SURFrider Foundation

The Surfrider Foundation is a non-profit grassroots organization dedicated to the protection and enjoyment of our world’s oceans, waves and beaches. Founded in 1984 by a handful of visionary surfers in Malibu, California, the Surfrider Foundation now maintains over 50,000 members and 90 chapters worldwide. It has expanded internationally.


Surfrider's

Ocean Friendly Gardens “Be a part of the solution, not the pollution” The largest source of water pollution cannot be traced to any one point — it’s all of us. Pollutants “run off” our streets, neighborhoods and landscapes, wastefully and needlessly fouling our coastal waterways and ocean. But you can take simple steps in your own garden to create beautiful landscapes that capture the eye of your neighbors while capturing the polluted runoff that flows to our local beaches. Whenever water leaves a property it has the ability to take pollutants with it. Fertilizers, pesticides and oil are easily picked up by the power of water. While this runoff is greatest during rain storms, urban runoff occurs all year round as a result of improper irrigation, washing cars, and hosing down driveways. Runoff from residential landscapes affects the quality of our oceans and the quality of our lives. The sediment in water reduces clarity; nutrients increase algae populations and red tides; bacteria close beaches; debris can choke and suffocate aquatic species; and pesticides picked up off a landscape can poison fish consumed by humans — all of which degrade the natural beauty, and our enjoyment, of the ocean. The good news is that you can help bring back healthy coasts and oceans though CPR© — Conservation, Permeability and Retention. It’s a way for all of us to design and maintain our gardens so that we can reduce urban runoff — and the pollutants that go with it. Surfrider Foundation is partnering with water agencies and others to launch an education and outreach effort as a pilot "Ocean Friendly Gardens" program in Los Angeles and Orange Counties. Look for details on each chapter's Ocean Friendly Gardens program rollout on the chapter websites and in future email announcements from the chapters. But you can get started on your own garden and begin reducing polluted runoff today. Start in a small area and grow over time – or go for a full makeover. Be creative. Get your hands dirty. But most importantly, HAVE FUN!! In the following pages you will find: Simple instructions on designing your own “Ocean Friendly Garden” Summary of a study showing dramatic runoff reduction from the simplest first step Photographic examples of Ocean Friendly Gardens (and instructions to submit your own project for inclusion in the photo album) Comprehensive Plant List as described in the new Ocean Friendly Gardens book. Links to our partners’ websites, where to get rebates, virtual tours, and other helpful information on how to get started on your very own Ocean Friendly Garden. Also see Surfrider Foundation's printable (and viewable) 2-page brochure (8.5" by 14" layout in a 2 MB .pdf file) entitled, Guide to Gardening for Cleaner Waves and Coasts

You can connect regardless in what part of the world you call home.

Surfrider Affiliates
in Europe, Australia, Argentina, Brazil and chapters currently being organized in Costa Rica, Mexico, and Canada.

To see how you can donate and for volunteering opportunities please visit: http://www.surfrider.org

2010 Year for NEW Sustainable Transportation

2010 Year for NEW Sustainable
Transportation

Our growing population and expanding urban cities force us to revisit the issue of sustainable transportation. At one point we had California dealer parking lots packed with clean energy cars. From one day to the next the lots were stripped of these efficient vehicles and sent directly to car mauling sites. We are now wit heads way below water and cannot afford to ignore our cry for better, efficient, and less polluting cars.

Drivers await the arrival of General Motors's much-anticipated Chevy Volt plug-in hybrid car later this year, GM unveiled an
electric vehicle of an entirely different stripe on Wednesday at the World Expo 2010 in Shanghai. The company's Electric Networked Vehicle (EN-V) is a mini electric vehicle built for two, unless you are using it to go shopping, in which case you might have room for yourself and a bag of groceries.

Working with Shanghai Automotive Industry Corp. Group (SAIC), GM designed the EN-V to meet the challenges of getting around major metropolises as urban populations swell. The EN-V resembles more an enclosed pedicab—minus the bike—than it does a car. In fact, the 1.5-meter-long vehicle is three times shorter than a typical car and weighs less than 500 kilograms, one third as much as most cars on the road today.


