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The Watershed Project

pollution prevention

The Mindless Use of Plastic | The Fight Against Microbeads

By Vanessa Gayton

micro2Have you ever wondered what those tiny little exfoliating specks in your face and body wash were made of? I was always curious as to why some dissolved in my hands while others simply washed away down the drain. Come to find out, those tiny exfoliating particles are microbeads, and they are the most egregious use of plastic products yet!

A single personal care product with these exfoliating specks can contain thousands of these microbeads! They become an environmental issue as soon as they rinse down the drain, and eventually make their way to a wastewater treatment facility. Unfortunately, current systems at treatment plants are not designed to catch these micro-bits of plastic, and what fails to get filtered out is reintroduced to the San Francisco Bay or Pacific Ocean. The microplastics may remain in our local waters or travel great distances, like into the North Pacific Gyre. Plastic microbeads are usually made of polyethylene or polypropylene, which are infamous for their inability to biodegrade, and may persist in the environment for tens if not hundreds of years.garbabepatch

Over time, as these plastics fail to biodegrade, they float around collecting various pollutants from the surrounding water. Toxins like DDT, PCBs, and other chemicals make microbeads exponentially more harmful. Frequently, smaller organisms confuse highly toxic bits of plastic for food. The toxins and plastic continue up the food chain, when larger predators feed on these smaller species. And of course, we are also in danger of ingesting these chemicals when we order our favorite seafood.

MICROPLASTICS-570So how can you stop using these products with senseless plastic pieces in them? Fortunately, large corporations such as Johnson & Johnson, Unilever, the Body Shop, and L’Oreal, in additional to several others, have already made pledges to stop the development and production of personal care products containing microbeads. They believe that they can still provide consumers products that deliver similar results, but rather use natural alternatives to microbeads such as nut shells and salt crystals, just to name a couple. While this is a great start reducing microplastic pollution, products with microbeads are not set to be discontinued until 2015 or later. In the meantime, checking the product’s ingredient for polyethylene and polypropylene is a great way to avoid microbeads, although let’s be honest, those are difficult terms to remember every time we shop! An app, Beat the Microbead, will help do the work for you, by identifying which products currently on the market do or do not contain beads.

Another helpful way to join the fight is to support legislation that prohibits the sale of cosmetic/beauty products that contain microbeads. Recently, legislation has been introduced in New York and California that will do just this. After California environmental groups and politicians experienced their local waterways being choked by microplastics, they came together to draft AB 1699. Assemblymember Richard Bloom of Santa Monica has introduced the bill. You can voice your support here! Legislation is but one step toward eliminating our outrageous overuse of plastics. So the next time you are purchasing a product, consider the amount of plastic that is used, then consider whether you can live without it or find an alternative.

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Lessons Learned and Looking Forward to Healthier Watersheds | 3 New Steps that are Shaping the Pollution Prevention Movement

By Juliana Gonzalez

Are we becoming increasingly disconnected from one another because we spend hours in front of our digital devices? I think the most important lesson I’ve learned this year is that in order to promote change, we need to connect on a personal level and harness the influence of the market economy. I want to highlight three lessons to transform the actions of community members that I believe will shape the marine debris and plastic pollution movement in 2014.

1. Spread your message person to person:

ccd20131Environmental educators and stewards have a lot to learn from viruses! The Watershed Project is looking to spread the behaviors that can help local Bay Area communities save water, be more energy efficient or protect their natural resources. Just like a virus, the most effective way to spread this information is person to person. The most influential sharers or story tellers are well connected individuals from a group. People tend to believe information to be true when is confirmed by a peer or a friend. Even though different social media platforms have the potential for helping people change behaviors and inspire individuals to become environmentally conscious, word of mouth and grassroots campaigns told on a personal level are just as compelling to community members.

2. Use the market to get to your environmental objective:

Many times, the environmental movement is pitted against the market. However, it is not only possible, but perhaps necessary, to work within the market to create real change in our communities. Policy makers use fines, taxes, bans and incentives to help modify the behavior in the community around all sorts of issues, and plastic pollution is no exception. In the last few years, a series of incentives has been promoted by NGOs and entrepreneurs with environmental principles.

