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Show the special ocean lover in your life what they mean to you by donating a gift to Heal the Bay this Valentine’s Day. At the same time, you’ll be making a significant difference to our local waters.
If you like, Heal the Bay will send notification of your dedication gift along with your personal note to the person of your choosing.
Today’s guest blogger is Margy Feldman, Heal the Bay’s director of advancement.
The fog and chill hung in the air as I arrived for a recent morning walk in Manhattan Beach. I found it difficult to see the breakers across the dark sand. Slowly the fog began to lift, the sand began to dry and as I stared into the vast and luminous ocean, the horizon finally became clearer. The sun fought through the misty sky. It was a new day on the coast of Southern California. More and more people began hitting the strand as the South Bay woke up.
The sun began to warm me, and although I had my iPod with me, it was more pleasing to hear the sound of waves crashing – the steady and forever force, clearing my head and reminding me how lucky I am to live so close to the ocean. I reflected on cherished days relaxing on the beach, reading a book, exercising, playing with my family and swimming where the water is clean and safe.
I grew up enjoying the beaches of Long Island and the Jersey Shore. And my husband and I raised our son on the sand at Redondo Beach. My fondest memories have been made on beaches. If you flip through my family albums you would think we spent our whole lives basking in the salt air. Recently, I joined Heal the Bay to help advance their financial support, fundraising and friend-raising. I was attracted by the incredible work the organization has done leading the efforts in Southern California, locally and even nationally to protect our oceans. The mission is so compelling. As a mother, nurturing what we all love drew me to the cause.
The extra bonus for me is Heal the Bay’s commitment to education. I’m getting steeped in the many programs Heal the Bay offers to children all over Southern California, from kindergarten through high school. Amazingly, countless children in areas like Compton and East L.A. have never had the opportunity. We help Title 1 schools bring kids that have never been to the beach to our shorelines.
Our programs not only introduce these kids to the feeling of sand between their toes and the awesomeness of the never-ending waves, but they also teach them to be better environmental stewards. They learn about what causes pollution, how it impacts sea life and how to safeguard the sea for generations of children to come.
If you are reading this, it’s because you are part of this extraordinary movement to protect our oceans, preserve our beaches and ensure that our sea life flourishes. It is truly a Happy New Year knowing that your generosity of time and dollars continue to help make this possible for limitless years to come!
After months of training, the AeroDragons Dragon Boat Club, met their goal to “go where no man has gone before” by paddling a dragon boat in the open ocean from Two Harbors at Catalina Island back to Mother’s Beach on Naples Island, Long Beach.
Dragon boats are not typically designed for open-ocean travel, making the crossing a dangerous undertaking, but the team succeeded nonetheless. The AeroDragons Dragon Boat Club members challenged themselves, not only to set a new record by making the first open-ocean crossing of the Catalina Channel by a dragon boat, but also to use the paddle out as a third party event to raise funds for Heal the Bay.
The Club’s team couldn’t have asked for more perfect conditions on the morning of September 24th, with calm seas and virtually no wind or waves. It took the team three hours and 26 minutes to paddle the 21-mile crossing.
During the paddle out, the team reported multiple sightings of blue whales and dolphins, including a pod of hundreds of dolphins near Point Fermin.
Congratulations to the Long Beach-based club for going, where no dragon boat has gone before.
Long Beach / AvalonMalibu / Pacific PalisadesMarina del Rey / Playa del ReyMore Ways to GivePalos Verdes PeninsulaSanta MonicaSouth BayVenice Beach
‘Tis the season to consider a meaningful gift for an ocean-loving family member, friend or co-worker. Dedicate a contribution to Heal the Bay on behalf of a couple or an individual and help us educate the next generation of environmental stewards, train volunteers for community action and advocate on behalf of our rivers, beaches and ocean.
Gifts are fully tax-deductible, with 84 cents of every dollar you donate going directly to restore our coastal waters and watershed and protect the beaches we love.
From Aquadoptions to funding our beach cleanups, discover all of the different ways you can give.