By 2030, more than 60 percent of the world's population will be living in urban areas, says Chris Borroni-Bird, GM's director of advanced technology vehicle concepts. In densely populated cities around the world, including New York City, "driving is not a practical way of moving around," he says, adding that a third of city congestion is typically caused by drivers looking for parking spaces. Several cities, including Athens, México City and Bogotá, Colombia, have resorted to "road space rationing," allowing a vehicle to enter the city only on certain days (or during rush hour), based on whether its license plate number ends in an odd or even number.


Please click for latest news and images of prototype cars: http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=gm-electric-networked-vehicle

LEED in MIAMI

March 25 – 1 to 4 pm: Level 100: Awareness, Sustainability, Green Basics & LEED

March 26 – 8 am to 4 pm: Level 200: LEED Core Concepts & Strategies / Green Associate Exam Prep

Sustainability and LEED concepts by GreenPoint US (http://www.greenpointusa.com/http://www.greenpointusa.com/), an organization that provides courses and training seminars for people interested in LEED accreditation or in ongoing professional education. They will be in town next weekend.

For anyone wanting to learn more on sustainability or further your career visit the site and sign up!

For more information on LEED and what it is used for visit: http://www.usgbc.org/DisplayPage.aspx?CategoryID=19

BEACH CLLEANUP!

The Boucher Brothers and the Alonzo Mourning Charities asked if ECOMB and the City of Miami Beach could assist them, once again, in organizing a beach cleanup / litter prevention orientation to their 150 girls at their Beach Day Event.
Thanks everyone for your support.

For more sustainability information please visit: www.ecomb.org/

Its Here!! Ecotourism and Sustainable Tourism Conference (ESTC)

Hosted by Travel Portland and Travel Oregon, the ESTC 2010 will be held in Portland, Oregon, from September 8-10, 2010. The ESTC 2010 will bring together business leaders, travel and tourism professionals and community members, providing opportunities to share the latest trends in eco-tourism and sustainable tourism.

Speaker Application is NOW OPEN
Deadline March 1st 2010

Apply Now : http://www.ecotourism.org/site/c.orLQKXPCLmF/b.4835409/k.FC85/Ecotourism_and_Sustainable_Tourism_Conference_ESTC_2010.htm

Learn how you can become involved: http://www.ecotourism.org/site/c.orLQKXPCLmF/b.4976199/k.76B6/Get_Involved__Ecotourism_and_Sustainable_Tourism_Conference_ESTC_2010.htm

ECOMB Art by the Sea!

eco_art_gallery -


Adopt a bin fundraiser organized by ECOMB of Miami Beach and Sponsored by Seaside Syndication, Miami Dade County and Miami Beach Chamber of Commerce, The Sun Post in colloboration with other creative groups will be sponsoring adopt a litter bin campaign. Liter bins are located in Miami Beach from 1st to 23rd street. The campaign will select 204 artists to decorate one of the Miami Beach trashcans in an effort to boost our beaches vibrancy and encourage litter pick up.

The program will reduce beach by at least 70%.
All money collected from sponsors will go to commisioning artists and implemetning educational programs.

1. Recycling Educational Brochures
Provides funds for additional ECOMB's "Recycling Campaign" multi-lingual brochure

2. Eco Cabana
Provides funds for a mobile eco-information center located on the beach.

3. Eco-Logical Teams
Implementation of neighborhood-based environmental teams, which encourages and teaches community memebers to adopt more environmentally sound practices.

4. Beach Bin Litter Sampling
Hope one day to convert Miami Beach trash cans into recyling bins.


For more information please visit ECOMB: http://www.ecomb.org/

WATERSHED Close the TAP

On average, 103 gallons of water are consumed each day by each citizen

A seemingly limitless supply of water but wrong.

Every day, over four billion gallons of groundwater are consumed to satisfy the demands of agriculture, industry, power plants, development, and municipal and public water supplies, and as a result, we are depleting our natural, underground water resources faster than they can be replenished.


