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Jul
The millions of oil barrels spilled into the Gulf of Mexico is one of the worst environmental disasters in our nation’s history. It is not, however, the first assault on one of the most diverse and ecologically important ecosystems in the northern hemisphere.
Everyone is angry about the BP oil spill and for good reason. The millions of barrels of oil spilled into the gulf will cause long term and most likely irreversible damage to the diverse marine and coastal ecosystem. The irony is that this type of ecological abuse has been occurring for decades on a smaller yet almost equally damaging scale, and only now are we getting a national level response.
In the late 1940’s the gulf opened its first offshore drilling platforms which were followed by many others, as well as overfishing and later mass amounts of agricultural and urban runoff resulting in “dead zones”. These dead zones are areas of water void of oxygen due to large phytoplankton blooms that deplete the water’s oxygen as they decompose. Nothing can live in these waters except for the overgrowth of phytoplankton.
One of our most diverse ecosystems has lost a crucial marine habitat the size of Lake Ontario to this man-made phenomenon. The dead zones are caused by nitrogen-rich fertilizers not only from coastal farms or cities – the Mississippi River directs 1.5 million tons of fertilizer hundreds of miles down its muddy waters every year into the gulf.
The recent oil spill has drawn attention to a very serious environmental issue that the national government should have had at the top of their agenda years ago. Instead the Environmental Protection Agency has allotted most of its funds elsewhere and regulations have been weak. The reasons for this range from the gulf’s toxic rating to a “hostile fund-raising and political environment” (nytimes.com).
The one good thing that may come out of the worst oil spill in our nation’s history is increased funding and regulations in the gulf. We can hope that more money and laws will help reverse the damage but mostly I think we all must take this disaster as a hard lesson learned and hopefully we will protect our remaining ecosystems (especially those as diverse and unique as the gulf) with every policy, penny and political power we’ve got.
Read a full article on this topic at nytimes.com
We’re placing an ad in the Santa Cruz Metro running for the next two weeks in the Dining and Front Sections. We want you to know that we are doing this as a means to help promote your business.
With that in mind you might want to revisit your coupons and update them or add new [...]
We’re placing an ad in the Santa Cruz Metro running for the next two weeks in the Dining and Front Sections. We want you to know that we are doing this as a means to help promote your business.
With that in mind you might want to revisit your coupons and update them or add new ones.
We hope all is good with you and if there is anything we can do to help further, please email us or call us at 831-440-8710.
Oh, and if you are a member of the Downtown Association, check us out on the Resources tab.
You get double the exposure with Ecocoupons! So make sure your DTA offers are on the website too!
Thank you,
The EcoCoupons Team
There’s nothing like a soft cotton T-shirt. Or is there? When trying to live a greener lifestyle do you think about the fibers your shirt is made of? Cotton is advertised as the top choice for your everyday fabric but what is its environmental impact in comparison to other clothing fibers? Maybe cotton isn’t the best choice out there…
Conventionally grown cotton requires tons of water, pesticides, fertilizer and land to produce. It depletes the soil, pollutes our waterways and in an effort to avoid this environmental damage it is becoming largely a GM crop (which comes with a grand debate of its own). There are other fibers that are just as soft and not nearly as environmentally damaging. Sometimes they’re actually softer, longer-lasting, and can benefit the environment.
Cotton field
May
Perhaps someday pre-packaged school lunches with cardboard cheese and chewy chicken nuggets will be a meal of the past. Pacific Elementary School in Davenport teaches kids to make their own lunch, in an effort to teach nutrition and fractions.
Students at Pacific Elementary prep veggies for lunchtime.
Fractions, multiplication, nutrition and creativity are all a part of the Pacific Elementary School Food Lab in Davenport, Ca. In a world where “homemade” cookies come in a tube and math lessons are only used in preparation for standardized testing, Food Lab is a revolutionary concept.
Cooking as a daily curriculum provides kids with the tools to fight childhood obesity and connect learning with something fun, hands-on and productive. Suddenly, fractions cook lasagna and nutrition means heavenly smells wafting from the school kitchen.
May 9th-15th is Bike to Work Week! Participating areas are offering free breakfast and prizes to cyclists. No matter where you are though, take this opportunity to start a healthy habit for yourself and the planet!
Take the scenic route to work this week (May 9th-15th) on your road bike, mountain bike or cruiser and reduce your carbon footprint. You can also receive free breakfast (in participating areas), win prizes and feel energized and ready for the day. I’ve been riding my bike to work everyday for the past few weeks and not only am I not polluting and saving gas money, I feel great too! Hopefully after a week of riding, you’ll make it a habit for life!
Click here for the official Bike To Work website.
May
Thousands of barrels of oil are leaking into the Gulf of Mexico every day, threatening coastlines and wildlife. We have relied on this dirty energy for far too long – isn’t it about time we rethink the way we use energy and start taking advantage of limitless resources, like the sun?
Satellite image of the BP oil spill.
The BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico threatens to become the largest spill in history. It is estimated that 5,000 barrels of oil a day are leaking from the well 5,000 feet underwater. On shore, people are cleaning oil off marine birds’ coated feathers and it was just reported that sea turtles are washing up dead on the shore.
