of access, and ensuring the wave resource is recognised and valued.

Beach Bum Survey

Surfers Against Sewage helped recruit participants for a

University of Exeter , mottoeng = "We Follow the Light" , established = 1838 - St Luke's College1855 - Exeter School of Art1863 - Exeter School of Science 1955 - University of Exeter (received royal charter) , type = Public , ...

study on the prevalence of

antibiotic-resistant Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) occurs when microbes evolve mechanisms that protect them from the effects of antimicrobials. All classes of microbes can evolve resistance. Fungi evolve antifungal resistance. Viruses evolve antiviral resistance. ...

'' E. coli'' in surfers and bodyboarders. The work was published in ''Environment International'' in January 2018.

References

External links

Surfers Against Sewage website
Surfing organizations Surfing in the United Kingdom Organisations based in Cornwall Environmental organisations based in the United Kingdom Marine conservation organizations {{surfing-stub