A 20-something Environmentalist at Blue Vision Summit 4

By now, you have all been bombarded by the phrases “go green” and “be sustainable” in the media, in advertising and from peers, but have you heard of the phrase “go blue?”

Not to give you all horrible SAT flashbacks, but “blue” is to the ocean as “green” is to the environment.  So, when I attended the Blue Vision Summit in Washington, D.C. last week, I expected to learn more about ocean policies and helping to protect the marine environment, but I never expected to find myself submerged so deeply into ocean issues with such an interesting group of people from all over America and abroad.

Blue Vision Summit (BVS) is held every other year in Washington, D.C. and serves as one of the nation’s largest ocean movement strategy conference.  BVS brings hundreds of individuals concerned about the ocean and marine conservation together to take unified action on key issues and policies impacting the ocean.  Each Summit reserves one day for advocates to meet and educate members of Congress on Capital Hall.

BVS is organized by Blue Frontier Campaign, a group, founded in 2003, that “highlights the economic, environmental, recreational and spiritual benefits of healthy and abundant seas…through outreach and service to hundreds of marine grassroots organizations.”  Blue Frontier works to unite grassroots groups together with “private, civil and governmental organizations for the purpose of creating a visible and effective blue movement to advance sound policies and practices from coastal watersheds to deep ocean waters.”

Blue Vision Summit 2013 focused on three areas: responding to coastal disasters like Superstorm Sandy in ways that will protect ecosystems, making climate change a blue issue, and highlighting youth leadership for ocean conservation.

Claudio Garzon’s shark sculpture made out of plastic debris found on the beach.

BVS carried out these themes in a variety of different ways.  The first night of the conference, we all learned about marine debris from “artivists” (artist + activist = artivist) or “creative conservationists” who showed us their work.  Many of the artivists used plastic debris collected on their local beaches to make beautiful art with a message.

We also watched a number of interesting documentaries about ocean conservation issues.  My favorite was a short animated film called the “Song of the Spindle,” about a conversation between a man and a whale.  I also liked a documentary about the Nightingale Island Disaster, put together by Ocean Doctor, a nonprofit founded in 2004.

I enjoyed every day of Blue Vision Summit, especially Healthy Ocean Hill Day on Capital Hill, and came home with what I think are two very important take aways:

Ocean advocates and Congressman Rush Holt during Healthy Ocean Hill Day

One: Every state is a coastal state

BVS had representatives from 24 states, Borneo and Sierra Leone, a small country in West Africa northeast of Guinea, southeast of Liberia and southwest of the Atlantic Ocean.  One of the states that brought a number of ocean advocates was Colorado.  Well, yes, there is no ocean in Colorado, but these passionate individuals realize that every action we take ultimately has an impact on the ocean.  Fertilizer and pesticides are carried from stream to stream, river to river, and eventually the ocean.  This reason, as well as many more, is why the Colorado Ocean Coalition was formed to protect the ocean “from a mile high.”

Another interesting partnership that was showcased at BVS was that of Iowa farmers and conservationists in the Gulf of Mexico.  Watch the segment of the video Ocean Frontiers below to see how the farmers came to realize that the Mississippi River carried their actions all the way to the Gulf of Mexico:

Two: Kids are Kicking Ass for the Ocean

9 year old Mackenzie asked the panelists “how can I get money to start a group near me for the ocean?”

Towards the end of the conference, Blue Frontier organized a panel of youth advocates to speak about their work to save the ocean.  Now, the environmental community is awesome for so many reasons, but my favorite has to be how we all inspire and motivate each other. I was so inspired by the 7th grader I spoke with a month or so ago about plastic pollution and by the young ocean advocates at Blue Vision Summit last week.  These kids are not waiting until they grow up to save the ocean, they are working hard at marine conservation now.  They were also tired of people saying they are the advocates of the future; they are working for change right now.  The panelists from Teens for Oceans, The Harbor School, and 5 Gyres believe that youth make excellent advocates because of their curiosity, fresh perspective and inspiration from the world around them.  One panelist spoke about how adults feel jaded and frustrated by marine issues, while kids feel empowered and see problems as an opportunity to make a positive change.