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The August 4 issue of Rolling Stone reveals the U.S. plastics industry’s formidable efforts to protect the use of plastic shopping bags and highlights Heal the Bay’s strong commitment to banning their use in cities and municipalities. “We’re going to keep pushing this issue,” Sarah Sikich, Heal the Bay’s director of coastal resources, told Rolling Stone. “It’s a battle we can win. In the end, public awareness and the grassroots movement will overcome the deep pockets of [plastic] industry groups….”
About UsLong Beach / AvalonMalibu / Pacific PalisadesMarina del Rey / Playa del ReyMore Ways to GivePalos Verdes PeninsulaSanta MonicaSouth BayVenice Beach
In 2008, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa released a visionary plan for moving Los Angeles away from its reliance on imported water. The mayor’s plan was reasonable and achievable; we just have to follow it.
Read more from Mark Gold at the Los Angeles Times.
Photo: Eflon via Flickr
On Thursday, the California Supreme Court issued a decision reversing a previous Court of Appeal decision that ruled the City of Manhattan Beach should have conducted a full Environmental Impact Report to inform their plastic bag ban ordinance adopted back in July 2008.
A group of plastic bag manufacturers known as Save the Plastic Bag had opposed the City of Manhattan Beach plastic bag ban, arguing that switching to paper bags would actually increase the volume in landfills and have other adverse environmental impacts. The California Supreme Court reversed a previous decision by the Court of Appeal (who sided with Save the Plastic Bag) concluding “substantial evidence and common sense support the city’s determination that its ordinance would have no significant environmental effect.”
This ruling now paves the way for cities considering similar policies to move forward. The decision sends a strong message that these frivolous lawsuits brought by polluting interests against environmental laws under the guise of the California Environmental Quality Act are a waste of time and money.
To read more about the case, see Mark Gold’s blog post, “Sweet Justice.”
Photo Natalie Burdick
About UsHeal the Bay AquariumLong Beach / AvalonMalibu / Pacific PalisadesMarina del Rey / Playa del ReyMore Ways to GivePalos Verdes PeninsulaSanta MonicaSouth BayVenice Beach
Editor’s note: Roberta Brown is a Santa Monica-based writer, fight choreographer and mother (three vocations that she says go surprisingly well together). She is the West Coast Editor for Nickelodeon’s ParentsConnect.
I think I may have actually done a happy dance when I found out that the Santa Monica Pier Aquarium is launching its own summer camp this year. What I know for sure is that I booked my son a spot right way.
I suppose I should confess to a slight bias: we LOVE the aquarium. We love its perfect size (big enough to fascinate kids, small enough for parents to relax); its fabulous staff (with knowledge and enthusiasm in huge, equal parts); its escape-artist octopus (who probably didn’t mean to flood the place a few years back); its frisky sharks (who never fail to spray out-of-town relatives); and its brand-new, mesmerizing sea horses. When my son was in preschool we always entered the fray to get into those Reggio-esque Micro Biologist classes – arguably the single best drop-off class for 3 to 5-year-olds in town. My preschooler came home able to articulate the differences between sea mammals and big fish, the many uses of seaweed and how to tell a sea lion from a seal. (Can you??)
As he approached the age of no return for those classes, we were sad to discover that – at least at the time – only the littlest tykes were lucky enough to get the behind-the-scenes, inside story on all things aquarium. The following year we had to get our aquarium fix with a birthday party there.
But back to that happy dance, we found out a few weeks ago that this summer the aquarium is offering a summer camp. We’re in, out, and around this summer, so we opted for the occasional day option, but I’m already imagining those days: I drop my son off so that he can learn more about the ocean in a few hours than I’ve managed to learn in 40-something years, then I go open my laptop to work in that quiet, breezy room at the Annenberg Beach House that I’ve been promising myself since it opened. Later I pick up my son, who is beached-out and educated all in one go, and I feel like a hero treating him to an ice cream at the carousel. Or maybe on Thursday we follow up camp with a picnic and a concert on the pier. That’s more summery than corn on the cob.
And when it’s all over, when all the sand has been brushed off all the feet, maybe he can finally clarify for me the difference between a seal and a sea lion.
