California, Ban the Foam!
What’s this all about?
California Senate Bill (SB) 568, introduced to help prevent foam litter in the marine environment, passed the CA State Senate in May and is headed to the State Assembly soon! Surfrider Foundation is a co-sponsor of this bill along with Clean Water Action and a big reason that this bill was able to make it through the State Senate was because of grassroots efforts from volunteers and supporters just like you!
What’s It Do?
SB 568 would prohibit a food vendor or restaurant from dispensing prepared food to a customer in a polystyrene foam food container starting in 2015. The compliance date for public schools would be one year later. The bill would also allow a city or school district that has a verifiable recycling program and recycles more than 60% of its foam foodware to continue to dispense food in foam after the ban goes in effect.
Why does it matter?
Expanded polystyrene foam (EPS) is pervasive in the marine environment and like most plastics, polystyrene is lightweight and floats. When littered, it can be carried from streets and through storm drains out to the ocean. 60-80 percent of all marine debris and 90 percent of floating debris are plastic. In the environment, the containers break down into smaller and smaller pieces and are easily mistaken for food by marine animals. On top of the plastic pollution issues, styrene was recently added to the U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services list of substances anticipated to cause cancer in humans.
How you can help:
1) Sign Surfrider’s online action alert which is updated for the State Assembly now.
2) Print out the petition and get signatures to help show support in your local community.
3) Follow Yes on SB 568 on facebook and suggest it to your friends!
4) Documenting foam litter that you see. More evidence is always helpful, you can email photos and stories to Surfrider Humboldt.
Cleaning Up Old Town, Saturday!
Clean Streets = Happy Oceans!
In an effort to promote community enhancement and encourage awareness of environmental issues, the City of Eureka will be sponsoring the City’s 5th Annual Mayday Community Clean Up Event.
Meet at the foot of C Street of Eureka on Saturday, May 7th at 1:00 P.M. Tobacco Free Humboldt will have a table where we will gather and plan our clean-up strategy. Volunteers will be picking up litter at Halvorson Park, Old Town, PALCO Marsh and Elk River Wildlife Sanctuary.
All necessary supplies will be provided. Volunteers are encouraged to bring their own re-usable gloves in an effort to reduce waste.
Let’s Team Up to Clean Up!
www.maydaycleanup.com
A Seagull’s Dream
Arcata Elementary School students celebrated World Oceans Day in 2010 by constructing an art project to symbolize the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, otherwise known as the North Pacific Gyre. This film documents their project and the celebration, and was shown at September’s Ocean Night at the Arcata Theater Lounge.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0zUkpXVhQvA&fs=1&hl=en_US&rel=0&border=1]
Ocean Night, this Thursday, Sept. 2
Come out to our monthly Ocean Night Film Screening at Arcata Theatre Lounge! This Thursday, Sept. 2, we feature September Sessions, A Sheltered Sea – The Journey of The Marine Life Protection Act and The Seagull’s Dream, an Arcata Elementary School documentary about the Pacific Garbage Patch.
Co-sponsored by Ocean Conservancy, Humboldt Baykeeper and the Northcoast Environmental Center.
Doors at 6:30 p.m., movies at 7 p.m. All ages! Free to members, otherwise donation of $3 requested.
More on the movies…
The Absynth Quintet (finally) plays for Humboldt Surfrider
Who's excited to play Ocean Night?
Those banjo players are quick, but the stand-up bass and Tofu’s drum kit weighed down the Absynth Quintet boys just long enough for us to catch up to them, grab’em by an ear and say, “Play for us, darn you!” Knowing what was good for them, they put on their smilingest faces and promised to show up at Arcata Theatre Lounge for our August 5 Ocean Night. Now that we’ve corralled them, please make it worth everyone’s while by coming out to support great music and important causes.
As always, Ocean Night is sponsored by Humboldt Surfrider, Humboldt Baykeeper and Ocean Conservancy. It’s all ages and we’re asking a $3-$10 donation – a bit more than usual, but it’s an extra-special and slightly more expensive night – clearly, a total bargain! (Also seeking business sponsorships – email humboldt@surfrider.org.)