After three days at Blue Vision Summit, I felt empowered by the advocates around me, young and old, and all of the different types of people: artists, film makers, policy makers, government employees, nonprofit volunteers, to do the best I can do to “go blue.”

The First State’s First (Developed?) National Park

The First State (Delaware) has finally gotten it’s first National Park!  Hooray!  Major victory!  Preserving land!  Enter a development group called Woodlawn Trustees.

The park known locally as “The Valley,” but more formally as “Beaver Valley” is west of 202/Concord Pike on the Pennsylvania/Delaware border.  Beaver Valley is known for its beauty, recreational wonders, historic significance, and ecologic values. Beaver Valley has remained undeveloped since 1683, offering hundreds of acres of trails that have been used for generations.  The property boasts several horse farms, open fields of hay for local stables, a winery and vineyard, woodlands, and streams which feed the Brandywine river.

Before 2012, the 771 acres owned by Woodlawn Trustees had been protected as a wildlife refuge for, in some cases, over 50 years. The open space supports bald eagles, owls, hawks, fox, deer, raccoons, skunks, turtles, and birds.  This area includes wetlands, steep slopes, rare plants, bog turtle habitat and trails. “The Valley” also provides walkers, runners, horse and bicycle riders with a place to go to enjoy nature.

On October 2, 2012 Concord Township Board of Supervisors held a rezoning hearing about 325 acres of their land in Beaver Valley. The purpose was to accommodate for a few different types of developers:
- Wilson (commercial)
- McKee and Concord Homes (residential)
- Eastern States Development (active adult)
- Woodlawn Trust (common open space)

If zoning laws are successfully changed, hundreds of acres of Beaver Valley will be lost to 3 large residential developments (400+ houses) and an 180,000 square foot commercial (big box) building. 

According to SaveTheValley.org, “the land at stake adjoins the newly recognized National Monument in Delaware and Chester County. Developers are attempting to purchase this land and change zoning laws so that it may be bulldozed and built upon before the remainder of the land joins our new National Monument.”

This plan would cause a loss of open space, increased air, water, light and noise pollution, as well as, an extremely negative impact on wildlife and local ecosystems.

I think the development plan for Beaver Valley would cause much more than that.  If we allow for developers to build on preserved land, we set a precedent for all other developers to do the same in all other parks.  One park in Delaware/Pennsylvania has implications for National Parks through the United States.  I believe this to be a national issue and that community action must be taken to prevent Beaver Valley from being bulldozed.

What can you do to help Save the Valley? 

• Educate yourself on the issue. Visit www.SaveTheValley.org.
• “Like” Save The Valley on Facebook to stay up-to-date on events and news.
• Sign the petition. I am number 3,433, what number will you be?
•  If you are local: Attend the Zoning Meeting on May 14th at 7 PM at the Garnet Valley Middle School [click for map] RSVP on www.SaveTheValley.org.

Defend Your Ocean: Stand Up for Marine Life and Say No to Seismic Testing

How often have you heard of an environmentalist claiming it is time to “Save the Whales?!”  Or save the dolphins?  Well…my turn:

 

What is Seismic Testing?  What are Seismic Surveys used for?

Seismic Surveys are used to find oil and gas deposits in the ocean using air gun arrays towed behind vessels.   Multiple sound devices are often blasted at the same time to reach deep down to the ocean floor.

The U.S. Department of Interior’s plan, proposed by the Bureau of Ocean and Energy Management last year, would open the Mid-Atlantic to seismic surveys, using sound blasts louder than a jet engine to reach thousands of feet into the seabed.

This dangerous first step towards oil and gas drilling in the Mid-Atlantic is hazardous to marine life.

Why is it a threat to marine life?

In the ocean, hearing and sound are vital for survival. Sound is used for everything from migration to reproduction to feeding. Over 700 fish species produce low frequency sounds — sea turtles, Squid, octopus, shrimp, crab — and even coral and fish larvae have been found to respond to sound. All of these species would be affected by the sound devices and air guy arrays used in seismic testing.

Noise pollution from seismic surveys can interfere with communication, stress, cause loss of hearing and disorientation, injure, and in severe cases be fatal to marine life. Air gun blasts can disrupt animal behaviors like mating, nursing and migration, as well as affect their ability to detect prey and avoid being eaten.

