Since 2010, the Monterey Bay Shores Eco-Resort has been fighting the California Coastal Commission in court over their decision to decline this mega-resort a permit to build. 

The stated mission of the Coastal Commission is to:

"Protect, conserve, restore, and enhance environmental and human-based resources of the California coast and ocean for environmentally sustainable and prudent use by current and future generations."

This issue is before the Commission once again and the public has an opportunity to support the California Coastal Commission in upholding the spirit of the Coastal Act and living up to their stated mission.

Bodega Head, Bodega Bay, CA

Please join me in writing an email urging the California Coastal Commission to vote to DECLINE the Coastal Development Permit for the Monterey Bay Shores Eco-Resort. You are welcome to use my letter as a template. I contacted the Commission and was told all communication regarding this issue should be sent via email to: montereybayshoresresort@coastal.ca.gov

(I previously posted an email address with 'shore', it should be as now posted above. I apologize for posting the incorrect address.)

Thank you so much for taking the time to write!


April 8, 2014

Mr. Steve Kinsey Supervisor & Chair & Commissioners
California Coastal Commission
Central Coast District Office
725 Front Street, Suite 300
Santa Cruz, CA 95060-4508

EMAIL: montereybayshoreresort@coastal.ca.gov

RE: DECLINE Coastal Development Permit to the Monterey Bay Shores Eco-Resort

Dear Chairman Kinsey and Commissioners:

I'm writing as a concerned citizen, a coastal dweller and a beach advocate. I walk the beach everyday and pick up trash left behind. The worst months are the summer/fall tourist season when beaches are littered with plastic bottles, plastic bags and cheap plastic beach toys. Building a resort along any coastal shoreline is an Eco-disaster waiting to happen. Our oceans are overburdened and suffocating with garbage washed out to sea. Adding more is unthinkable.

This project will add to the burden of park services to clean up the trash on the beaches. From my years of experience, much of the beach trash will end up in the ocean and in the stomachs of birds and ocean dwellers and the humans who eat fish. It will harm and even destroy sensitive nesting habitat of the endangered snowy plover. Construction of this mass resort will erode sensitive dunes and disrupt life of nesting birds and other marine wildlife

At a time in history when our oceans are barely surviving because of the impact of humans, the Monterey Bay Shores Resort project is irresponsible . . . there is nothing at all ecological about this project. Building any resort along our coastline is irresponsible. This is "green-washing" at it's worst.

I fully supported your 2010 decision to deny the Monterey Bay Shores Eco-Resort a permit to build. I continue to support your original ruling and urge you to decline the Monterey Bay Shores Resort a Coastal Development Permit for this project.

Thank you for taking the time to read my concerns.

With appreciation,


Darris B. Nelson

cc: Jana Zimmer, Vice-Chair ~ zimmerccc@gmail.com
      Carole Groom, Supervisor ~ cgroom@smcgov.org
      Gregory Cox, Supervisor ~ Gregcoastal@sdcounty.ca.gov
      Martha McClure, Supervisor ~ mmcclureccc@co.del-norte.ca.us

Beach trash (including cooler) found on where the Estero Americano meets the Pacific Ocean

Marine Mammal Center release June 2012 at Scotty's Beach

Great Blue Heron

Thank you to Surfrider for bringing this issue to our attention. For more information and to join in their email campaign go to the site: http://action.surfrider.org/p/dia/action3/common/public/?action_KEY=9620
    

Fisherman's Festival and Artwalk Weekend . . .

 

38th Annual Bodega Bay Fisherman's Festival   

The Bodega Bay Fisherman's Festival is Saturday, April 30th and Sunday, May 1st, 10:00 am until 5:00 pm, at Westside Park on Westshore Road, Bodega BayThe Bodega Bay

The Festival boasts:

Live Music
Entertainment
Wine Tasting
Beverages
Local Cuisine
Food Booths
Crafts Fair
Exhibits
Children's Events
Raffle Prizes

Special events include:

Golf Tournament
(707-875-3538)
Wooden Boat Challenge
Boat Parade
Blessing of the Fleet
Big Art Tent
w/ Original Art

* Schedule:

Saturday, April 30

10:00 Wooden Boat Challenge BEGINS
10:00-11:00 Tomales High School Pan Band
11:30 US Coast Guard Search & Rescue Demo
11:30-1:45 Moonalice
1:30-2:00 Wooden Boat Challenge RACE
TBD Parade of Pets and Llamas
(2:15 gather @ Info Booth)
2:00 - 5:00 Unauthorized Rolling Stones