Films for the Thursday, Aug. 5 event are:
Can you break the habit?
Bag It – Is Your Life Too Plastic?
Shelter, from the Moonshine Conspiracy:
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qlt6fWP7AXc]
We’re also featuring a video from Team Marine and some cool underwater freediving footage from locals Andrew Weltz and Kirby Morejohn.
Short saga of a dumping (happy ending!)
That doesn't belong there!
Tuesday:
Jonathan Speaker emails Surfrider and Trinidad City Councilmember Julie Fulkerson to say, “There is a dump, off SeaWood Drive exit, half way down – on the north side of the road – a couch, I tried to get it out with my truck but – need a winch – I failed. There were also items that looked like a chem dump – see left of tree the plastic container, saw a butane one as well further down the side running towards the creek… Anyways – don’t know what to do – hoping either of you might know who to send this to as its going right into the watershed.”
Jennifer Savage (Surfrider) sought the help of other Surfrider and media folks.
Julie Fulkerson forwarded the email to County officials.
Thursday:
Current Fifth District Supervisor Jill Duffy responded: “Public Works staff visited the site Weds. morning and found the couch, a coffee table, and a few empty plastic water containers at the very bottom of the drainage ravine. They removed the plastic containers. Because the County has a 100-foot Right of Way there; they will arrange to get a cable/backhoe to remove it sometime next week. They did not observe any dumped chemicals or chemical containers. Dumping has been problematic for numerous years at this site … and we try to monitor this site for clean up actions. We installed several boulders which has curtailed some of the egregious dumping activities, but we rely on people letting us know the current status.”
So, thank you to Jonathan for being sharp-eyed and caring, to Julie for her quick directing of the concern, and to Jill for making sure the problem was quickly taken care of and that what couldn’t be immediately fixed will be soon.
Everyone can make a difference!
Ocean news: bags, butts and whaling
L.A. Times says California Assemblymember Julia Brownley’s bill to ban single-use plastic bags goes too far. Thoughts?
Will Governer Schwarzeneggar sign a bill, just passed in the Senate, to ban cigarette smoking at California beaches?
Whale slaughter has more than quadrupled in the past 20 years. Is the latest debate a chance at ending the killing of whales or “a whaler’s dream”?
9 Problems Destroying Our Ocean
At Huffington Post, a look at nine threats to the health of our seas.
“Tapped” at ATL tonight!
Join Surfrider Foundation Humboldt Chapter, Humboldt Baykeeper and Ocean Conservancy for Ocean Night every first Thursday of the month at Arcata Theatre Lounge to learn about ocean issues while having fun!
Tonight features the film ”Tapped,” an amazing documentary about the privatization of our world’s most important resource: water. This film reveals the trail of plastic into our oceans and the impacts on the environment and communities from this billion-dollar industry. The showing is free, but donations are welcomed. Doors open at 6:30 p.m. and the movie begins at 7 p.m. at the Arcata Theatre Lounge – hope to see you there!
July Minutes
Minutes for the Humboldt Chapter Meeting at Plaza Grill on 7/7/09 at 7pm
No. of people in attendance: 20
Chair: Jennifer Savage
Vice-Chair: Jon Anderson (absent)
Secretary: Colleen (”Bean”) Clifford
Treasurer: Bill Hoopes
Volunteer Coordinator: Kalei Coleridge
Co-Volunteer Coordinator: Tyler Canning
Introduction
Website: www.surfrider.org/humboldt
Myspace: www.myspace.com/humboldtsurfrider
Facebook: search for “surfrider humboldt”
Surfrider Humboldt welcomes Tyler Canning as our Co-Volunteer Coordinator! He is a senior at Arcata High and a surf camp veteran.
Treasury Report:
Our current balance is $6,589, which includes a $2000 anonymous donation designated for a specific, to-be-determined project. About $1000 is appropriated for the Blue Water Task Force project.