The North Atlantic right whale is one of the most vulnerable endangered species, put under pressure by ship strikes and traffic noise. Proposed seismic surveys could impact the right whale’s calving grounds off Florida and Georgia and migration route through the Mid-Atlantic, as seismic surveys have been found to cause the whales to stop vocalizing.

 

What can you do to help defend your ocean and save the whales?

PETITION THE OBAMA ADMINISTRATION TO: 
Stop seismic testing for oil and gas off the U.S. East Coast

Keeping an Eye on Plastic Pollution

Plastic art by Mary Ellen Croteau

After posting about plastic pollution earlier this week (In Case You Missed It: Disposable Plastic Still Sucks), I realized that it is important to clarify where plastic pollution that ends up in the ocean comes from.  It seems that most people assume plastic pollution comes from beach goers who litter, but that is often not the case.

Plastic pollution, like cigarette filters, tampon applicators and condoms, are signs of a different problem: nonpoint source pollution.  Nonpoint source cannot be traced back to one point (like air pollution from a smoke stack or water pollution from a chemical company can), it instead comes from a combination of sources.

When rain or melted snow travels over the ground through a watershed, the runoff picks up and moves pollution, flowing through waterways and ultimately into the ocean.  Bringing cigarette filters and other pieces of litter that were tossed out the windows of cars upstream, downstream.

When condoms and tampon applicators are found on a beach, they become indicators for a different type of problem: combined sewage overflows (CSOs).  CSOs occur when sewage and stormwater systems are combined.

Stormwater systems are the network of piping, systems and facilities that manage runoff from paved surfaces and roofs.  These systems were designed to move water as fast as possible, but as paved surface area (and development) continues to increase, and the infrastructure is not updated, not as much water can be held in the pipes.  This water flows directly into waterways.

When stormwater systems are combined with sewer systems, and a heavy rain occurs, the water and sewage releases directly into waterways and into the ocean.  When a CSO event happens, whatever people have flushed down their toilets (like tampon applicators, condoms, etc.) show up on our shores.

It is therefore important to remember that even those of us who do not live close to the ocean have an impact on it and the marine ecosystems it supports.  We must all be mindful of our daily habits and encourage others to realize that we are all downstream and we should all keep an eye on plastic pollution.

For information about the artist who created the plastic eye pictured above, click here.

In Case You Missed It: Disposable Plastic Still Sucks

“I am in 7th grade and my school is doing a project where each student has to research and try and solve one problem in the world.  I have chosen plastic pollution.  We waste way too much plastic and it is really harming our environment.”

I received the e-mail above earlier this week.  At first, I was overjoyed to receive such an e-mail.  A strange thing to say, since it speaks on the harmful effects of plastic in our environment, but it is from a 7th grader.  Children showing an interest in the environment gives me hope for the future.  It is so important that we teach our children well (cue CSNY) and teach them the value of the ecosystems around them.

Once I got past my initial excitement over being able to speak with a middle schooler about  plastic pollution, I got to thinking about why plastic is “really harming our environment.”

Over and over again throughout college my classmates and I tried to convince our peers to stop drinking bottled water.  I have written a number of posts about my bottled water crusade (click here to read more), if you are curious.  I have written on the Great Pacific Garbage Patch and about how plastic ends up in huge concentrations in the ocean, but I hadn’t seen the ocean pollution problem first hand…until I started working for Clean Ocean Action.

Clean Ocean Action is an environmental nonprofit based in Sandy Hook, NJ.  Our goal is to “improve the degraded water quality of the marine waters off the New Jersey/New York coast.”  COA has a number of different pollution prevention programs, one of which being our Beach Sweeps program.

Beach Sweeps has been around for 28 years and has grown each and every year.  It is a New Jersey statewide beach clean up, where volunteers head out to over 60 different beaches (rivers and bays, too) with a bag for trash and a bag for recyclables and pick up trash for a few hours. The volunteers also collect data on what they find.

Beach Sweeps happens twice a year, once in the spring and once in the fall. The data that we collect comes from a few thousand volunteers over the course of 7 hours.

