World Ocean Day: The Ocean Story Behind beachgoods.com
Posted by Bill Davis on Jun 8th 2026
Every year on June 8, the world pauses for the ocean. For us at beachgoods.com, that pause feels personal. The ocean isn't just a backdrop to what we sell. It's the reason this company exists. We don't tell that story often enough. World Ocean Day feels like the right time.
About World Ocean Day
World Ocean Day is observed every June 8. Established by the United Nations in 2008, it exists to raise awareness of the ocean's role in sustaining life on Earth, and the urgency of protecting it. It's something we've followed and supported since beachgoods.com launched.
Learn more and find events near you at worldoceanday.org
The Coast Was Always Calling
We grew up going to the coast. Cape Cod. North Myrtle Beach. The rocky shoreline of Maine. Those summers were where we felt most at home: salt air, cold water, the pull of the surf. Not a destination we visited. A place we kept trying to get back to. That was still true in 2016.
The Maine coastline — rocky headlands, cold Atlantic water, and the pull we never outgrew
A Weekend on the North Shore Changed Everything
In 2016, a trip to Oahu's North Shore put things into focus. Watching the Vans Triple Crown of Surfing from the beach, surrounded by people who'd built their lives around the water, something clicked. This was it. This was who we were.
We came home and went looking for a shop that understood the beach lifestyle the way we felt it. The gear, the mindset, the culture. We couldn't find exactly what we were after. So we started beachgoods.com.
North Shore, Oahu. Where the direction of beachgoods.com became clear.
Then We Moved to Oregon
Cannon Beach, Oregon — the Pacific Northwest coast where our purpose came into focus
A few years later, we relocated to the Pacific Northwest. What we found there unsettled us.
Water quality in local rivers was declining. Reports out of Maine, where we'd spent those early childhood summers, described ocean temperatures rising year after year, salmon populations thinning, a coastal ecosystem we'd known since childhood changing faster than scientists had projected.
The ocean we loved wasn't static. It was under real, measurable, accelerating pressure. That's when the purpose behind beachgoods.com sharpened into something we couldn't talk around: protecting our waterways isn't optional. It's absolutely necessary and urgent. We needed to run this business in a way that reflected that.
What We Did About It
We became a certified 1% for the Planet member.
That means at least 1% of annual revenue goes directly to organisations focused on aquatic, marine, and freshwater conservation, education, and science. Not as a marketing claim. As a financial obligation we hold ourselves to every year.
1% for the Planet connects businesses to environmental nonprofits doing the actual work: research, advocacy, habitat restoration, science. The commitment is independently verified. We chose it because it's verifiable. Anyone can print "eco-friendly" on packaging. A certified membership with a real financial obligation attached means something different.
Our 1% for the Planet Commitment
beachgoods.com commits at least 1% of annual revenue to organisations focused on aquatic, marine, and freshwater conservation, education, and science.
Learn more at onepercentfortheplanet.org
What You Can Do This World Ocean Day
You don't have to live near the coast to care about what happens to it. Three things that make a genuine difference:
- Reduce single-use plastic where you can. It is the dominant source of ocean pollution.
- Support an ocean conservation organisation this year. See who beachgoods.com supports, or if you need other ideas, the 1% for the Planet environmental partner directory is a good starting point.
- Talk about it. Ocean health is under-reported, and the people around you may not know what's happening.
None of us can do everything. All of us can do something. It adds up.
We started beachgoods.com because we love the ocean. This World Ocean Day, that's still why we're here, and it's what our 1% for the Planet commitment is built on.
Shop with a purpose this World Ocean Day
Every purchase at beachgoods.com contributes directly to our 1% for the Planet commitment, funding aquatic, marine, and freshwater conservation organisations doing work that matters. It costs you nothing extra. It adds up.