BP (Beyond Petroleum) has labeled themselves as an energy company driven to move beyond oil as the main source of fuel. So far, however, this company has remained firmly attached to fossil fuels, as shown through their offshore drilling and deep water wells drilled thousands of feet below the ocean surface.
The Exxon Valdez spill in 1989 leaked a record of over 11 million gallons of oil. If the current rate of the BP spill continues, it may surpass the largest oil spill in history by the third week of June. It’s definitely time to seriously reconsider our country’s and our individual dependency on oil.
Apr
Looking for an eco-friendly, centrally located, beautiful inn with the best breakfast in town? Check out The Pacific Blue Inn just a hop and a skip (or bike ride) from downtown Santa Cruz and the beach.
The Pacific Blue Inn, despite its name, is actually the greenest place you’ll find to stay in Santa Cruz. Joe Quigg (local investor and owner of Pacific Blue Inn) purposefully built the inn on an already existing lot to avoid any natural destruction. He and his company, Easy Access Developers, searched for a spot in the center of everything, close to public transportation and within biking/walking distance of town and the beach, so visitors could have a small carbon footprint during their stay.
As a guest, you can borrow a bike to tour the town or use your own two feet to walk the five minutes to the beach or to downtown Pacific Ave. The goal of the inn’s owners is that you park your car the day you arrive and don’t step behind the wheel again until the end of your stay.
Nestled on an infill lot only 32 feet wide, the inn goes up 3 stories in a modern rectangular tower painted a bright blue – almost the color of the ocean on a sunny day. Once inside, it is hard to believe the whole space would only fit 5 grown men lying head to head across the floor’s width.
The cozy entryway spills into the inn’s dining area, known for serving some of the best breakfasts around. I asked the New York native chef and innkeeper, Michael Avignone, where he learned to cook. He answered with a laugh, “Three hours in that kitchen!” The recipes are all his, he just needed help cooking them for a large group of people.
The dining room opens up into the secret courtyard, only a rumor when you’re out on the sidewalk, confirmed by the sound of joyous chatter and the crackling of a fire. An open fire pit sits in the center of a half circle of rustic wooden chairs. Tropical lianas climb the fence and big-leafed plants of the banana family hang over the chairs like natural umbrellas. Fuchsias hang in baskets, their pink and purple blossoms bright against the dark green leaves. A small table waits for a wine glass and plate of hor dourves.
People in many parts of the world struggle daily to obtain potable water. Everyday in the U.S., we dump 2 billion gallons of this precious resource on golf courses.
Millions of women have to hike hours a day to reach water. Photo courtesy of National Geographic.
As I’m writing this I take a sip, whenever I have the slightest urge, from a tall cup of crystal-clear, clean, cold water. I didn’t have to work to obtain this water, except I suppose you could argue my job is what pays the utility bills, but I didn’t have to physically exert myself to acquire this glass of water. I leisurely walked over to my kitchen sink and turned on the faucet.
Contrast this picture with that of a woman in Ethiopia who has to walk 8 hours a day just to reach barely potable water from a stream that is shared with humans and their animals alike.
8 hours back and forth everyday, with 50 pounds of water on your back, across rough mountainous terrain, just to have enough water to cook with and to drink. Imagine if these women had those 8 hours for other things. They could go to school, receive an education and improve their own lives and those of their village.
Come celebrate the Earth with live music, food and fun activities!
Stop by Santa Cruz’s Earth Day event today from 11am-4pm at San Lorenzo Park Benchlands. There will be food, live music, booths, raffles, and lots of fun activities throughout the day. Just remember, this is a zero waste event so bring your own water bottle and bag for shopping! Hope to see you there!
Mar
Polystyrene or styrofoam food packaging contributes to a huge amount of litter on land and in our waterways. We can’t recycle it and it doesn’t biodegrade so the only solution is to stop using it. Monterey County is considering an ordinance to reduce the use of polystyrene in the county’s unincorporated areas.
Monterey has already successfully banned the use of all polystyrene foam food packaging by food providers in the city. This ban,
Polystyrene containers are not recyclable or biodegradable.
as well as others in Santa Cruz and San Francisco for example, helps to decrease the amount of styrofoam that ends up on our streets, in our parks, creeks, and on our shorelines and in our ocean. The next step for Monterey is to restrict the product’s use from the unincorpoarted areas in the county as well.
April 6th the Monterey County Board of Supervisors will hold an open city council meeting to come to a final decision on the proposed ban. The more voices we have in support of this ban, the more likely the city will decide to pass the ordinance. This is yet another important step for reducing the amount of non-biodegradable products in our waste stream.
Polystyrene is not recyclable and because it is so lightweight it frequently flies off dump trucks into streams, community parks and our oceans, threatening the health of wildlife. It easily breaks apart which makes it difficult for clean-up crews to pick up, resulting in much of the debris left on the ground and in waterways.
Its tendency to break into smaller pieces also threatens wildlife. Birds and marine mammals, for example, ingest the polystyrene bits leading to reduced appetite, reduced nutrient absorption and potential starvation.