THE NEWSLETTER OF SAVE THE BAY

•

ce

leb

ra

te• prote

ct

•

re s t o rex

Spring 2012

You and Save The Bay Help the Ban-Wagon Grow

Save The Bay continues to work with cit-ies and counties around the Bay to protect our waterways from plastic bag pollution; and here are two exciting developments in our vigilant efforts to improve Bay water quality.

In February, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors once again assumed their role as environmental leaders in California by voting

unanimously to strengthen San Francisco’s bag ban. Back in 2007, San Francisco was the first to enact a ban on plastic bags at large grocery stores and pharmacies. Since then, over 20 oth-er jurisdictions in the Bay Area, not to mention over a hundred statewide, have enacted or set in motion policy toward that same goal— reducing one of the most ubiquitous and un-necessary forms of litter in the environment.

The city’s improved ordinance bans plastic bags at all retailers (not just the few large re-tailers covered by the original ordinance) and restaurants in San Francisco and requires stores to charge a minimum of 10 cents for paper and reusable bags. This small charge is designed to

encourage customers to make a habit of bring-ing their own bags. The Board’s unanimous vote in support of a strong yet sensible bag ban will ensure that San Francisco continues to lead the region and the state on environmental issues.

Great things are happening on the other side of the Bay Bridge as well—Alameda Coun-ty jurisdictions will formally begin working together to ban plastic bags by January 2013—the first countywide bag ban in the Bay Area. StopWaste—a public agency made up of the Alameda County Waste Management Author-ity and the Alameda County Source Reduction and Recycling Board—voted unanimously in support of a countywide single-use bag ordi-nance in January 2012. The ordinance will ban plastic bags and establish a 10 cent charge on paper bags at all food-selling retailers in Alam-eda County.  

When this ordinance goes into effect, half of all Bay Area residents will be living in cities that have banned plastic bags. This is a huge victory in the battle to end plastic bag pollution and provides momentum for one day becoming a plastic bag-free Bay!

Kick the Bag Habit! Californians use an estimated 19 billion

plastic bags per year. Only five percent of these are recycled. Many more find their way to our creeks, Bay and ocean where they entangle, suf-focate and kill seals, birds and other marine life.

Please sign the petition today to end the distribution of single-use plastic bags to protect the Bay and its wildlife.

Please visit saveSFbay.org/kick-bag-habit and sign the petition!

PHOTO © AQUATIC PARK, BERKELEY

Toxic trash, such as plastic bags, threaten wildlife like this young grebe at Aquatic Park in Berkeley. Your support helps to fight for strong policies to stop this pollution.

From Facebook:

What is your first

memory of San

Francisco Bay?

Linda V. Crossing

the bridge with my

grandmother in the old

electric trolleys ... and the

smell at low tide ...

Kelly B. So sad, but true:

going to the dump at the

end of Marsh Road in

Atherton. In the mid 60’s

that was common. Thanks

to Save the Bay my chil-

dren’s first memories (late

80’s and 90’s) are of field

trips or other more memo-

rable outings along the

shore or on the water.

Not part of our

online commu-

nity? Be sure

to “like” us on

Facebook! facebook.com/

saveSFbay

Job#: STB12NA Size: 11x17”, 1sh/4pg Stock: 70# white stock matteComponent: Newsletter Colors: 4C/4C, full bleeds

COMMUNITY

ENGAGEMENT:

From October to December 2011, 1,500 Save The Bay volun-

teers planted 12,176 native plants on shore-lines around the Bay, surpassing our goal to plant 12,000 plants by 2012. A big hearty THANK YOU goes to the following corpora-tions, schools and organizations who helped create new wetland habitat around the Bay: VM Ware, Girl Scouts of America, Entercom, Marriott, Clorox, ServiceSource, SK Telecom, Nestle, Berkeley National Labs, Temple Isaiah, Caterpillar, International School of the Peninsula, Julia Morgan School for Girls, Jordan Middle School, Redwood High School, EC Reems Academy, Archbishop Mitty High School, San Lorenzo High, The Nueva School, Berkeley High School, Marin Academy, Notre Dame High School, BayHill, Alameda Community Learning Center, Em-ery Secondary School, and National Charities League! To learn more about our community-based restoration, visit saveSFbay.org/community-based-restoration.

BAY BREAKTHROUGHS

PREVENTING BAY FILL:

In February, the Palo Alto Daily News broke the story that consultants have been looking at desalination as a po-

tential water source for Cargill/DMB’s proposed development on San Francisco Bay salt ponds in Redwood City. As the San Francisco Chronicle reported in March, one of the most persistent problems faced by the controversial bay fill plan is the lack of a reliable drinking water supply for 30,000 new residents.

Introducing a desalination plant to Red-wood City’s bayshore would add numerous significant environmental impacts to this already devastating project—not to mention daunting new permits. Redwood City’s own consultants highlighted the significant disadvantages of desalination in a 2003 report, chief among them high operating costs that residents would be stuck with for years to come.

