Jennifer Miller picked up what she thought was a piece of wood sticking out of the sand.

“Then I saw fur,” she said, recalling what she found Friday morning at Huntington State Beach. It had been dead too long to know what it was.

Miller, a Vans employee, was doing her part during International Surfing Day – a quasi-holiday set aside for surfers and beach lovers to appreciate the coast and give back by cleaning up.

International Surfing Day started four years ago by San Clemente-based Surfing Magazine, who teamed up with environmental group Surfrider to bring awareness to the coast.

Local Surfrider chapters got together about a dozen booths with environmentally conscious organizations for a beach party at Huntington State Beach, where they gave out free grub, drinks and swag-like surf wax to passersby.

“Since we’re in the water all the time, we might as well help clean up,” said surfer Roy Boblete. “If we’re not going to do it, who will?”

It was also a good opportunity for beach and environmentally conscience people to highlight their products.

BioBag handed out their biodegradable corn polymer bags, a plastic alternative  that composts in two weeks. Morning Girl Surf showed off a new line of girl surf bags. A new Costa Mesa-based company called Hempnotic showed off their clothing line and “functional” beverages, which boasts anti-aging and anti hangover remedies.

Under one tent, Tiki Chuck pounded away on a block of wood with a hatchet-like tool, demonstrating his skills, and in another booth chiropractor Avani Patel checked out surfers’ backs to offer advice on their spines.

Robert Palmer, chair of the Long Beach Surfrider chapter, sat at a table with bumper stickers that read “Sink the Breakwater,” referring to the effort to remove a 2 1/2 mile breakwater that stops waves from coming to shore.

“What we need is waves. That’s what makes California beaches come alive, the waves,” he said. “We never get people on the beach like this.”

Beach clean ups were held throughout the day, with findings such as syringes, and empty six packs buried under the sand.

“People like to bury it because they think it goes away,” said Jen Street, who helped with the beach clean up.

The waves were a bit walled, breaking steep and making it difficult for some surfers. And lifeguards put up a blackball flag because of big crowds on the beach, making surfers head down the coast a bit to catch waves.

But that didn’t stop Lori Huitron, who came out with her brother Anthony to catch some waves. She took a half day off from work to celebrate surf, and stopped by the booths to check out the scene.

Last year, International Surfing Day had about 80 beach clean ups organized around the world.

At the first event in 2005, there were 18 organized clean ups. By 2006, there were 40. Last year, there were beaches as far as Argentina with 150 people cleaning up as part of the effort.

“The purpose for me is to support the cause,” Huitron said. “I think it should be even bigger, and more people should come out and get involved. It’s such a great sport.”

Click here to read Sciencedude’s blog about summer solstice, the longest day of the year.

Here’s a few tips from Surfrider on how to keep oceans and beaches clean:

1. Pick up your pet’s waste.

2. Rake and bag your yard clippings.

3. Dispose of cigarettes in proper waste containers

4. Don’t hose down your driveways.

5. Use native or drought resistant plants in your garden.

6. Always dispose of used motor oil properly.

7. When you go to the beach, pick up your trash and try to pick up at least one piece of someone else’s.

8. Cut back on your use of fertilizers

9. Avoid using single use plastic bottles.

10. Join the Surfrider Foundation

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