In only 7 hours (during 2012), Beach Sweep volunteers  removed over 350,000 pieces of debris from NJ’s shoreline.  The majority of the debris removed was disposable plastics – representing 82.7% of the total waste found.  To see what else volunteers found, check out COA’s 2012 Beach Sweeps Report.

The majority of the debris removed was disposable plastics including:

• 49,362 cigarette filters
• 22,308 straws and stirrers
• 38,349 caps and lids

In just SEVEN HOURS.  Imagine how much goes in and out with the tide EACH DAY.  The number of plastic in the ocean must be incredible. To see what else ended up in the ocean, click here.

But why worry?

Photo Credit: Joe Sapia

Plastics do not biodegrade – they photodegrade, meaning they break down into smaller and smaller pieces, but never truly go away.  As they break down, they release toxic chemicals into the ocean.  These toxic chemicals are absorbed by the marine life that accidentally eat the plastic pieces.  The animals often mistake plastic bags or pieces of bags as prey.

For example, sea turtles feed on jellyfish, and often mistake floating plastic bags in the ocean for them.  Other pieces of plastic, like 6-pack rings, can entangle marine life and hurt them or even kill them.

So what can we do?

• Stop using single-use plastic bags.  I often see people bringing reusable canvas bags to the grocery store, but not as much in retail stores.  Bring reusable bags for ALL shopping!
• Use a Brita pitcher – or better yet, drink tap water – to avoid buying plastic bottles.
• Avoid buying items in individual wrapped packages, which generate more waste, try to buy in bulk.
• Educate others on the dangers of plastic in the ocean.
• Participate in beach clean ups like the Beach Sweeps on Saturday, April 27!

Together, we can try like the 7th grader who e-mailed me and solve one problem in the world; plastic pollution.

An Environmentalist’s Responsibility

Photo Credit: Treehugger.com

Today, I attended a sustainability workshop.  I walked in after signing in at the registration to pick up a bagel for breakfast.  On the table were plastic utensils, individually wrapped containers of cream cheese, Styrofoam cups and plates, various juices in plastic bottles, and my arch nemesis…bottled water.  My first instinct was to scream, but luckily I remained socially appropriate.

I listened during the meeting presentations and quietly posted to my Facebook and Twitter about my annoyance.  One of my friends said that Styrofoam and plastic at a sustainability workshop is “like bringing a concealed weapon to an anti-gun violence seminar. Come on now, they need to get their act together.”  Funny, but true.  And they did need to get their act together.

When it was time for Q&A, I voiced my concern, frustration and disappointment to the entire group.  The workshop organizer quickly scrambled to say that his organization was required to use the food supplier from the community center that the workshop was held in. A representative from the community center was in the audience and took responsibility for the unsustainable products saying it was “their fault.”

BUT I think it is the responsibility of the “sustainability” group who organized the workshop to work with whatever supplier to make sustainability events as…sustainable as possible. AND if that doesn’t work out, they should move to a new location with a supplier that’s more accommodating.  Think asking for pitchers of water and paper cups instead of plastic bottles, or if the center can provide reusable mugs instead of Styrofoam.  Simple changes, not rocket science.

Us environmentalists, sustainability supporters, renewable energy experts, Big Oil opponents, must always remember that we are ambassadors for the rest of the environmental community.  Bringing our thermoses to work, refusing plastic bags while shopping, bringing reusable bags to the grocery store and using Brita filters in our homes, all make an impression on our friends, relatives and coworkers.  We have an obligation as environmentalists to commit to these small changes, because if we don’t make the effort, who will?

What Democracy Looks Like: Forward on Climate Rally

A 20-something environmentalist’s experience as a part of the
largest climate rally in U.S. history

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“Hey Obama, we don’t want no climate drama!” and  “Hey, hey, ho, ho, KXL has got to go!”  were two of my favorite chants from my first rally.  On Sunday, February 17, 2013, I traveled with Delaware Sierra Club and a student group I was involved with at the University of Delaware, Students for the Environment, to Washington, D.C. to urge President Obama to move “Forward on Climate.”

The idea behind Forward on Climate, organized by 350.org and the Sierra Club, is to call on Barack Obama to lead on climate and take responsibility as President of the United States to move beyond coal and natural gas, ignite a clean energy economy, limit carbon pollution from dirty power plants and most importantly, reject the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline.

