We need you! Join Surfrider, Heal the Bay and Green LA Coalition in Support of the Ban of Single-Use Bags in the City of Los Angeles

WHEN:  Wednesday, 12/14  – arrive at 9:30 am (*see note)

WHERE: Los Angeles City Hall Chambers- 3rd floor
Carpool from Santa Monica: Please meet at Santa Monica College Bundy Campus Parking Lot at 8:30 am to carpool. (3171 S Bundy Drive, Santa Monica)

REQUEST: Wear Green

RSVP to Sarah at ssikich@healthebay.org

*There’s a small chance the city council will postpone hearing the motion.  Please check:
http://www.healthebay.org/event/la-city-council-votes-ban-single-use-bags to confirm the 12/14 meeting.

For more information and to send a letter to Mayor Villaraigosa:
http://www.capwiz.com/healthebay/issues/alert/?alertid=57593501&type=LO.

TALKING POINTS/BACKGROUND:

The convenience of single-use bags comes at a high cost to the environment, public health and the City of Los Angeles.  Plastic bags are one of the main polluters of our watersheds and oceans and cost the City millions of dollars each year to fund clean-up efforts.

The environmental destruction these bags create is devastatingly high.  Plastic litter threatens the health of inland and coastal wildlife and the energy-intensive production of paper and plastic bags contributes to deforestation and greenhouse gas emissions.  It is estimated that just 5% of single-use bags are recycled, leaving the rest as landfill content or litter.

Californians use an estimated 12 billion single-use plastic bags every year.  The City of San Francisco estimated that to clean up, recycle, and landfill plastic bags costs the city 17 cents per bag. This figure does not include all of the energy costs associated with producing single-use bags, or the negative environmental, economic and public health costs associated with single-use bag litter.

We cannot recycle our way out of this problem.  Despite efforts to expand recycling programs, less than 5% of single-use plastic bags are currently being recycled. The rest of these bags end up in our landfills or as litter, clogging storm drain systems, and making their way to our waterways and ocean.  The Los Angeles River you are fighting so hard to revitalize is lined with plastic bag-filled willows after a major rain.  Plastic lasts for hundreds of years in our environment and may never biodegrade in the ocean.  As a result, it poses a persistent threat to wildlife.  Paper bag production contributes to deforestation, greenhouse gas emissions, and waterborne wastes from the pulping and paper making process.

Los Angeles County, Long Beach, Calabasas, Santa Monica, Malibu, Manhattan Beach, San Francisco, San Jose, Santa Clara County, Santa Cruz County, Marin County, Fairfax, and Palo Alto have banned plastic bags and dozens of other cities in California are considering this approach.  If the City moves forward with a ban, the State will soon follow.

The City of Los Angeles has a critical role to play in becoming a true leader in eliminating single-use bag waste and preventing the proliferation of plastic pollution in our communities.  Thus we urge you support the single-use bag ban expeditiously in the City of Los Angeles.

Tickets on sale soon!
* 21& over event *

Introducing GQ EcoBartending

Featuring Trashion Fashion

Join Surfrider Rise Above Plastics & Otis College of Art and Design on California Coastal Cleanup Day, the state’s largest coordinated beach cleanup. We are managing the Venice Beach Pier sites coordinated by Heal the Bay! Find us on the north side parking lot at the Venice Pier.

Want to cleanup the trash in the water? Bring your surfboards or SUP boards too!

We are hosting a ZERO WASTE cleanup – so please bring:
*buckets or anything to hold trash
*old reusable grocery bags
*garden gloves

Prizes will be given to the best cleanup teams, most cleanup, and more! Bike, walk or skate and you will receive a free RAP sticker from Surfrider! For students, this is a great opportunity for community service credit.

We hope you’ll join us on the Coastal Cleanup Day!

DON’T FORGET TO SIGN UP AT:
http://sites.healthebay.org/volunteer/ccd/2011/default.asp

IF YOU ARE INTERESTED IN VOLUNTEERING FOR THE EVENT, please email us at: jschulz@riseaboveplastics.org.

Malibu Lagoon Restoration Project & Surfing

Is the Surfrider Foundation concerned about the Malibu Lagoon restoration projects impact on surfing at Malibu?

