| Save Our Shores News & Events |
Hundreds of Volunteers Take Action for Earth Day
In conjunction with the Santa Cruz Earth Day Festival in San Lorenzo Park, Save Our Shores staff, Sanctuary Stewards, and over 200
 community volunteers banded together on Saturday, April 16th, to prevent a total of 2,417 lbs of pollution from entering the Monterey Bay.
Our volunteers are simply amazing. Thank you to our Stewards and Earth Day volunteers for taking a stand against pollution with the Save Our Shores team. Over 80 energetic volunteers came out to San Lorenzo River cleanup that day to remove 2,300 lbs of pollution including shopping carts, tires, cigarette butts, and lots and lots of plastic. Over at Cowell & Main Beach, more than 120 volunteers came out in the name of clean beaches for Earth Day. The beach cleanup team prevented 2,667 cigarette butts from entering the ocean in under 3 hours - a mere fraction of the amount of cigarette butts that wind up in our oceans! Up at the north end of the Sanctuary, 70 volunteers took action for the ocean at the Half Moon Bay Earth Day Cleanup & Festival by removing over 200 lbs of pollution from our beaches. Mother Earth is sitting proud!
Celebrating World Oceans Day in Monterey
On Saturday, May 14th, Save Our Shores will host a beach cleanup at Del Monte/ Municipal Beach at Wharf #2, as part of our ongoing monthly beach cleanups in Monterey County. In celebration of World Oceans Day, beach cleanup volunteers will receive one FREE ticket to the Monterey Bay Aquarium for entry during their World Oceans Day weekend June 5-6!
Then, on Wednesday, June 8th, SOS is throwing a happy hour party to
This World Oceans Day happy hour will introduce new faces to the work of Save Our Shores and inspire citizens to take action for the ocean in Monterey County. Hosted by Light and Motion at 300 Cannery Row, attendees will meet other oceans lovers and activists and learn how to make
a difference for the ocean right in their own backyard. For more information email
Charlie Hong Kong Goes Plastic Bag-Free! Right before Earth Day this year, Caroline Rudolph (pictured with her husband below), owner of the ever popular Santa Cruz institution known as Charlie Hong Kong, stumbled upon an SOS photo of an otter pup stuck in a plastic bag in the waters near Moss Landing Harbor. The photo, taken by Terry McCormick, has become an important ally to Save Our Shores throughout our ongoing efforts to ban single-use plastic bags. Caroline took one look at the photo and said "that's it" - immediately deciding their business would no longer provide plastic bags to their customers. She posted the photo in the restaurant to spread awareness about this issue and is now implementing a Bring Your Own reusable bag program. Customers with purchases of $25 or more can take home a reusable bag for $1.50, a portion of which will be donated to SOS.  Caroline also stopped selling plastic bottled beverages at the restaurant - it's aluminum and glass only at Charlie Hong Kong now! Caroline's message to other businesses is "Bag the bag - get rid of plastic bags!" And to their customers: "We're all in this together. Transition can be difficult, but we all care about our environment and can all work together to help protect it."Caroline gladly signed Charlie Hong Kong onto the Central Coast Sanctuary Alliance as a Supporting Business to back the unified effort to ban plastic bags all around the Sanctuary. Join the Clean Beaches Crew this Fourth of July Come be part of the solution with Save Our Shores this summer at the 2nd largest beach cleanup of the year: the July 5th Star Spangled Beach Cleanup. Volunteers will also be needed to spread the Pollution Prevention is Patriotic message on our beaches throughout the weekend, so stay tuned to Save Our Shores for details coming soon. New this year: We're bringing our pollution prevention efforts and July 5th beach cleanups to Monterey County for the very first time! Help us spread the word about our quest to stop pollution in its tracks in Monterey County over this busy, beach-filled, holiday weekend.
DockWalker Season Begins in our Harbors
The summer DockWalker season is starting up again with our first event happening at Moss Landing Harbor on Saturday, May 14th, from 9am-1pm. DockWalker volunteers will be handing out free clean boating and oil spill prevention supplies to boaters in the harbor and at the launch ramp. Want to help spread the word about clean boating habits and help create a Monterey Bay free of oil spills?
Join the DockWalker team today!
SOS Wins 2nd Place for Best Activist Group
 A big thanks goes out to each one of you who voted for Save Our Shores in the Good Times Santa Cruz Best of 2011 poll!
