Visit St. Pete/Clearwater is pleased to continue its partnership with a scientifically proven biodegradable, non-toxic to sea life sun care product: Reef Safe Sun® Care Oxybenzone Free SPF 30.
About Reef Safe
St. Pete/Clearwater (September 7, 2018) - With an eye on the well-being of both visitors and sea life, Visit St. Pete/Clearwater is pleased to continue its marketing partnership with a Florida-made scientifically proven biodegradable, non-toxic to sea life sun care product: Reef Safe Sun® Care Oxybenzone Free SPF 30.
The Florida-made product by Tropical Seas® has been named the official sun care product of Visit St. Pete/Clearwater’s LOVE YOUR BEACH campaign.
"As home to the Guinness World Record for most consecutive sunny days, we know how much our destination relies on the sun to make it special," said Visit St. Pete/Clearwater President & CEO, David Downing. "We also realize that we must be responsible stewards of our amazing Gulf ecosystem, and this partnership reflects a growing awareness of that responsibility."
Visit St. Pete/Clearwater had distributed hundreds of thousands of co-branded 1-ounce bottles of Reef Safe SPF 30 over the past four years at events in St. Pete/Clearwater and in some of the area's biggest feeder markets---New York, Chicago, Boston, Toronto and Washington D.C.
"Reef Safe is honored to be the official sun care of St. Pete/Clearwater," President and CEO of Tropical Seas Dan Knorr said. "We're excited to continue our partnership with a destination that is so committed to protecting both visitors and the environment at the same time."
Surpassing all Food and Drug Administration's standards for sun care products,Reef Safecompletely biodegrades in oceans, lakes and rivers, and is non-toxic to sea life, which is verified by independent ecology laboratories. Every year, an estimated 4,000-6,000 metric tons of sunscreen washes off swimmers into oceans worldwide, polluting the waters with chemicals that can potentially harm a wide variety of marine life. Unlike most sunscreens, less than 3% of Reef Safe comes off the skin during 80 minutes of wearing. The small percentage that comes off biodegrades on average in less than 90 days.
“All sunscreens are not alike, and to single out one compound in the ingredients and make a blanket ruling is not proper. We found Reef Safe Sun® Care products caused no visual signs of bleaching, stress or mortality for two key species of Florida corals through our 20-day, independent test" - Dr. David Vaughan, manager of Mote Coral Reef Restoration program, and former Executive Director of Mote Marine Laboratory’s Elizabeth Moore International Center for Coral Reef Research & Restoration, and former manager of the Protect our Reef grants program at Summerland Key, Florida.