Accepting tar sands oil from Canada through the Keystone XL pipeline has been called “game over for climate” by James Hansen, climatologist, activist and head of the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies.  Tar sands oil is considered “tough” or “unconventional” oil, which requires more water and energy than conventional oil extraction. Producing a barrel of oil from the oil sands produces three times more greenhouse gas emissions than a barrel of conventional oil.

I joined Forward on Climate because I want the man I voted for in my first election and in the 2012 election to leave a legacy of change, and begin solving the climate crisis.  I want President Obama to end fracking and mountaintop removal and reject Keystone XL, so I hopped on a bus to DC.

The bus we took from Delaware was one of 120 buses from all over the United States traveling to the nation’s capital for what was supposed to be “the largest climate change rally in history.”  On the bus, we were all excited and had no idea what to expect; we picked out our signs and talked about recent eco-political news (Obama’s nomination for the Secretary of the Department of the Interior, John Kerry as Secretary of State).

We arrived to a sunny, but brisk day in Washington, D.C.  As the bus pulled up near the Washington Monument, we could already see signs from environmentalists coming from as far as Maine and Kentucky.  Following the crowds, we began walking toward the Monument, taking part in small “pump-up” rallies along the way.  One group of students even brought a speaker that was carted around blasting Dubstep.

The rally spot on the field near the National Monument quickly filled with tons and tons of people.  It was hard to determine just how many of us there were.  We listened with starry eyes to the inspiring Bill McKibben say “All I ever wanted was to see a movement of people to stop climate change and now I see it,” a statement that was met with loud cheers.

Michael Brune, Sierra Club Executive Director, Van Jones, Rebuild the Dream President, and U.S. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse also spoke at the rally before the march yesterday.  It was refreshing to hear a climate hawk who also happened to be a politician.  One of my favorite moments from yesterday was when a Red-tailed Hawk actually flew over the stage.  It made me feel like the rest of my climate hawk friends who couldn’t make the rally were with us in spirit.

Maria T. Cardona, Lationvations Founder and the Rev. Leenox Yearwood, Hip Hop Caucus President and CEO kept the momentum going throughout the rally.  First Nation women, Chief Jacqueline Thomas (Saik’uz First Nation) and Crystal Lameman (Beaver Lake Cree First Nations) informed the massive crowd of their heritage and culture and the intimate connection their people have with the land.  I was also pleasantly surprised to hear California billionaire, Thomas Steyer, passionately describe the Keystone XL pipeline as a “bad investment.”  I was glad to see an economic perspective during the rally, to help strengthen our argument.

After the rally was over, we took to the pavement shouting, “Whose streets? Our streets!” and “This is what democracy looks like!”  It was amazing to be surrounded by so many people that were so passionate and invested in the health of the planet and the future of energy in America.  The Occupy Movement had a heavy presence, as well as representatives from over 160 environmental groups from across the country.  I was so happy to see ralliers from the Appalachian community speaking out against mountaintop removal, shouting “mountains are for climbing, stop the mining!”

In an e-mail from Michael Brune, Sierra Club Executive Director, he said, “They said we’d never get 10,000 on a frigid February day. Our staff laughed and said we’d get 25,000. Then you laughed and sent more than 40,000.”  I am proud to say that I was part of the largest climate rally in history, one of more than 45,000 on the National Mall yesterday.

Across the country, there were also “solidarity rallies” taking place, for those environmentalists who want to speak out for climate action, but could not make it to Washington, D.C.  Over 20 rallies happened in Arkansas, California, Colorado, Florida, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Maine, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Mexico, Oregon, Texas, and Washington State.  More than one million online activists joined in on Thunderclap! too, solidified the message to President Obama: we want to move climate forward.

Our voice was so loud, that despite typical business as usual and climate silence throughout the national media, Forward on Climate broke through:

Some National News:

• NBC News
• The Weather Channel, tonight (2/18) at 6 PM
• News 10 ABC
• USA Today
• ABC 7
• The Washington Post, Health and Science (!!!)
• The Washington Post, Business
• CNN
• Huffington Post Green
• NPR
• Politico

Some International News:

• The Globe and Mail, Ottawa, Canada
• Le Monde, largest newspaper in France, front page
• International Herald Tribute

I vote, volunteer and work for the environment, but my voice for the planet has never been louder than it was yesterday, one of the 45,000 voices shouting together for climate action.

