Deckers' Sanuk partners with Surfrider for education and environmentalism

By

Cassidy Mantor

Published
Dec 5, 2017

Deckers Brands-owned Sanuk has partnered with environmental education and conservation organization Surfrider Foundation to contribute to a series of lectures and beach cleanups in partnership with UCSB.

Deckers will partner with the Santa Barbara chapter of Surfrider Foundation as well as with the University of California Santa Barbara's Youth Club. The organizations will work together to present educational briefing lectures and organize beach monitoring and cleanups. The goals are to protect clean water, and to reduce plastic pollution and coastal erosion.

Magnus Wedhammar, General Manager of Sanuk said, “The ocean and coastal regions, particularly those in our company’s backyard of Goleta, touch so many parts of our brand – from our ambassadors to inspiration for our product..."

The partnership will also be focused on defending the coast from offshore drilling which is an issue that impacts Goleta and Santa Barbara.

Dr. Chad Nelsen, CEO of the Surfrider Foundation said, “The Surfrider network, like Sanuk, is made up of people who love the beach, and are willing to go the extra mile to find fun and creative ways to protect our ocean, waves and beaches."

Surfrider's Santa Barbara chapter has been in existence for 25 years. Major environmental accomplishments of the chapter include opposing a proposed seawall, as well as a golf course that was to be developed on a former ARCO site. It has also successfully campaigned for storm drain labeling, in order to educate people and dissuade them from using storm drains, which drain directly into the ocean, as garbage dump sites.

Surfrider Santa Barbara has also donated money to various preservation efforts in Sanuk's backyard including the Carpinteria bluffs and the Arroyo Honda preservation campaign. Sanuk's programming with Surfrider will focus on the two-mile coastal stretch from Campus Point at UCSB to Coal Oil Point.

To tie in product to the new partnership, Sanuk worked with its brand ambassador, pro-surfer and artist, Ozzie Wright, to design a new tee-shirt. The shirt will be sold on both Sanuk and Surfrider's websites for $35 with all proceeds going to Surfrider.