Category: Pollution Prevention

Twelve years ago, state environmental regulators mandated that zero trash should be flowing to the Bay from city storm drains by 2022, so fish and wildlife wouldn’t be poisoned by a pollutant they had largely ignored. But today trash is still fouling the Bay shoreline and creeks that flow to the Bay for three reasons. Cities aren’t screening enough road trash or stopping dumping in creeks. Regulators aren’t enforcing the Clean Water Act. And we’re all still using too much plastic packaging and disposable items that end up in the Bay, not landfills. In 2010 the SF Bay Regional Water …

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 Have you ever noticed storm drains in your neighborhood with either stencils or medallions indicating that dumping will drain directly to the Bay? Have you ever wondered how this drainage system might be different from the one in our homes? The water that goes down our sink and shower drains ends up in a wastewater treatment facility where the water is filtered and treated1. Stormwater is entirely different, however, as it flows directly into storm drains, where it ends up in streams, lakes, and open waterways like the Bay without undergoing any treatment process1. When water flows across impervious …

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Pollution in our Bay As we approach the winter season, how to celebrate safely is something we’re all thinking about. It’s also a good time to think about how our choices impact the health of the San Francisco Bay. During this time of shelter in place, our Bay is being trashed with an increasing amount of single-use food containers and PPE. Single use plastics in our Bay harm wildlife and poison the Bay itself. Read the recent SF Chronicle article, featuring our Executive Director, David Lewis, about how rainfall is moving more trash, including PPE into our Bay. This winter …

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Bay Area residents are lucky that the majesty of the California coast and the Pacific Ocean is a short trip away. The smell of salt and feeling the sand between your toes helps us connect with nature and renew ourselves. For all the ocean gives us, humans have taken so much, and what we give back is literal garbage. Today is World Oceans Day, a day to celebrate and advocate for our oceans. The health of our oceans is a tipping point, and we must protect them from further exploitation and pollution. What can you do? Plastic pollution from sandwich …

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This Tuesday, after a dramatic multi-week negotiation, Oakland City Council passed the “Oakland Together Budget”. Supporters of Save The Bay, along with many others, called Council Members, emailed the Council and City staff, and attended meetings to ask the City for funding to address Oakland’s greatest needs. The resulting budget will steer the course of Oakland’s work for the next two years, determining how far the City goes to address pollution, local flooding, sea level rise, and many other critical issues. Wins for the Bay A few highlights in the new budget will benefit the community by helping to keep …

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By Dominic Williams Illegal dumping and excessive litter is a problem that affects everybody. On the surface, the issue of may appear to be too large to tackle. However, as local community groups, nonprofits, and engaged residents have proven, progress can be made when support comes from the ground up. To tackle the issue, many localities have had to get creative. San Jose Recruits the Homeless: This program pays the homeless $15 per hour to clean up the streets and is a partnership between the city, Goodwill, and the Downtown Streets Team. East Palo Alto Launches Shame Campaigns: The city …

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By Dominic Williams “The Bay Area has a massive and awful problem… it’s illegal dumping, and it’s trashing all of us.” Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf delivered this message last May, and it’s clear that the problem is not just confined to cities such as Oakland and San Francisco. All across this beautiful Bay Area, we see the effects of trash build-up and illegal dumping on our streets. So where does this trash come from? People may hastily assume that the trash we see on our commutes to work in the morning originate in homeless encampments, especially those near bodies of …

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In March of this year, the SF Bay Water Quality Control Board asked their staff to bring back an enforcement order against Caltrans for the agency’s multi-year failure to clean trash from Bay Area highways before it pollutes local creeks and the Bay. Despite this clear and urgent direction, an enforcement order has yet to be presented. That’s why close to 80 local elected officials sent a letter to the Board last week urging them to take action immediately and demand cleaner highways for our region and the Bay.  

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I moved to the Bay Area almost ten years ago. I was drawn to the region’s stunning beauty, diverse communities, and delicious food. Each year brings special life experiences for my family; we have countless memories of being together by the Bay. The Bay is the heart of my home. It’s why I’ve chosen to set up roots and raise my daughter here. But the Bay doesn’t just connect my family; it connects us all. The Bay defines our geography, bridging the gap between quiet neighborhoods and bustling downtowns. When the pace of city life becomes too frenetic, the Bay …

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A little over a year ago, California voters became the first in the United States to approve a single-use plastic bag ban. With the passage of Proposition 67, Californians took a stand to protect our state’s diverse and fragile environmental systems from being further harmed by plastic bag litter. One year later, we are proud to say that the ban has been successful in reducing the amount of plastic that reaches local waterways and harms wildlife and water quality. Data from Coastal Clean-Up Day shows that there has been a 72% decline in plastic bag litter from 2010, and plastic …

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