Battin' Cleanup

By Amy Ricard, Communications and Policy Associate

Last week Save The Bay launched its 4th annual list of Bay Trash Hot Spots in anticipation of Coastal Cleanup Day to raise awareness about the trash problem in the Bay and to recruit volunteers to Coastal Cleanup events throughout the region.

This year, we put the spotlight on plastic bags; and even used last year's Coastal Cleanup Day data to help us determine the ten locations around the Bay where volunteers removed the most plastic bags. Not only are these ten spots choked with bag pollution, but they are indicative of a larger problem in the Bay. Plastic bags are ubiquitous -- literally, they are everywhere. And since they are so light and flimsy, they are easily picked up by the wind and blown into our storm drains and creeks, and eventually to our Bay and ocean where they harm wildlife, degrade habitat and spoil our quality of life.

Each year Save The Bay hosts several cleanup events and this year was no exception. We had teams out at three sites: Candlestick Park in San Francisco (one of our hot spots), Coyote Creek in Milpitas (also a hot spot) and Eden Landing in Hayward. Volunteers came out in droves -- 200 in total -- to help clean up the Bay. They were rewarded with an absolutely amazingly beautiful day and the gratification of a good, hard days work.

Here are the numbers:

Candlestick Park - 109 volunteers; 2,000 lbs of trash and recyclables
Eden Landing - 45 volunteers; a 20 yard dumpster and two truck beds of trash and recyclables
Coyote Creek - 46 volunteers; 450 lbs of trash and recyclables

And the latest from the California Coastal Commission, which oversees all Coastal Cleanup Day events for the entire state, is this: With 65% of the cleanup sites reporting, the statewide count stands at 66,550 volunteers, which should approach the event goal of 70,000 volunteers. Those volunteers picked up 819,394 pounds of trash and an additional 89,899 pounds of recyclable materials, for a total of 909,294 pounds. They expect to exceed 1,000,000 pounds of trash when all the totals are in. Not too shabby for three hours worth of work.

Save The Bay wants to thank all the volunteers in the Bay Area and statewide who donated their time to cleaning up our waterways, protecting habitat and wildlife.

If you are interested in protecting and restoring the shoreline year round, visit www.saveSFbay.org/restore.

VM Ware "runs" up the total

By Natalie La Van, Restoration Volunteer Coordinator

The fog is setting in and I’m absolutely freezing while standing next to San Francisco’s most iconic landmark, the Golden Gate Bridge. I’m not alone. There are over 100 other people here with me from around the globe -- I know this by the myriad accents and languages I hear floating through the atmosphere. And these people are ready.

I have never been a runner myself, so I’m just sitting back watching the largest number of fabulously fit forty-somethings in almost obscenely short shorts with pure glee! They are poised on the edge of their starting line waiting for that moment when they are set loose and the pure rush of adrenaline is theirs to do with as they please. Oh yeah and did I mention that these righteous runners are practically throwing money at me from the bottom of their sweet Nike’d soles? Heaven!!!

This is not just any run, my friends; this is the VM World Fun Run. Every year, the virtualization mogul VM Ware holds a conference for their international and local markets called VM World. This year they decided to give some thing back. When Craig Williams -- the leader of this effort -- started receiving emails from participants interested in going for a run on the world renowned Golden Gate Bridge and wanting him to suggest a trail, he saw this small request as an opportunity for those weary conference-goers to get out, stretch their legs and see the sights our lovely Bay has to offer. Being a champion of the environment himself, and knowing the commitment Palo Alto-based VM Ware has to the local ecosystem and the care their clientele has for the entire planet, Craig decided to bring this event full circle by donating the entry fees to a local charity.

Remember I said they were practically throwing money at me?! With only a shirt and a beer to entice them back to the finish line, each group took off into the blustery twilight to enjoy the view of the sun setting gently over the ocean with the tapping of tennies on the Golden Gate Bridge singing in their ears.

My hands were cold but my heart was warmed when, after the run, even more people who were inspired by our lovely Bay, emptied their bitsy britches of every dollar they had to support the efforts of Save The Bay. All in all, the VM World runners and TrainSignal raised about $2,300 dollars!!

Save The Bay will use their donations to continue restoring the Bay, educating many more future environmental stewards, removing trash and repopulating our shores with native plants and wildlife.

It is the simple efforts of people like Craig Williams -- taking a small request and turning it into a big event that keeps me toasty during those brisk early San Francisco evenings. And those diminutive drawers don’t hurt either!

Giving our volunteers a High-Five

by Amy Alton, Communications Associate

Simply put, our Community-based Restoration programs wouldn’t be possible without the labor and dedication of the community. To show our sincere appreciation of all the hard work our volunteers have contributed to restoring the Bay shoreline, we recently held volunteer appreciation days at Bothin Marsh, the Palo Alto Baylands and at the Martin Luther King Shoreline.

Our fabulous volunteers were treated to good food, musicians, raffle prizes and much more! We plan to host more appreciation days in the future, so check our website for updates. In the meantime, take a look at photos of this year's festivities on our Facebook page.

Ripples, Reflections and Reading Recommendations

by Adrien Andre, Development Manager

Originally posted on December 3, 2008

A little over two years ago I discovered Save The Bay when searching for a way to get involved with restoring Bay Area open spaces I had spent so many weekends and vacations exploring and falling in love with. As the largest and most defining feature of our region, the Bay seemed like a good place to start. Little did I, self-proclaimed nature nerd, know how much I didn’t know about the Bay; or how one volunteer outing would alter the course of my life.

 

I signed up to volunteer at MLK Jr. Regional Shoreline out by the Oakland Airport, curious to see what our urban Bay shoreline actually looked like up-close. Upon arrival I discovered a shockingly wild and beautiful shoreline park nestled amongst the super-urban industrial area of Hegenberger Road. There I spent a satisfying Saturday morning working together with volunteers of all ages to pull giant piles of invasive weeds amidst the teenage native plants Save The Bay staff, volunteers and students had carefully grown and planted the previous winter.

First, I learned that water or runoff from almost half of the landmass of California (40%) flows into our Bay watershed, and that we have only 5% of our original Bay wetlands left. I also learned that wetlands are the “lungs” of the Bay and that over 500 species depend on the Bay’s health. Though many other Bay facts were shared that day, I was stuck on those first two numbers that seemed so unmatched, and completely struck by the beauty, the vulnerability, and the importance of the health of the Bay to our quality of life, economy and very own corner of the natural world.

Just three ladies from Berkeley started the movement to save our Bay in 1961. At that time our habitat rich, ocean-flowing Bay was studded with regularly flaming open garbage dumps and raw sewage flowed freely into it on a daily basis. The plans to fill and develop on top of its wetland shoreline and far into its shallow middle threatened to narrow it into a thin urban-flanked trickle. I felt deeply the threats to the Bay and it’s need for all of our support to restore the 100,000 acres of wetlands scientists tell us we need for it to maintain a healthy ecosystem.

Now, as Save The Bay’s Development Associate since September 2006 and primary member services contact, I am here to help others get involved with our work, to answer questions, to provide assistance with membership and donations, and to share information about our education, restoration and advocacy work.

The health of the Bay has come a long way since the 1960’s with the support of Save The Bay’s members and founders. I’m honored help carry forward the legacy they started and to work every day to ensure our member services are excellent and our membership base is healthy and growing.

Adrien’s Bay Must Reads:

The Ohlone Way, by Malcolm Margolin

Ecology, A Handbook, by Ernest Callenbach

A Natural History of California, Alan Schoenherr