As seen on: EnviroPolitics Blog

As seen on Mother Earth News

As seen on Power Shift’s Blog

NJ Has 20 Coastal Lakes (Who Knew?) And They All Need Help

On Tuesday, I attended the Coastal Lakes Summit: Moving to a Healthier and More Resilient Future at Monmouth University.  The Summit was organized by the Urban Coast Institute (UCI), which strives to “serve the public interest as a forum for research, education, and collaboration that fosters the application of the best available science and policy to support healthy and productive coastal ecosystems and a sustainable and economically vibrant future for coastal communities.”  UCI held its first Coastal Lakes Summit in 2008.

The purpose of the 2013 Summit was to bring together natural resource managers and engineers, municipal officials, representatives of civic groups, community organizations, federal and state agency representatives, and local coastal and watershed management groups to indentify post-Sandy recovery and restoration priorities for the coastal lakes of NJ and to implement lake restoration plans.

John A. Tiedemann, director of the marine and environmental biology and policy program through UCI, said the “post-Sandy era of planning for recovery and restoration provides us with a new canvas from which to work.”

Before I could participate in the “new canvas” discussion, I first had to learn some background information about NJ coastal lakes pre-Sandy.  I had no idea that New Jersey has over 20 coastal lakes!  The coastal lakes, throughout Monmouth and Ocean County, provide local freshwater resources, offer important recreational and aesthetic amenities, and most historically were estuaries.  What I found most interesting is that many of these lakes used to have a connection to the ocean, before intense man-made development altered the landscape.

Look for Deal Lake, formerly known as Boyleston Great Pond, to see its historic connection to the ocean. Map from 1873.

Deal Lake is the largest coastal lake in New Jersey; other well known lakes include Lake Takanesse, Spring Lake, Wreck Pond, Stockon Lake, Little Silver Lake and Twilight Lake.

Over time, these lakes have become merely regional stormwater basins, collecting untreated and unmanaged stormwater runoff generated by the surrounding communities.  What were historically estuaries have become impoundments for excessive algae growth and nutrient loading.

While nutrient loading has been an issue within the NJ coastal lakes for quite some time, Superstorm Sandy has presented new issues:

Physical Impacts

• Filling
• Erosion
• Shoreline failure

Structural Impacts

• Failed or damaged weir/flume/dam
• Storm sewer lines filled with sand and debris

Environmental Impacts

• Water quality: contaminants, bacteria, nutrients, sediment
• Debris: upland wreckage, boats, trees, other submerged material

After discussing these issues, the Summit attendees split up into different break-out sessions.  I attended the fish and wildlife issues session.  A lot of what we discussed overlapped with habitat restoration and water quality issues.

Since the coastal lakes were historically estuaries, many of the species needed a delicate balance of fresh and salt water and open exchange with the ocean to survive.  Anadromous fish, like New Jersey’s River Herring, are born in fresh water, spend most of their life in the ocean and then return to fresh water to spawn.  On the other hand, catadromous fish, like the American Eel, live in fresh water and enters salt water to spawn.  Both types of fish need an open exchange between the salt water ocean and the fresh water lake to migrate and spawn properly.  Over time, human population booms and over-development have closed these lakes off to the ocean, to prevent flooding (among other issues), but also causing declines in fish populations.  The River Herring is now a candidate species under the Endangered Species Act to be upgraded from a “Species of Concern” to Threatened or Endangered.  We discussed the questionable efficiency of fish ladders and whether they could be “superstorm proof” to help with this coastal lake issue.

We also spoke about fish kills in coastal lakes like Deal Lake after Superstorm Sandy.  It seems logical to assume that an influx of toxins and nutrients caused a large fish kill in Deal Lake, but it was actually caused by increased levels of salinity from the ocean.   The delicate balance between fresh and salt water in these coastal lakes is so vital for the ecosystems and the species that inhabit them.

