Santa Marias beach (aka Santa Moes) in Santa Cruz, Calif. is a much cleaner spot today thanks to a beach clean-up hosted by Ocean Minded on Tuesday, Nov. 3rd. Ocean Minded, a leading brand in high quality footwear, apparel and accessories for active outdoor enthusiasts, has made it the company’s mission to live, protect, and respect the environment.

Over 35 members of the community helped pitch in on cleaning up the beach at Santa Marias, organized by the local O’Neill Surf Shop and supported by Sector 9, Aloha Island Grille, Core and Surftech. The hard work put into clean-up efforts resulted in the removal of approximately 150 pounds of trash from Santa Marias beach.

“We feel that these clean-ups are one of the most important things we do as a company,” said, Andy Palmer, general manager, Ocean Minded. “We are continually impressed by the retailers and members of the community that dive in on these projects, it’s really great to see our mission making an impact around the globe,” he said.

Since, 1996, Ocean Minded has been organizing community beach clean-ups around the world, educating consumers on the importance of leaving their chosen playgrounds in better conditions than when they were found. The belief that everything eventually ends up in the ocean has led the company to host additional clean-ups in the mountains, as well as on the banks of inland rivers and lakes.

So far, in 2009, Ocean Minded has collected and properly disposed of approximately 20,912 pounds of trash, thanks to the help of over 1,717 participants in 47 clean-ups worldwide, including 13 clean-ups outside of the USA. Recent clean-up locations include: Reef and beach clean-up of East Coast Park, Singapore, clean-up of Indialantic beach, Florida, as well as locations such as Jeffery’s Bay and Maasbay, South Africa

For information on upcoming beach clean-ups visit: www.oceanminded.com