The Surfrider Foundation has been engaged in the planning process for the Malibu Lagoon Restoration project since the first stakeholder meetings were held in 1997 and have been involved since. In 2004, we explicitly asked that any impacts to the inlet and surfing be evaluated as part of the environmental review of the project. More recently, we hired experts to take a closer look at the specific impacts that project may have on the breach point of the inlet and any effects on the surf. We are continuing to work with the agencies responsible for the restoration project and the Adamson House erosion issues to seek solutions that will avoid adverse impacts to the surf and may improve conditions by encouraging the creek to breach at Third Point.

Why did the Surfrider Foundation commission PWA/ESA consults to review the proposed project and its possible effects on surfing?

Given the controversy surrounding the project and the importance of surfing at Malibu, the Surfrider Foundation wanted an objective, science-based review of the proposed wetlands project and its possible effects on the surf. Further, the Surfrider Foundation wanted recommendations that could help address issues associated with the location of the breach and erosion issues at the Adamson estate. The Surfrider Foundation has worked with PWA/ESA on issues related to coastal processes, engineering and surfing in the past at Trestles and in Santa Cruz and trusts their experience, background and systems-based approach.

Will the Malibu Lagoon Restoration have a negative impact on where the Malibu Lagoon inlet breaches and therefore the surf?

While technical information specific to the dynamics that cause the breach is limited, based on expert review we do not expect the lagoon restoration project to adversely impact inlet dynamic or surfing. The project has been designed to minimize influence on the processes that control the breach. The new project will increase the volume of the lagoon by 5-7% and the tidal flow will be directed to one channel that is aimed more parallel with the creek than the current configuration. This could encourage the lagoon to breach in a more westerly location.

It is clear that there are large forces controlling the dynamics of the inlet breaching and sediment patterns in the surf zone that are both natural and man made. The list of impairments to natural watershed processes are long and include large sediment trapped behind Ringe Dam, areas of fill and development and unnatural water flows. These larger forces are all playing a role in the patterns of the inlet breaching and will continue to be a factor regardless of the proposed project.

Further, the inlet recently breached in the most easterly location in recent memory under extent conditions. Even if the proposed project were stopped, there would still be problems with sediment flows and the location of breaching.

Where does the Surfrider Foundation stand on the proposed project?

The Surfrider Foundation continues to support the fundamental goals of the Malibu Lagoon Restoration project and believes that restoring the existing wetlands will improve coastal ecosystem health. We also believe that if the Malibu Lagoon Restoration project included elements of the five recommendations included in the PWA/ESA report it could aid in improving surf conditions, reduce the erosion problems at the Adamson House and ensure tidal flow to the wetlands. Those recommendations include angling the new tidal channel of the restored wetland as parallel to the creek channel as possible, removal of the construction berm such that flow would be directed at Third Point, shore up east side of creek with clean and acceptable materials dredged from proposed project, consider initiating breach at Third Point assuming necessary permits are received, expand hydrologic monitoring plan to include the creek mouth, the inlet location and surfing conditions.

What is the best way to encourage the inlet to breach towards Third Point?

Surfers are in agreement that having the inlet breach to the west, toward Third Point, is best for surfing conditions. If the system breaches to the west it will also alleviate some of the erosion problems at the Adamson House that have resulted in the construction and maintenance of a rock revetment. From a biological standpoint, experts have told us that the timing of the breach is important with regard to sensitive aquatic species but the location is not.

We do not believe the proposed Malibu Lagoon Restoration project is the best avenue to address issues regarding the location of the breach. It is simply outside of the scope of the project as intended from the beginning.

Instead, we believe that the surfing community, State Parks, the SMBRC and others should work together to develop a plan that manages the where the inlet breaches. This could include placing clean and appropriate fill along the eastern side of the creek along the Adamson House to impede inlet formation at its current location or actively controlling the location of the breach when breaching is imminent.

The Surfrider Foundation is committed to working with the local community to develop a plan and put pressure on local, state and federal agencies to implement a plan that encourages breaching towards Third Point.

TO READ THE FULL REPORT, PLEASE FOLLOW THIS LINK: http://www.surfrider.org/coastal-blog/entry/malibu-lagoon-restoration-project-surfing?sms_ss=facebook&at_xt=4ddd9e11e3741680%2C1

Malibu World Surfing Reserve Dedication Saturday, October 9, 2010

7AM – SUNRISE PADDLE OUT at First Point – all are welcome!