We won 2nd place in the 'Best Activist Group' category - a first for Save Our Shores. We will continue to fight for pollution prevention and healthy marine ecosystems, and we want you to join us. Become a Member or volunteer with your local clean beaches activist crew!
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Advocacy Update from Oceans Day | |
Save Our Shores staffers joined forces with other environmental groups and key stakeholders to support a number of ocean-related bills at the state Capitol on Oceans Day last month. Here's an overview of those bills:
- SB 568, through banning styrofoam take-out containers state-wide, would be a huge step forward for pollution prevention.
- AB 298 would regulate allowed materials and toxicity levels in reusable bags.
- AB 376 would ban the shark fin trade in California, a critical and necessary move to sustain depleting populations of sharks worldwide.
- SB 623 would ban copper from boat paints. Copper is a large contributor to pollution in our harbors and is toxic to marine animals and plants.
Read more about our Advocacy efforts and Take Action! for our oceans! |
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Save Our Shores Volunteers Needed!
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- Saturday, May 14th, 9am-1pm: DockWalkers at Moss Landing Harbor
- Saturday, May 14th, 10am-Noon: Monterey Monthly Beach Cleanup at Del Monte/Municipal Beach at Wharf #2
- Saturday, May 21st, 9am-1pm: DockWalkers at Santa Cruz Harbor
- Saturday, May 21st, 10am-Noon: Santa Cruz Monthly Beach Cleanup at Seacliff State Beach
- Saturday, May 28th, 10am-Noon: San Lorenzo River Cleanup at Laurel Street Bridge
Find info on beach & river cleanups on our Calendar...
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Take Action! |
Support the California Bill to Label GE Fish!
Following the FDA's failure to pass labeling legislation for GE salmon on a federal level, California Assembly Bill 88 was created to ensure GE salmon would at least be labeled for California's consumers.
Public opinion clearly and consistently calls for food labeling. Recent polls indicate that 95% of the public want labeling of genetically-modified foods, and that nearly 50% of the public would not eat seafood that has been genetically engineered. The bill initially failed, but is up for reconsideration on Monday, May 2nd.
Please Take Action immediately to support this important bill!
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Join the Human Race on May 7th! | |
Thank you to our Online Donors!
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SOS thanks the following people for their generous online gifts in April:
- Chris Echavia
- Linda Minor
- Caroline McFadden
- Cathy Mullan
- Glen Schaller
Become an online donor in April!
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Sanctuary Advisory Council Approves Bag Ban Resolution | |
The Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary's Advisory Council unanimously approved a resolution to support citywide, statewide, and even national bans on single-use plastic bags. The resolution aims to decrease the threats that plastic bags pose for maine species and ocean habitats. This historic resolution marks the first such statement by a Sanctuary Advisory Council in the nation.
Save Our Shores Program Coordinator Lauren Gilligan is an alternate to the conservation seat on the SAC. We applaud this decision and look forward to banning the bag all around the Sanctuary! | Read the full resolution...
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Become a Member of Save Our Shores | 
Members of Save Our Shores keep pollution prevention happening all year long. From beach and river cleanups to the BaitTanks to styrofoam and plastic bag bans around the Sanctuary, our pollution prevention work depends on the ongoing support of our Members.
Become a Member today! | |
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Thank you to our Community Fundraisers | A big thanks goes out to Santa Cruz Mountain Brewing for choosing Save Our Shores as their 'Thank you Thursdays' donor recipient on the eve of Earth Day.
Keep up the great work! |
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Oceanus Book Events | |
Mara Curr is author of a new book about the 'Infinite Healing Power of Love' called Oceanus. Catch her at these upcoming book signing events:
- May 7, 1-3pm: Carmel Valley Coffee House in the BarnYard
- May 15, 1-3pm: East Village Coffee Lounge, Monterey
- June 8, 1-3pm: The Marine Mammal Center in Sausalito
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Thank You |
| Save Our Shores thanks our many volunteers, sponsors, partners, and contributors for helping Save Our Shores continue our work of caring for the marine environment through Ocean Awareness, Advocacy, and Citizen Action!
The ocean and its inhabitants thank you, too.
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SOS: Winner of Best Non-Profit of 2011! |  | |
SOS: Winner of Best Non-Profit of 2010! | 
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