-Roberta Brown
Editor’s note: Limited spaces are still available in the Santa Monica Pier Aquarium Summer Camp and will be filled on a first-come, first-served basis. Learn more about the Science Adventures Camp and register online now.
The second installment of Buy the Bay – a project which sees our favorite artists and designers turn their favorite beach experiences and memories into art pieces – launches in two weeks. We’re thrilled, and we hope you are too.
To celebrate the arrival of Buy the Bay 2.0, Heal the Bay wants to spend a weekend with you. On Saturday and Sunday, June 25-26, please join us between 12-5 p.m. at our pop-up store experience in Santa Monica, where we’ll be hosting live music and teaching visitors how to create their own “Hint of Ocean” scented, soy candles, one of our celebrated Buy the Bay 2.0 offerings.
CO-OPPORTUNITY ANNOUNCES CORPORATE SPONSORSHIP OF HEAL THE BAY as part of revamped reusable bag program
Santa Monica, CA – April 11, 2011 – Co-opportunity, Santa Monica’s natural food cooperative and source for organic and local products since 1974, announced today its corporate sponsorship of Heal the Bay. Co-opportunity is joining Heal the Bay’s Corporate Healer Beach Cleanup program as a Major sponsor, with a $5,000 donation. The Corporate Healer sponsorship is part of Co-opportunity’s revamped reusable bag program.
“We are thrilled to do our part in helping Heal the Bay achieve its mission of keeping our beaches clean,” said Bruce Palma, general manager of Co-opportunity. “As a co-op, our mission and vision centers on creating a positive environmental impact. And with the City of Santa Monica’s recent plastic bag ban, and April being the month of Earth Day, we felt the timing was right for this sponsorship,” said Palma.
“We’re very grateful to Co-opportunity for their support of our efforts to fight plastic pollution,” said Mark Gold, president of Heal the Bay. “We’re excited that Co-opportunity will be helping to clean up one of our local beaches. As a Corporate Healer, they will be making our beaches even more beautiful and learning firsthand about the impacts of urban runoff and trash on our coasts and in Santa Monica Bay. Their reusable bag program will make a big difference for the ocean. “
Co-opportunity’s new bag initiative, which goes into effect on May 1st, is meant to fully comply with the city of Santa Monica’s recent plastic bag ban ordinance. As such, Co-opportunity will also be partnering with the City of Santa Monica’s Office of Sustainability and the Environment on its reusable bag program. The city has selected Co-opportunity as the first retail business to receive hands-on training on how to communicate the plastic bag ban to shoppers. Co-opportunity’s Owners and shoppers should note that as of September 1, 2011 and potentially sooner, there will no longer be any Co-opportunity plastic bags available at the register.
Previously, Co-opportunity’s Owners received a five-cent rebate for every reusable bag they used. Instead of the five-cent rebate, Co-opportunity’s Owners will now be entered into a monthly sweepstakes where winners will be rewarded with $25 gift cards (this offer is applicable to Co-op Owners only). In addition to the free reusable bags all Co-opportunity Owners receive upon joining the Co-op, there will also be reusable bags created by Green Vets L.A. for sale.
“This change isn’t about squeezing more profit out of operations,” said Palma. “The revamped reusable bag program is about the shared sacrifice we all need to make in order to dramatically reduce the amount of plastic in our oceans and landfills, while also making our local economy more sustainable. To show you we’re serious, we’re putting our money where our mouth is and are donating $5,000 to Heal the Bay,” said Palma.
Co-opportunity will kick off the reusable bag sweepstakes at the Heal the Bay’s monthly “Nothin’ But Sand” beach cleanup event on April 16, from 10 am-noon at Will Rogers State Beach. Heal the Bay will also have an informational table outside of Co-opportunity on April 11th to answer any questions shoppers might have.
Co-opportunity, a natural foods cooperative, has been providing natural, organic and local products to the Santa Monica area since 1974. The Co-op, which is also open to the public, is community owned and operated and believes economic power should be situated locally, where it has the best chance to create and sustain vibrant, livable communities. Learn more at coopportunity.com.
