Blue Friday helps Clear the Coast

Jeff Duke is an amazing young surfer-cum-entrepreneur with a passionate dedication to sustainability. His clothing line, L/L Supply, was developed to fill a niche. Using fabric that larger manufacturers deemed ‘waste’ and careful design, his clothes make the best possible use of the fibre that’s been woven or knitted into cloth. Living Oceans was delighted to have his startup partner with us several years back on our Clear the Coast project, providing both cash and labour to clear Vancouver Island’s spectacular beaches of plastic debris. 

Fast forward, and Jeff’s little startup started something much bigger: a retailer movement among entrepreneurs wanting to inject a little sustainability into the annual madness that is Black Friday. The Blue Friday organization chooses projects that can make a quantifiable difference to the environment and then encourages retailers to join in offering a donation or percentage of sales to support that project. In return, the retailers advertise their support of the project to consumers, generating more sales and more awareness. 

In 2023, Blue Friday provided nearly $30,000 of support to Living Oceans to Clear the Coast of the Scott Islands marine National Wildlife Area—the Cape Scott region of Vancouver Island and the neighbouring Lanz and Cox Islands. We were proud to report that our volunteer teams recovered 10.5 metric tonnes of debris in two expeditions this past summer, bringing our total recovery from the North Island region to just under 70 tonnes. 

Blue Friday’s fundraising efforts for the 2024 season succeeded in raising $32,000 and we are honoured to be the recipients again! Our plan is to return to the Scott Islands, where debris from two container ship spills continues to circulate on local currents, fetching up on beaches over and over again. 

If you are or you know a retailer with an interest in sustainability, reach out to Jeff and his team at https://www.blue-friday.ca/ and join the movement! 

Our thanks to Blue Friday retailers: 

Pacific Sands Beach Resort 
Mustang Survival 
Alcove Homegrown Living 
Ash Refillery & Co 
Baby Tula 
Bear Essential Oils & RavenSong Soap and Candle 
East Van Jam 
Foster Skin Care 
Goldilocks Goods 
Hair of the Dog 
L/L Supply 
Lümia Botanicals 
Luna Mavka 
Merge 
Nanette Moss 
plentiFILL Refillery & Sustainable Living 
Pink Raven Jewelry 
Searl Soap Company 
Shades of Green 
Simply Natural Canada 
Swallow Jewellery 
Teaboco 
The Bare Company 
The Cedar Nook 
The Market Bags 
The Sewing Club 
Vancouver Island Brewing 
Vancouver Island Refillery 
Wild Waterways Adventures