Sunday, May 1

10:00-11:00 The Emily Tessmer Band
11:30 Boat Parade & Blessing of the Fleet
11:30-2:00 The Thugz
2:00-5:00 Wonder Bread 5

Ongoing Performances, Demonstrations, etc.
Check with the Information Booth for details on:
Kids Corner • Capt. Jack Spareribs • Kite Flying demos
CHP and Sonoma County Sheriff helicopter landings
US Coast Guard in the harbor

Leashed Pets Welcome!
Free Parking
Handicap Accessible
Admission: $10
seniors $8
kids under 12 free

A fun time for the whole family and a great way to spend the day in Bodega Bay.

Salmon Creek ArtWalk

1 mile North of Bodega Bay, the Salmon Creek Artwalk  is also a 'must see' event. Follow the signs as you head out of town, Salmon Creek is on your left. If you end up at Salmon Creek Beach you've gone too far.

From the website:

Studios open to the public 10am - 5pm
Salmon Creek Village admission is free
1 mile north of Bodega Bay on Hwy 1

Come celebrate our ELEVENTH YEAR!
We are proud to have been a
Part of the Sonoma Coast Art Scene For 11 years!

There is something for everyone at the Salmon Creek Artwalk; sculpture, textile art, pottery, and paintings in various mediums. Talk to the artists and purchase their work directly. An event not to be missed.

Let's Talk About Unmentionables . . .

'Sunny', office help . . .

 
Cat litter.  

If you have a cat and it's indoors for any period of time it's likely you're purchasing cat litter. Cat litter has always been a bugaboo for me because of the negative impact it creates in our environment.

'Gray Guy'. . . RIP my little buddy . . .

I hear you ask, "what does this have to do with the beach?" And I reply, "a lot".  Cat litter is flushed down toilets, and tossed into garbage cans. The end result is that a large portion of litter eventually makes it's way into our sewer systems and storm drains which lead to the ocean. 

Online magazine, Green Living says that we send about two million tons of cat litter every year to the landfill. Not only is silica-based and clay cat litter bad for our environment, according Green Living these cat litters are dangerous to you and your cat.  CLICK HERE to read more.

'Grimmie'

Yahoo! Green writes, scientists from the UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine found that 62% of dead sea otters found between 1997 and 2001 were infected with Toxoplasma. The suspected source was land-based runoff of the parasite. Landscape irrigation washes infected cat droppings from lawns into gutters, which drain into streams that feed into the ocean. Municipal sewage systems can't always kill the Toxoplasma eggs because they have a very hard, durable coating. So when the treated sewage is released into the sea it can hurt sea life as well. Let's not add to marine pollution with our kitty litter. A cleaner solution for those of us in coastal states is to keep the poop in the garbage.

I love solutions. My veterinarian told me about a product I really appreciate because of the low environmental impact, Yesterday's News made by Purina. The following is a post from Purina's website:

Environmentally-Friendly Cat Litters

Purina Recycles Newspapers into Yesterday’s News

One very “green” thing we can do for the environment is to take trash and turn it into a useful product. Used newspapers and phone directories are big and bulky and take up a lot of space in landfills. Yesterday’s News diverts tons of this “trash” from landfills and turns it into a healthy cat litter product.

“Every ton of paper we use to make our cat litter saves 3.3 cubic yards of space in the landfill,” says Elizabeth Aull, Recycling Coordinator for Yesterday’s News. “In 2008, over 14,000 tons of paper was recycled into Yesterday’s News, thus freeing up about 46,000 cubic yards of landfill space.”

Yesterday’s News® brand Pet Litter has benefits beyond the environment. It’s also 300% more absorbent than clay litter, is dust-free and doesn’t track. So cats and cat owners like it. Veterinarians like it too. Eight out of 10 veterinarians recommend Yesterday’s News for cats who’ve had surgery because the dust-free pellets don’t contaminate the surgical site.

Yesterday’s News also works with the local community in southwest Missouri where the recycling takes place. The Project PetLitter is a program for the Girl Scouts of the Missouri Heartland, Inc, the council nearest the Springfield, Missouri plant. Girl Scout troops compete to collect the most used phone books each year from area businesses. In each of the past two years, the local Girl Scouts have collected 66,000 phone books. They earn service badges from Purina and AT&T, as well as other rewards.