11AM – DEDICATION CEREMONY at Surfrider Beach – all are welcome!

7PM – FUNDRAISER CELEBRATION at Duke’s Malibu (featuring live music at Duke’s with Jon Swift & Friends) More info:
http://www.savethewaves.org/malibu
http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=109336929125974

STATE WATER BOARD HEARING — MALIBU SEPTICS

Last November, with the support of the Surfrider Foundation and the WLAM Chapter, the Los Angeles Regional Water Quality Control Board (RWQCB) finally stepped up to solve a serious public health issue for Malibu surfers and beachgoers by adopting a prohibition on new septics
and a phase-out of current septics in the Malibu Civic Center area while the City of Malibu pursues a permanent solution. The adopted prohibition is a long overdue, legally enforceable action that should fulfill the promise of clean water in Malibu.

There is great urgency in solving the water quality issues in the Malibu Civic Center area. Over a million people visit Surfrider annually, and beach-goers have spent decades recreating in polluted waters with major health consequences. Enough is enough.

On September 21, 20 years of activism and struggle will conclude as the California State Water Board considers this resolution as a matter of California law. If approved by the State Water Board, the resolution phasing out Civic Center septics will begin to bring clean water to Surfrider Beach.

More to come on ways for chapter members to be involved. Your voice matters.

Malibu Surfrider Beach, California’s definitive pointbreak and one of the world’s first ‘perfect waves’ will be declared the first World Surfing Reserve (WSR).

“The WSR program, inspired by UNESCO’s World Heritage Sites, helps the surfing community to identify and preserve surfing heritage through their important surf breaks. Malibu makes any short list of the world’s most famous beaches, and remains a reference point for much of what we think of as style in or out of the water,” stated Michael Blum, President of the Malibu Surfing Association.

Following World War II, Malibu helped established directions in technology, surfing style, and the image of the sport that are still followed today. It remains a transcendent name: included in more than 75 surfing films, representative of a Southern California lifestyle, and represented by name on any number of products and businesses.

This designation of Malibu is the first in a series of World Surfing Reserves planned for the iconic surfing coastlines of Australia, Hawaii and numerous other areas worldwide. World Surfing Reserves are nominated through a selection process and currently there are dozens of proposed WSRs covering nearly every continent on the planet.

The enshrinement ceremony for the Malibu World Surfing Reserve will be held at Surfrider Beach on October 9th. There will be a paddle-out celebration, daytime media event, and evening fundraiser to celebrate this special occasion. The October 9th event will also mark the commencement of a stewardship and preservation plan for Malibu aimed at building general awareness around the importance of protecting the world’s greatest, most cherished surf spots.

Did you know  Californians throw away 294,000,000 pounds of plastic bags every year, or 147,000 tons – enough waste to circle the planet over 250 times.

Surfrider, Heal the Bay, Environment California, Clean Seas Coalition and many other groups are working hard this summer to to pass  bag ban bill AB 1998 in California! The final vote will take place in mid-August by your California Senators.

HOW YOU CAN HELP BAN THE BAG IN CALIFORNIA THIS SUMMER

1. Sign the petition below and send to your friends and family all over California to do the same before Aug. 10th: http://action.surfrider.org/p/dia/action/public/?action_KEY=1827

2.  Post the link to the petition above on your social networking sites from now until Aug 10th.

3.  Ask your business owners to write a letter of support to your local senator. (contact us below to send you a form letter)

4.  Contact your local city officials to write letters of support to your local senator.  Use the link below to find out who your senator is!

http://192.234.213.69/smapsearch/framepage.asp

5.  Join us on August 10th in Sacramento with Surfrider and Clean Seas Coalition are planning a Sacramento Lobby Day in the capitol, speaking to Senators about the issue of plastic bags and showing your support from the bill.

6. Take a picture of support of the Bag Ban and post to the Surfrider West LA/Malibu Facebook page. These photos will be used to support the campaign!

7.  Plan a ‘Rise Above Plastics Educational Presentation’ to your work, school, church or community group. The presentation is given by volunteers of Surfrider so it’s complimentary. We also have student presenters from Green Ambassadors. Please inquire for more info.

For more information, please contact: jschulz@riseaboveplastics.org