Each of us can play a role by helping reduce groundwater pollution and decrease water consumption.

Learn more about some of the simple steps you can take to protect nature's gems.

Landscaping and Lawn care

• Reduce the size of your lawn and choose grass varieties that require a minimal amount of fertilizers and watering.
• If you use fertilizers, use only slow release varieties for residential lawns and gardens. Be sure to have a soil test done to determine if fertilizers are necessary.
• Resist the temptation to over-fertilize. Applying twice as much as fertilizer as is recommended does not make plants grow twice as fast.
• Do not over-water your lawn. Use a rain gauge to determine when and if you need to water.
• Plant native or drought-tolerant trees, shrubs, ground cover and flowers to minimize water use. Native plants will also attract desirable wildlife like butterflies and hummingbirds.
• Use pesticides if absolutely necessary and apply them only to the affected plants or area of lawn.
• Use mulch in plant beds and leave grass clippings on the lawn after mowing. Mulching helps prevent evaporation of moisture from the soil.
• Use rain barrels to capture and store rainwater to water plants.
• Visit www.floridayards.org to learn more about landscaping techniques to protect springs and Florida's natural resources.

Indoor water use

• Check to see if your plumbing has any leaks. Read your water meter before and after a two-hour period when no water is being used. If the meter does not read exactly the same, you have a leak.
• Often, toilets have quiet leaks. To find out if your toilet is leaking, add a little food coloring to the tank. If the color appears in the bowl 30 minutes later, your toilet is leaking.
• Upgrade toilets and install low-volume toilets that use half the water of older models.
• Every drop counts, so turn off the faucet! Don't let the water run while doing the dishes, brushing your teeth, shaving, or washing your face and hands.
• Take shorter showers. You can save several gallons for every minute saved in the shower. Replace your showerhead with an ultra-low flow model. They're easy to install.
• Install aerators on all household faucets; they slow the flow of water.
• Re-use water. Catch water while you shower and use it to water plants. Try the same technique when washing vegetables or rinsing dishes.
• Insure that your septic tank and drainfield are properly maintained.

Recreational Impacts

• When visiting a spring, use established trails, boardwalks, and canoe launch ramps at all times. Foot traffic can damage native vegetation and hasten bank erosion.
• Avoid trampling underwater vegetation and stirring sediments when tubing, snorkeling, or swimming at springs.
• Use extreme caution when boating and anchoring in spring runs. Anchors, props and boat groundings destroy aquatic vegetation and increase the cloudiness of the water.
• Dispose of your trash properly. Cans and bottles, cigarette butts, plastic bags and other trash harm water quality and wildlife and destroy the natural beauty of the springs.
• Be a responsible steward of the springs and teach others how to protect our springs.

Help Protect Sinkholes

• Never discard trash or refuse into a sinkhole. This can introduce dangerous contaminants directly into the underground aquifer, our drinking water and the springs.
• Properly dispose of hazardous household chemicals such as industrial cleaners, solvents, automotive fluids and paints at an approved landfill facility. Never pour them down your sink or into a stormwater drain.
• Organize a community clean-up to keep sinkholes in your area free of household waste and other dangerous debris.
• Recycle or donate old appliances and other household items instead of disposing of them in a sinkhole.
• Educate your children and neighbors about the dangers of illegally dumping into a sinkhole. Illegal dumping should be reported to local law enforcement.

Take Action to Protect Springs

• Get involved in local planning and land use issues to protect sinkholes and other land in springsheds. Your voice counts!
• Encourage and support the county and city leaders to make stormwater and land use decisions that will safeguard the groundwater flowing to our springs.
• Support your water management district in protecting groundwater.
• Help teach others about groundwater issues and responsible landscaping. Volunteer and become an advocate for a spring.
• The next time you visit a spring with your children, explain the importance of protecting these beautiful natural resources.

For more info click here: http://www.protectingourwater.org/watersheds/
http://www.floridasprings.org/protection/