Of course, the Girl Scouts don’t do all the collecting! Purina provides recycling bins throughout the region to collect a variety of paper, from junk mail to pasteboard, from people in the community. This paper is also recycled into Yesterday’s News and secondnature® brand dog litter.

“We also provide free shredding,” Aull says proudly. “Shredding services can be costly, but we provide it free to our community.” Click here to read the entire post.

And, hello? who knew about dog litter?!  Click here for interactive site about 'Second Nature' dog litter and house training techniques.

The office 'help' is assisting with the computer . . .

I'm not a big fan of Purina or any commercial pet food corporation for that matter, but when a corporation is producing a responsible product, they deserve recognition. 

We recently switched from a corn based litter to 'Yesterday's News' because of mention on My Plastic Free Life blog, and a recommendation from our vet at Animal Hospital of Sebastopol. We eased the cats into the new litter by adding a quarter each time over several days. The transition was fairly uneventful.

I LOVE this truly 'green' product! Let me count the ways:

1.  It comes in a paper bag! All litters I've previously purchased     except the plain clay litters, come in either a plastic jug or heavy plastic bag which end up in our landfill and our OCEANS!

2. Yesterday's News is100% recycled! Need I say more about this?

3. It's 100% biodegradable! I suppose if you consider the inks used on the original paper the percentage would drop. But hey, the paper was going into the landfill anyway!

4.  Yesterday's News really works, I don't notice any offensive odor which is remarkable to me.

5.  It's neat, do dust, little to no tracking.

6.  I LOVE the clever name.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Sad news . . .  

Phil, the seal guy, sent an email informing us that 'Sweet Rock' died suddenly on Monday morning, April 11th. The necropsy revealed nothing unusual, leading the staff to conclude that her system just wasn't able to recover from her malnourished state. 

We are grateful for everything the Marine Mammal Center did to try and rehabilitate 'Sweet Rock'.

Nothin' But Blue Skies . . .

I'm thrilled to report that I spotted a red-handled steel garden trowel in the sand near these two boys. I'd like to think that people are thinking beyond plastic and it wasn't a 'grab and go' in the moment thing . . .

blue skies

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

My husband sent over a video about Rent-a-Green Box a few days ago. I was so excited to see how much the business has grown.

When we sold our home in 2009 I searched for an alternative way to pack up and move our belongings and came across Earth Friendly Moving, now known as Rent-a-Green Box. The company had nothing in this area so we scrounged all of our cardboard boxes. I hadn't moved in 20 years and forgot how much fun it was to pack and move.  Having a wide array of box sizes, some with lids, some without, made things even more of an adventure . . . hmmmm.

waiting to be unpacked nearly 3 weeks after the move

Spencer Brown, Founder and Chief Tree Hugger of Rent-a-Green Box in Costa Mesa, Calif., mines landfills and converts consumer trash into reusable, zero-waste moving boxes.

His invention is called The Recopack and it stands for [recycled ecological packing solution]. Available in 3 sizes and delivered direct to your door on our fleet of super green eco-trucks powered by waste vegetable oil and bio-fuel.

They deliver them a week before you move and pick them up a week after giving you 2 full weeks (14 days) to pack and move. Delivery and Pickup are included in your price.

Think about all of the time and effort it takes to build all of those cardboard boxes. No handles and messing with that fussy tape. We have re-invented a better, faster, easier and cheaper way to pack and move.

"All you need to do is make one call and we’ll drop off your Recopacks on the delivery date. You pack, stack and move. When the Recopack are empty, just call us and we’ll come over to your new place and pick them up. It’s just that simple. It’s moving made simple for a Happy Planet!"

 

I despise Styrofoam! It's all over the beach. I have walked along the tide break and could not go more than a foot without finding tiny little beads of the stuff. Besides the beads of Styrofoam, there are chunks continually washing up from what appears to be boat 'bumpers'. I love that Spencer took an idea and went so far with every aspect of his business.

Rent-a-Green Box isn't in the Sonoma County area yet but if you're moving in the future check back, they're expanding fast. 

Take it from me if you haven't moved in a few years, beyond the wonderful feeling you get by using these zero-impact boxes, having sturdy boxes in uniform sizes that stack and all have lids without having to use tape would be blissful beyond words . . .