Summer at the beach: murky waters or clean coastlines?

Thursday, August 12, 2021, 3:30 PM, Zoom Recording & Slides

MEETING RECAP

At our last Environment and Sustainability event, Thrive Alliance brought together eight fantastic speakers from different organizations to discuss the issues of beaches and coastlines. Several of these organizations have collaborated on different solutions and policies to address the issues of single use plastics, transitioning to reusables, and keeping our beaches and waters clean.

First we had Shell Cleave, founder of Sea Hugger, a non-profit organization focused on behavioral change and transitioning from single-use plastics to reusables. Sea Hugger also focuses on education and created Camp Sea Hugger, an outdoor camp for children and videos for those who don’t live near the coast. Sea Hugger also works on nurdles, small micro plastics that look like small, bright colored shells. They have a Nurdle Trommel which sifts through sand, removes plastics, and educates, especially children by showing how much plastic is in their beaches. In addition, they work with the Harbor District and has a seabin which cleans the harbor of micro and macro plastics and oil.

Next was Lynn Adams, President of Pacific Beach Coalition. This organization works to provide the public with sensory experiences on issues facing beaches. Throughout COVID-19, there has been much more pollution as a result of single use materials, and to combat this, they started the Street to Beach cleanup where people clean up in an area when and where they can. Through this, they have inspired over 1,100 people to join this program and over 3,000 volunteers. In addition, through the Clean Swell App, users can log in how much, what, and where they collected trash which provides data that could be used for future studies. Lynn finished by stating that we need action, education, and change and people’s voices to inspire this change.

Then we had Eun-Soo Lim, Senior Sustainability Specialist at the SMC Office of Sustainability. They have adopted the Disposable Food Service Ware Ordinance early last year which focused on reducing single use food ware from plastics to compostable fibers and to only distribute these accessories only when necessary. This ordinance is mainly aimed toward restaurants and food facilities. From its rollout, 19 jurisdictions have adopted the ordinance, others are in consideration, and several of these jurisdictions adopted the ordinance in the middle of COVID. They have also launched the Foodware Aware program which provides outreach and education, technical and financial support, resources for food facilities, and ways to support this ordinance and go beyond.

Following Eun-Soo was Alejandra Warren, Executive Director at Plastic Free Future. They focus on education and empowering underserved communities left behind in sustainability conversations. Alejandra emphasized that plastic pollution is really overwhelming and has connections to several other topics such as human health, climate change, oceans, land, and environmental justice. Plastic Free Future educates others on what SMC is doing to reduce plastic pollution and helps communities switch to reusable solutions and make better decisions at home and in their daily lives. Alejandra finished by saying our decision and relationships with other people and communities are important to eliminate plastic pollution and create a better future.

Next was Jim Pruett, General Manager at the SMC Harbors District. The Harbor District is independent organization that oversees the beaches and waters of Half-Moon Bay, Oyster Point, and Pillar Point that contain activities such as commercial and recreational fishing, charter vessels, lifesaving, commercial restaurant, coastal trail, public restrooms and space, and so much more. They realized the waters had high bacterial levels and was unhealthy for humans and partnered with the SMC Resource District to identify what the pollutants were and where they were coming from. From the results, they realized that the harbor itself was not contaminated and the source was not from the harbor nor it vessels. The pollutants originated outside of the harbor and was received from creeks and stormwater. They are currently working with the county and other organizations (such as Sea Hugger) to address upstream issues and have taken several projects to reduce any other pollutants.

Next was Adriana Fernandez, Housing and Environmental Justice Specialist at Nuestra Casa. In 2017, they became involved in environmental justice social equity and started their EJ academy in low income communities. This academy is a 12 week program split into two 6 weeks with 2 hour daily sessions. The academy members are split into 4 cohorts, each taught by community leaders in each cohort. The first 6 weeks address broader topics while the second 6 weeks focuses on topics specific to their local levels such as Palo Alto, what’s in their water and air, and disaster plans. The academy also focuses on water pollution issues and functions based on the needs of the community.

Then we had Reid Bogert, Stormwater Program Specialist at San Mateo Countywide Water Pollution Prevention Program (Flows To Bay). Reid focused mainly on urban greening and infrastructure and described three different development stages. Green infrastructure such as trees and bioswale rain gardens will bring benefits that are not just limited to water and can also reduce pollution, manage flood risks, and reduce heat islands. Green infrastructure has been implemented through on-site management of water, and can be seen in strip malls and in several school districts. It is also seen in green streets by managing stormwater runoff and capturing it for multiple blocks at the end of a block. Flows to Bay has funded 10 projects, is funded by property fees and vehicle fees, and is the head voice of communities.

Finally, we had Kimberly Williams, the Policy Manager at Surfrider SMC talk about current legislation on beaches. At the federal level, Surfrider focuses on three main aspects: supporting level funding from the EPA and $10 million for the EPA’s BEACH Act Grants Program, supporting $100 billion for the EPA’s Clean Water State Revolving fund, and supporting the Ocean-based Climate Solution Act of 2021. At the state level, they work with several bills that impact plastic pollution in waters. They also have a volunteer-run Blue Water Task Force which tests water, educates, and runs advocacy programs to work together and alert communities on water quality issues.