Friday, November 20, 2009

Local youth take on trash

By Sigrid Mueller, Education Director

As you may know, Save The Bay works hard to curb the steady onslaught of plastic bags and trash on our local waterways and the Bay. And now the Education Department is joining the fight with a new partnership with StopWaste.org, integrating watershed with waste reduction education for students and teachers in Alameda County.

Save The Bay and StopWaste share a common goal: to reduce the harmful impact of trash, waste and pollutants on the Bay and our community. And we share a common approach: using hands-on, experiential environmental education and service-learning to support young people with developing the necessary knowledge, skills and attitudes to adopt a sustainable life-style.



During almost all of our Canoes In Sloughs field trips, students find trash floating around the wetlands and they often wonder where it comes from. It is then that a proverbial light bulb goes off. An 11th grader from Berkeley High School had this to say:

“To tell you the truth, I littered even after our teacher has done all that recycling work with us. But when you took us out to the sloughs I saw for myself how the litter from my community washes down to the Bay and I was appalled by it. Since then,I have stopped littering.”

Analogous to “a picture is worth a thousand words” students leave our field trips deeply touched and motivated to change their attitudes and behaviors.

And this is where StopWaste comes in. They provide students with the perfect opportunity to turn their motivation into action through a year-round, on-campus program called Service-Learning Waste Reduction Project (better known as SLWRP). SLWRP trains and supports teachers to educate students about waste and to engage them in waste reduction projects in their schools and communities. This school year, Save The Bay is partnering with five SLWRP schools closing the loop for many students by helping them understand how the Bay is connected to their campus and why it matters that they’re doing their part to keep trash off the ground.




One of our partner schools has already kicked into gear! A teacher at Wood Middle School started to notice the rapid increase of candy wrappers in her own neighborhood and at school weeks before Halloween. She brought this issue to the attention of her 8th graders, who quickly recognized those candy wrappers are not just an eye sore but are potentially harmful pieces of trash. The students decided to take action by writing letters to the editor of their local newspaper, demanding more public awareness around the threats of litter to wildlife, the Bay and the ocean. Here’s how one 8th grader put it:

“Every year I realize that happy, candy-loving children throw plastic candy wrappers on the ground. Well, for one thing piles of non-degradable plastic go into the drains and right into the ocean. The fish in the sea think the plastic is food. And the seagulls -- who eat ANYTHING -- eat the wrappers and the fish. The plastic blocks the throat and the stomach and kill the animal! We throw the trash on the ground and don’t bother to pick it up because a) no one is watching; b) it’s now stepped on; and c) you’re just not going to bother. If we could just remind parents and children to not litter, there is less work for the environment and less work for the trash collectors. Please help us save Alameda and the world. The world lies in our hands.”

We couldn't have said it better ourselves.

Wednesday, November 18, 2009

Help Save The Bay win a grant to stop Cargill – VOTE TODAY!

By Amy Ricard, Communications and Policy Associate

Cast your vote to help Save The Bay win a grant to help mobilize Bay lovers to stop Cargill’s plan to build a city in the Bay.

For the past six years, Free Range Studios – the firm that created "The Bay vs. The Bag" campaign – has awarded one non-profit their YouTopia Grant, and this year they are asking the public to vote on the winner. Save The Bay applied to win funds to create an online video and website for our campaign to stop Cargill from paving over our natural treasure.

Help Save The Bay remind Cargill and others that the era of paving paradise to put up parking lots is OVER! We need your vote today!

Be sure to act quickly – voting ends December 1st. And remember to spread the word – tell your friends to vote for Save The Bay too!

Tuesday, November 10, 2009

Bay Trail-blazin'

By Amy Ricard, Communications and Policy Associate

Good news for Bay Trail users in Richmond! Chevron has agreed to donate 1.5 miles of Bay Trail easements on the western side of the Point San Pablo Peninsula to the East Bay Regional Park District (EBRPD). And last week, the EBRPD Board of Directors voted to accept Chevron's generous donation and appropriated $100,000 for trail alignment engineering, surveying and title costs.

More public access and trail expansion in this area is a welcome addition. With 32 miles of shoreline and 26 miles of Bay Trail now in place, Richmond has more shoreline and more Bay Trail built than any other Bay city – some of it quite stunning and much of it unexplored.

Save The Bay was founded in part to increase public access to the Bay shoreline and nearly 50 years later, we enjoy watching the vision of our founders come to fruition. When complete, the Bay Trail will be a continuous 400-mile recreational corridor that will encircle the entire Bay Area, linking together a necklace of shoreline parks. To date, 240 miles of the Bay Trail, or more than half its ultimate length, have been developed.

Two former Save The Bay board members – Bruce Beyaert and Nancy Strauch – are on the Trails for Richmond Action Committee and have worked tirelessly to advance Bay Trail projects in Richmond and around the Bay. This committee, in addition to Chevron and EBRPD, deserves great kudos for this major step toward completing the San Francisco Bay Trail on the Point San Pablo Peninsula.

Tuesday, November 3, 2009

Friday's Oil Spill Fouls Bay

By Amy Ricard, Communications and Policy Associate

Nearly two years to the day after the Cosco Busan oil spill devastated shorelines and killed countless birds and wildlife, San Francisco Bay has again fallen victim to a damaging oil spill. The U.S. Coast Guard reported that on Friday, October 30, at approximately 6:50 a.m., heavy bunker fuel was released into the Bay during a fuel transfer operation between an oil tanker, the Dubai Star, and a fuel barge. At this time, it is estimated that 400 to 800 gallons of oil was spilled into the Bay. The cause of the spill is still being investigated.

Upon being notified, The Coast Guard, the Marine Spill Response Corp., and the National Response Corp., deployed booms and skimming vessels to contain and clean up the oil Emergency crews are currently focused on the Alameda shoreline, where rescue workers are trying to save oiled birds and remove balls of sticky tar.

The Oiled Wildlife Care Network (OWCN) has several teams working to rescue oiled birds and wildlife. No public or volunteer assistance is needed, and OWCN asks that the public refrain from entering the affected beaches because this activity severely stresses the wildlife. Oiled wildlife should be reported to 877-823-6926.

Beaches along the Alameda County shoreline, from the Bay Bridge to the San Mateo Bridge, are closed in order to help clean-up crews, protect the public and provide peaceful and safe areas for birds to land. Further, fishing and shellfish harvesting are suspended in the same areas.

Save The Bay is working with the appropriate agencies to monitor the situation and will continue to post updates as more information becomes available.

Want to help? Here is what you can do:

--> Make a donation to our BAY EMERGENCY RESPONSE FUND. This fund enables us to provide rapid response in a crisis, gather and distribute critical information quickly, educate the local community, and advise key decision makers on actions that require immediate attention.

--> Volunteer to restore wetlands to strengthen the health of the Bay and to provide wildlife with increased habitat for greater survival during such emergencies.

--> Sign up for our Bay Savers Email Action Alert to help us advocate for stronger oil spill legislation and other policies the Bay needs to stay healthy.