Barefoot Wines and Barefoot Friendly Beaches

By Audrey van Petegem, Contributing Editor

Living in Southern California, I am quite familiar with the Barefoot wines and bubblies and especially with their distinct label, the purple one with a footprint on it. But when the company contacted me in the context of their social networking marketing efforts, I realized I knew nothing about them.  So, I did a bit of research and found out that these are my kind of people. Not just because they are a wine company (personal weakness revealed) but because the Barefoot Wine company is doing great work cleaning up our beaches in partnership with the Surfrider Foundation.  For anyone not familiar with the Surfrider Foundation, it is a non-profit grassroots organization dedicated to the protection and enjoyment of the world’s oceans, waves and beaches. It was founded in 1984 by a handful of visionary surfers in Malibu, California. The Surfrider Foundation now maintains over 50,000 members and 80 chapters worldwide. Each year over 25,000 beaches are closed or posted as unhealthy in the United States.  To remedy this, Barefoot Wine and the Surfrider Foundation encourages local residents to volunteer at clean up and restoration events across the county to help make the beaches “barefoot friendly”.

In celebration of Surfrider Foundation’s 25th Anniversary, Barefoot Wine and the Surfrider Foundation are restoring 25 beaches this summer. Not only does Barefoot Wines organize volunteers to help clean up the beaches but they also donate money to very worthy causes.  Members can help support these causes by voting for their favorite (here) and Barefoot wines will donate further money with the one with the most votes.

Surfrider Foundation South FL. Chapter Dune Restoration from Robert Lyon on Vimeo.

The company started, like a lot of companies in the 60’s… in a garage.  Since then, Barefoot Wines have come a long way.  They have won numerous accolades and professional awards, while keeping their grass root philosophy of making delicious and affordable wines and bubblies.  They are sold at all major retail stores.  So, each time you purchase a bottle of Barefoot wine or bubbly, you can feel doubly good with the knowledge that you are also supporting a great environmental effort. But don’t stop there. Head to their website at www.barefootwine.com and become a Barefooter.  I did!  Look for me as CaliforniaDreamer. You can also become a fan on their Facebook Fan Page to get event updates. See you at the next clean up.