Volunteer Report:
Thanks to all the volunteers who helped make International Surfing Day a success! We had a lot of help and it truly showed. Also, many thanks to those who worked at the July 4th table!
Updates:
Jetty Shower:
National has sent the money allocated for this project and we will begin working with Steve Bohner from Alchemy Construction. It will take about 8 weeks to get the state-of-the-art, stainless shower, and we’re hoping to work out a schedule soon. The BLM says the plumbing out to the shower piping is fine, so let’s cross our fingers.
Moonstone Projects:
The wording of the Welcome sign is getting okayed by various groups. Dogipots are going to be ordered and put in as soon as possible! After these items are erected, discussion of the Moonstone shower will continue. An etiquette sign is still in the plans but will take some more time to develop.
PGE Wave Connect:
Surfrider member Bill Lydgate will be our representative on the PGE working group, which is a stakeholder’s informational group to learn about the wave energy process and potential issues. Having a voice in this process helps us be a part of designating where the possible testing areas may be, which might interfere with surf spots. Bill will be updating members at our meetings with the ongoing discussion, and he can take our questions to the working group. For those interested, Surfrider National has a wave energy blog. oceanamps.blogspot.com/
Upcoming Events:
To volunteer at any event, contact Kalei at kacolridge@gmail.com
Next Surfrider Meeting: Tuesday, August 4, 7 p.m., Plaza View Room, Arcata
Humboldt Roller Derby: Sat, August 15, 6 p.m?, Redwood Acres evilwench.com/derby/
As the chosen non-profit for this event, we will be vending beer to raise funds. Other groups have collected well over $1000! We need volunteers to help staff and table.
Organic Planet Festival: Sunday, August 30, 10:30 a.m. – 7:30 p.m. www.organicplanetfestival.org
Surfrider will have a table to share our plans and be a part of the organic planet mission to “share creative solutions to the world’s environmental challenges and to celebrate the beauty of the natural world.” Help us table and educate our community on what Surfrider does for them!
North Country Fair: Sat. Sept 19 and Sun Sept 20, 10 a.m. – 6 p.m.
www.sameoldpeople.org
We’ll be tabling here too!
California Coastal Clean-up: Sat. Sept 19, TBA
NEC runs this event and we will be helping in whatever way we can! Stay tuned for details.
14th Annual Noll Longboard Classic: Sat. Oct. 3 and Sun. Oct. 4, Crescent City www.noll.net/nlcclassic.php
We will be helping to staff Ben Stephanou’s B&G’s BBQ, raising funds for the Blue Water Task Force project.
6th Annual Surf 4 Peace: Sat. Oct 10, Trinidad Head, www.myspace.com/surf4peacehumboldt
Again, we’ll be BBQing with Ben to raise funds for BWTF. And Surf 4 Peace is offering all the proceeds from this year’s event to Surfrider Humboldt!!
And now a word from our members…..
Welcome back Bike & Surf California!
Steve and Mike biked 500 miles down the coast of California using all sustainable equipment to promote environmental awareness to the transportation and gear issues of surfing and biking. They also raised over $6000 for The American Cancer Society! They made a few presentations and had some media coverage along the way. There is an online, tax-deductible auction of all sorts of goodies, bidding ends July 10 at 5 p.m! www.bikeandsurfcalifornia.com
Messy beaches:
Debbie told us about how littered with fireworks Bay St. was after the 4th of July. Members discussed the magnetic pole tool idea, and Jody will look into getting some donated from Pierson’s. Other suggestions included rakes and swimming pole nets for broken glass. We agreed that we need to raise people’s awareness of pallet fires (and the resulting heaps of nails), as well as do some educational campaigns to bring awanress of the problem before holidays. Debbie took pictures of the Bay St. mess and will email them to Jen. Surfrider encourages documention and alerts to the Dept. of Environmental Health. Larry suggested putting wordage on our Moonstone sign to indicate that pallet fires leave nails behind.