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November 10, 2007

S.F. Bay Area beaches need helping hands after oil spill

Many readers have no doubt heard about Wednesday’s 58,000-gallon oil spill caused by a tanker that hit the Bay Bridge. Just in time for the Green Festival. Official calls for volunteers have been lacking, but I encourage San Francisco Bay Area readers with the time to get out to any local beach and help. This post from Craigslist says it all:

Many people, including myself got the impression that we weren't supposed to, or we had to wait until some sanctioned clean - up asked for our help. Nothing seemed to be happening so I went out to a beach in emeryville this morning and just figured it out. There's not much to it, and I encourage everybody to pick a beach and have at it. Get a box of latex gloves, a small bucket or similar, and some garbage bags. The oil is coming onto the beach in tar balls and in a lot of instances can be picked up pretty easily. We got the beach about ninety percent clean this morning after hand picking a couple hundred pounds of the tar up. Just go and do it, if the beach is posted as closed, you'll have to make the call - the one we were cleaning was posted closed and the park service employees just drove by and didn't bother us. The fumes from the tar can be a little intense so be aware and get stop and get some fresh air every so often. the tide is going out now, so more beach will be exposed this afternoon for more access to cleaning. send this on to other folks, and be prepared for the heartbreak of seeing more tar on the beach tomorrow after another cycle of tides.

Addendum: The authorities are apparently telling people not to try to clean beaches unless they are specially trained, since the spilled fuel oil is so toxic. However, that’s not stopping small numbers of individuals, including surfers and Mr. Wallet Mouth, from getting out there. (I stayed away, since I’m pregnant.)

If you do decide to risk the toxic exposure and go, make sure to wear heavy-duty rubber gloves and bring a trowel or kitty-litter scoop, along with heavy-duty garbage bags. Wear real shoes, not sandals, and protect your skin from the stuff as best you can. A respirator mask is probably also a good idea, since there are fumes; Mr. Wallet Mouth picked one up at our local hardware store.

Posted at 12:24 PM |

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My buycotts & boycotts

  • July 2008
    Started feeling extra-good about buying one of my fave meat substitutes, Tofurky, after learning that its maker, Turtle Island Foods, is an independent, family-owned company (Unlike Boca Foods, which is a subsidiary of Kraft, and Morningstar, which is owned by Kellogg).
  • April 2008
    I'm going to start buying my canned beans from Eden Foods, for two reasons: it uses custom-made cans that don't contain bisphenol A, and it's an independent, family-operated company.
  • February 2008
    From now on, whenever I order takeout or ask for a doggy bag, I’ll make sure to avoid #6 polystyrene containers (and, of course, Styrofoam).
  • January 2008
    My morning yogurt is now garnished with a combination of bulk granola from Oat Cuisine, a locally owned company, and Food for Life's Ezekiel 4:9 cereal. This instead of Kashi Nuggets (Kashi is owned by Kellogg, and the cereal, despite all the "whole grains" messages on the box, isn't organic and probably contains GMOs) or Grape Nuts, which is owned by Altria (Philip Morris), isn't organic, and almost certainly contains GMOs.
  • October 2007
    Until Kimberly-Clark stops destroying virgin North American forests to make its products, I will boycott it and urge others to do so. Feeling outraged? Call K-C's customer service department: 1-888-525-8388 (North America and Puerto Rico only). Following are the brands to avoid. First, the ones I've heard of: Kleenex, Scott, Scottex, Huggies, Kotex, Depend, Viva, Fiesta, Cottonelle. Now a bunch more: Andrex, Block-it, Camelia, DryNites, GoodNites, Kimcare, KimTech, KleenBebé, KleenGard, Little Swimmers, Page, Peaudouce, Pingos, Plenitud, Poise, Pull-Ups, Snugglers, Subtelle, Tela, Le Trefle, WypAll.
  • October 2007
    First Odwalla was bought by Coca-Cola; then Naked Juice was acquired by Pepsico. I'll buy my juice (when I splurge on fresh-squeezed) from Columbia Gorge, which is family-run and all organic.
  • June 2007
    Started buying my organic yogurt from Straus instead of Trader Joe's after hearing from an organics activist that TJ's drives a really hard bargain with organic-food producers. Plus, Straus is local and demonstrates a clear commitment to the environment: its methane digester captures gas from its cows' manure and generates up to 600,000 kWH of electricity per year. I'd rather pay a little extra to support that.
  • March 2007
    Started buying Wildwood soy creamer instead of Silk after learning that White Wave, Silk’s maker, is owned by Dean Foods, the world’s largest dairy processor and distributor. I'm happier supporting the little(r) guy, and Wildwood is just as good—and less expensive.
  • February 2007
    Resolved to buy gas only from BP/Arco and Sunoco after reading the "Pick Your Poison" guide in Sierra. At the very least, no more patronizing Exxon or 76.
  • October 2006
    Started buying Dr. Bronner's soap after seeing Dr. Bronner's Magic Soap Box. I'm impressed by its charitable giving, treatment of employees, leadership in fair trade and organics, and environmental record. More recently, the company has helped facilitate organic and fair-trade certification for olive-oil makers in Israel and Palestine so that it can buy the oil for use in its products.

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