Category: Blog

Team Marine was among one of the volunteer groups invited to the Surfrider Foundations’ 1st Annual, Year-End Volunteer Appreciation Party. The event was held on Saturday, December 3rd from 1pm to 5pm, in conjunction with the final beach clean up of the year. The party was at Dockweiler Beach, at Tower 52. There was delicious organic food, games, and raffle prizes to show appreciation to all the volunteers that have devoted their time to helping our environment. The event was a success, and Team Marine enjoyed themelves.

On September 24, 2011, a few Team Marine members went to the El Capitan Theater for an exclusive event called “A Conversation with Dr. Jane Goodall” which featured the presentation of the Jane Goodall Leadership Awards. These awards honor individuals/organizations who have the same values and commitment as Dr. Goodall and strive towards making positive differences in the world. The award winners and award titles are listed below:

• Esri – Exellence in Conservation Science
• Adam Anthony of Tanzania and Lauren Gibson of Indiana – Roots & Shoots Youth Leadership
• Renée Gunther – Excellence in Education
• The Walt Disney Company – Corporate Social Responsibilities
• George Miller, U.S. Representative, California, 7th District – Excellence in Public Policy
• Dave Matthews – Responsible Activism in Media and Entertainment

At the event, we got to hear Dr. Goodall, wildlife cameraman BillWallauer(host), and Grammy award winner Dave Matthews talk about their past experiences, hardships, and passions. We also got to see Dave Matthews perform his songs “Don’t Drink the Water”, “Oh”, and “Where Are You Going”. This event was very informational and inspiring. It gave us Team Mariners a chance to hear about others’ contributions to the environment, and it opened our eyes to all the different ways one can help implement change. This was a good event that we all enjoyed, and one lucky Team Marine member even got his T-shirt signed by the Dr. herself!

Here are links to Dave Matthews’ performance:

Don’t Drink the Water-http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JNf-wimpNdY

Oh- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SxeDDfkaW3A

Where Are You Going- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SIP5TjlJUtg

Posted by: Alexis Saez

Last Wednesday on November 16, all of Team Marine and SSA (Samohi Solar Alliance) went to the Fairview Santa Monica Main library to learn about human rights against big cooperations. Many big companies come and propose harmful extraction projects like fracking which is digging holes deep underground and pumping tons of water and chemicals to get minerals. This process contaminates our water, loosens up the soil which results in more catastrophic earthquakes. The two speakers proposed to make balance sheets (negotiating with the big companies to have environmental practices), and corporate models (having the company provide their data prior to construction).

A similar discussion about a Sustainable Bill of Rights is occurring tomorrow November 29, (6:30-8:00) at SMC room HSS 165. Mark Gold founder of Heal the Bay will be presenting among many other educated speakers. Learn about your rights this Wednesday because companies have more rights than the people living in the area do.

Team Marine leader and SAMOHI Marine Biology teacher Benjamin Kay’s picture became a viral hit, which shows him beside his surfboard, with the word ‘help’ spelled out using trash. This culminated with his appearance on NBC, where he spoke about reusing their products and for people to rethink their lifestyles. The image came about during one of Kay’s surfing trips, when he noticed the trash around him and decided to collect it. Stuffing anything he found into his wetsuit, he later took some trash and arranged it to form ‘help’ and then properly disposed of it. Within TWO days of posting it on Facebook, the image went viral, from Foam Magazine to 5gyres.org, which finally concluded with his NBC appearance. As Kay urged, “We shouldn’t be adopting a disposable culture,” and Team Marine continues to fight for this helpful change in our environment.

After our recent emergency beach clean up on the first flush of the year, we were recognized in at least 3 different online news articles. This shows the public’s interest for youth who try making differences. The more media coverage we get, the better. Our goal is to try to get the world to hear our message, and hopefully get some people to jump on the Eco-bandwagon. Every time we appear in the local newspapers, blogs, or online articles it helps us get our message a little more wide-spread.
The articles can be found at the following links:
http://www.thegreengirlnextdoor.com/
http://www.smmirror.com/#mode=single&view=33178
http://www.surfrider.org/coastal-blog/entry/santa-monica-hs-students-report-first-flush-of-bacteria-and-plastics

Posted by: Alexis Saez

 Today, Team Marine attended the spectacular Good Foods Festival, which was held on our very own SAMOHI campus. This was a festival dedicated to showing the community that great food is readily available and giving everyone a taste of some of the best of it! The event also made sure to show people who attended that eating well and being sustainable went hand in hand.

Team Marine played a part here; we showed people of all ages different ways that they could live more sustainably by using reusable products, adopting alternative energy sources or just by understanding the effects of everyday activities on the environment.

We also had a lot of fun meeting some awesome people and trying some amazingly delicious food! The Team got the opportunity to talk to environmental performance artists, square-dancers (Check out Ian with them in the first picture!), organic farmers, bean-enthusiasts, and Julia, the lovely coordinator of the Good Food event. Also, congrats to all the new Team Marine recruits who really showed us their stuff today working in the booths.

Overall, this was an amazing opportunity and if anyone can get the chance to check the event out at SAMOHI, tomorrow, Sunday, September 18th, do it! Or you can check out the page for Good Food festivals to find an event near you or just to learn some cool stuff:

Home

Remember to support local organic food, eat well and live a sustainable lifestyle!

ChicoBag, a company very close to Team Marine, was pressed with a grim lawsuit this summer. Andy Keller, the founder of ChicoBag, was being sued by massive plastic bag companies, including Hilex Poly Company, LLC, Superbag Operating, LTD., and Advance Polybag, Inc. The companies said the facts posted on Keller’s site about the harmful effects of plastic bags were slander that was hurting their business. ChicoBag fought back, rallying more than 25,000, yes, that’s right, 25,000 people, with an online petition against the bag companies. Because of the public input and support from groups like Team Marine, all of the major plastic bag companies dropped their lawsuits! Though courts ruled that all facts posted on the ChicoBag website had to be cited, proving their validity, this was an easy compromise (because they were all true!). The same went for the websites of the plastic bag companies. Fun Fact: One bag company had written on their site that “12% of plastic bags were recycled,” when in reality, only 1% are! This is a huge Eco-victory and another step in the decline of the plastic bag industry. Congrats to Andy for making it out on top! Check out his site at:

http://www.chicobag.com

Photo: Andy Keller dressed as the “Plastic Bag Monster”