Rising Tide: The Ocean Podcast

Rising Tide: The Ocean Podcast


End the Year by Refusing Refuse

December 29, 2025

In this year-end episode Holden Hardcastle and Nick Paz do an on-the-ground (actually on the beach) interview with Vince Yuen, founder of 'Refuse, Refuse San Francisco.' During a beach clean-up on the city's oceanfront he discusses the significance of community-led trash cleanups in protecting the environment. Vince shares how his organization started as a personal project during the COVID pandemic and evolved into a city-wide movement aimed at reducing urban litter and its impact on all waterways. The discussion also touches on legislative efforts to reduce cigarette butts and single-use plastics, illustrating how collective citizen action and policy changes are crucial for lasting environmental impact.


** Additional Resources **


Refuse Refuse - Keeping San Francisco beautiful. Organizing events and cleanup opportunities, as well as partnering with local organizations with the ultimate goal of keeping San Francisco free of refuse.


Blue Frontier / Substack — Building the solution-based citizen movement needed to protect our ocean, coasts and communities, both human and wild.


Inland Ocean Coalition — Building land-to-sea stewardship - the inland voice for ocean protection


Fluid Studios — Thinking radically different about the collective good, our planet, & the future.