This weekend the Portland Chapter is launching thier "First Saturdays Beach Cleanups". Throughout the summer and fall months the chapter will be hosting beach cleanups every first Saturday of the month at Short Sands Beach. The first cleanup will be on Saturday, July 7th at Short Sands beach, Oswald West State Park at 12:00 noon. Santa Cruz surfboards will also be there demoing boards and maybe doing a little BBQ. First Saturdays were organized and initiated by chapter chair Mike Albers, as a way of reaching out to the coast, where Portlanders surf the most and have the highest coastal impact. The chapter will also be creating and presenting various outreach materias to let surfers and other ocean users know about our coastal programs and campaigns from beach cleanups and water quality to beach access and marine reserves. In addition the chapter will be utilizing new biodegradeable trash bags to help lessen our environmental impact and highlight our new ban on plastic bags campaign. Come out, enjoy the waves and learn a little more about how you can help protect one of Portlands most popular recreational beaches!