It is also important to preserve habitat for other endangered species like the 20 state endangered types of aquatic vegetation, water fowl, and shorebirds like the Piping Plover, Less Terns, Oyster Catchers and Black Skimmers.

At the Summit, we came up with a few solutions to help with the fish and wildlife issues in the coastal lakes of NJ.  We determined that a holistic approach is needed to assess the entirety of the watershed, damming an inlet or letting a newly reformed connection to the ocean remain may affect baseflow of the headwaters farther up the run.  Although the lakes have become “franchise lakes,” with similar watershed size, percent impervious surface surroundings, human population and nutrient levels, each lake should be assessed on a case by case basis.

To help with stormwater runoff and to return the coastal lakes from impoundments back to estuaries, we thought to plant native species around the lakes, create maritime forests around water edges, restore riparian corridors, create soft shorelines that are invertebrate friendly so that nesting shorebirds have a source of food, preserve habitat for migratory birds, scrutinize the source of sand for beach replenishment projects, re-establish dunes, and preserve open space.

It is perhaps most important to have one project as a model that can be used to educate the public and local elected officials about the responsibility that comes with “stream-side living.”  The maritime forest project in Ocean Grove/Bradley Beach at Fletcher Lake can serve as a model for citizens to visualize the benefits of preserving the coastal lakes and restoring them to estuaries for generations to come.

As seen on:

As seen on: AsburyPulp.com

Bill McKibben Asks Rutgers University to “Do The Math”

“All we’re asking for is for the type of planet we were born on. It’s not radical,” said Bill
McKibben in the Rutgers University Student Center (New Brunswick, NJ) on Monday, February 4, 2013. “Radicalism is the scientists of fossil fuel companies who are altering the chemical composition of the atmosphere more than any human has before them,” he added.

I had the privilege of attending Bill McKibben’s Do the Math Tour: Why Climate Change Matters and What You Can Do About It on Monday and enjoyed every minute of it.  McKibben was a wonderful, funny, and down to earth speaker who motivated me to attend the Climate Rally on Sunday, February 17 in Washington.  To read more about my experience and find out more about the Do The Math Tour, please read my post on Mother Earth News.

Bottled Water? What’s next? Bagged Air?

In college, I was involved with the Delaware Environmental Institute Student Programs Committee, where we encouraged students to become more “bottled water aware” and offered alternatives to buying bottled water (see Bottled Water Awareness on Campus).  After graduation, I began working for an ocean advocacy non-profit, where we also try to discourage our network of citizens, businesses and organizations from buying bottled water.

But why?

A lot of bottled water companies boast using “mineral water” and “natural spring water” in their product.  That water has to be safe to drink, right?  And when I’m in a hurry to leave my house, bottled water is just so much easier and more convenient than filling up my own stainless steel bottle or Nalgene.  What’s so bad about that?

Well, consider this…

• The U.S. bottled water industry consumes over 50 million barrels of oil a year, enough oil to fuel 3 million cars for one year.
• The EPA estimates that nearly a quarter of one popular brand of bottled water, for example, originally comes from tap water at a price at least 300 times the cost of tap water.
• The recommended eight glasses of water a day for one year costs about $1,400 in bottled water versus only 49 cents in tap water.
• The composition of tap water, which is regulated by the EPA, is also more closely monitored by the government than bottled water, which has looser restrictions imposed by the Food and Drug Administration and only when the bottled water is shipped across state lines.
• The plastic the bottles are made from contains unhealthy synthetic chemicals like BPA and phthalates (endocrine disruptors that have been linked to breast cancer, prostate cancer, autism and obesity), which may leach into the water or the environment after disposal.

The environmental, health, and economic costs of bottled water listed above are considered “hidden costs” of the $11.7 BILLION (!!) industry.  Check out this really awesome video that further explains the idea of a “hidden cost:”

Not convinced yet?  There are cities in the United States that are banning the sale of bottled water because it is so harmful.  Earlier this month, Concord, Massachusetts  became one of the first communities in the U.S. to ban the sale of single-serving plastic water bottles.

My hope is that other cities follow suit, until the United States has banned bottled water completely.  If we allow this industry to continue to grow, what would come next, bagged air?

Featured on: Eco News Network