San Francisco Bay’s salt ponds are not an appropriate place for development. Regardless of what Cargill/DMB decide to do about their lack of water, building on the salt ponds is, and will remain, a fundamentally bad idea. For more information, visit dontpavemybay.org.

A group of resident harbor seals

on Bair Island’s Corkscrew Slough,

where Save The Bay supporters

helped to defeat a massive bay fill

development in the 1980’s.

In the background you can

see the community of

Redwood Shores.

PH

OTO

© S

AV

E TH

E B

AY

STA

FF

PHOTO © dansullivanimages.com

PHOTO © SAVE THE BAY STAFF

A Comeback Story—Harbor Porpoises Return to San Francisco Bay

Harbor porpoises have returned to the Bay after an absence of 65 years. Researchers like William Keener at Golden Gate Cetacean Research indicated that many factors including less polluted Bay water had a hand in their re-turn. Save The Bay works with cities and coun-ties around the Bay to protect our waterways from plastic bag pollution so special wildlife such as these porpoises can flourish.

 Harbor porpoises are the smallest mem-bers of the whale and dolphin family, known collectively as “cetaceans.” Harbor porpoises are usually less than five feet long and weigh up to 130 pounds. On a good day, you can stand on the Golden Gate Bridge or Cavallo Point in

Marin County and see up to a hundred por-poises swim by as the tide changes from flood to ebb.

Porpoises aren’t the only small cetaceans that visit San Francisco Bay. Bottlenose dol-phins sporadically enter the Bay, where they tend to hug the San Francisco shoreline. They normally travel only as far as Baker Beach or Crissy Field, but in fall 2009 a trio was spotted near Redwood City.

Save The Bay remains committed to keep-ing the Bay healthy for these newly returning harbor porpoises and the other 500 species of animals that depend on a thriving Bay ecosystem.

Harbor porpoise sightings are all the more remarkable because for many decades porpoises weren’t seen inside the Bay. Now the Bay Area is one of the few metropolitan areas in the world where you can see cetaceans every day.

Calling All Citizen Scientists

Information about your sightings of porpoises or dolphins in San Francisco Bay is valuable and adds to knowledge of these species. Submit reports of porpoise sightings to our friends at ggcetacean.org.

PHOTO © SAVE THE BAY STAFF

ALL

PH

OTO

S TH

IS P

AG

E ©

WIL

LIA

M K

EE

NE

R

REC

YCLE

D &

REC

YCLA

BLE

/ SO

Y IN

K

12-N

B5

As part of a nationwide competition for National History Day, three Bay Area students chose to honor our founders—Sylvia McLaughlin, Kay Kerr and Esther Gulick—and the Save The Bay movement they created as it relates to the competition’s theme, “Revolution, Reaction, Reform in History.”

The three girls—Kathlynn, Emily and Carolyn—will each represent one of our founders in a skit depicting the foundation of Save The Bay and the journey of our founders that began over 50 years ago (photo: top left).

To prepare for the competition, the girls met with Sylvia (photo: top right) to get inspired for their performance and to learn more about the three women that started the first envi-ronmental grassroots movement in California.

In the process, Kathlynn, Emily and Carolyn have learned that if you put your mind to something, you can make it happen. And it is such a testament to the hard work and determination of Sylvia, Kay and Esther that their legacy continues to educate and inspire students across the region.

San Francisco middle school students honor Save The Bay founders for National History Day

Save The Bay is making history—again!

When Mike Katz isn’t serving on Save The Bay’s Board of Directors, you can usually find him on his windsurfing board, skimming across the chilly waters of San Francisco Bay. He joined the board in 1999, bringing his passion for Bay rec-reation and his interest in energy and the environment to the organization.

Mike appreciates Save The Bay’s his-tory that is rooted in protection from bay fill and providing greater public access. “We can make a difference by focusing on two or three major campaigns. Our expertise is best focused on the protec-tion of our shoreline, reduction of plas-tic pollution, and Bay restoration and education.”

Two Boards, One Vision

Mike Katz feels the magic of the Bay from his windsurfing board.

Mike created a Will and Living Trust about ten years ago. It made sense to him to create a modest bequest for Save The Bay to help its future, while planning for

his family’s future. Why was this important to him?

“Without San Francisco Bay, the region would not be nearly as special as it is. The Bay makes our environment great. The Bay is the tie that binds us all to-gether as neighbors.”

Discover the many ways you can leave a legacy of restoration and protection for San Francisco Bay by receiving the free informa-tion Save The Bay makes available at saveSFbay.org/legacygiving. Or if you have any questions please con-tact Catherine Fox, Director of Planned and Legacy Gifts at 510.463.6837 or cfox@saveSFbay.org.

PHOTO © DEAN MENIKTAS