Several companies have started paying a refund for their products and their packaging. That way, the company is responsible for its product from cradle to grave— the disposal of the bottle, garment or wrapping— and the consumer is refunded a few cents per item. By combining market and environmental interests, consumers are given more opportunities to make decisions that are environmentally beneficial.

3. Combine social and market recognition:

Convincing the masses to use less water, produce less trash, and be more mindful of our watersheds is a daunting task. However, an innovative app called TraX is fusing market incentives with social recognition to promote behavioral change. The general idea of the app is for people to take pictures of themselves while they are avoiding the use of a “single use” item such as a disposable bag, cup or straw. After the photo is tagged, TraX adds a few cents to the user’s bank account. The money comes from a pool of companies interested in increasing the use of reusable products. trax

I felt inspired by the creativity of this app, and I hope that more innovative strategies and stories will bring us real change in our quest to reduce plastic pollution and marine debris in communities, our watersheds and San Francisco Bay. So stay on track this New Year by TraXing!

And tell your friends how easy it is to Reduce, Reuse, Recycle and Refuse (excess packaging).

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Kids Say Bye Bye Basura | Your Help Needed to Double Our Impact


By Femke Oldham

Have you heard the phrase, “Think globally, act locally”? Last year, The Watershed Project did both. We thought globally, and then acted locally AND globally with volunteers in Manzanillo, Mexico.

It began in 2008, when the Sister City Committee of San Pablo, California partnered with The Watershed Project to create a pilot educational exchange program with Manzanillo, its sister city, in the Mexican state of Colima. The pilot, called Bye Bye Basura, launched in October 2010.


“Basura” is the Spanish word for trash, and the program tackles the international problem of trash through watershed awareness and pollution prevention. It includes teacher trainings, bilingual curriculum delivery, and in-class assistance to elementary school classes in both San Pablo and Manzanillo. Each class in San Pablo is paired with a ‘sister’ class in Mexico. The students exchange notes, cards, and photos throughout the program to strengthen the power of the cultural and educational exchange.


Bye Bye Basura engages students with hands-on watershed education activities, beginning with cleaning up their school, and making their own watershed models with paper, markers, and spray bottles. The students learn to sing the “Bye Bye Basura” anthem, written by local singer/songwriter Tommy Tomorrow. On the final day of classes in San Pablo, students create a watershed yearbook full of photos and lessons learned, and send it to their sister class in Mexico. The following week, our bilingual staff travels to Mexico to teach similar activities, this time in Spanish. Bye Bye Basura connects children to their watershed and teaches them to recognize the impact of human actions on our precious planet.

Last year, more students wanted to participate than we had available space. This year, we’re determined to double the program’s size, to double our impact. We intend to work in four elementary schools in Manzanillo and San Pablo, reaching more than a hundred children. But we can’t do it without your help! To double the impact of Bye Bye Basura so more kids in the U.S. and Mexico are connected to their watersheds and develop a lifelong ethic of protecting our precious planet, we must raise $2,500 before the end of March.

Click here to donate today!

With your support, I’m confident we can do it.

The City of San Pablo and The Watershed Project will acknowledge your donation in our electronic newsletters and additional program publicity.

If you’d like to learn more about the program, click here to watch a video.

The San Pablo-Manzanilo Sister City Committee is recruiting new members! If you are interested in joining, please contact Lehny Corbin at LehnyC@SanPabloCA.gov or 510.215.3005.

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Coastal Cleanup Day 2011 | Thousands Rally to Reduce Marine Debris


By Juliana Gonzalez

Saturday, September 17th was our largest volunteer event of the year. We want to thank the thousands of volunteers from Contra Costa County and the City of Albany who came out for California Coastal Cleanup Day.

Highlights:

– 2,729 volunteers cleaned up creeks and shorelines in Contra Costa County and the City of Albany.

– 37 cleanup sites from mountaintop to marsh, stretching from the Albany Bulb to the Antioch Marina and inland from Baxter Creek to the Marsh Creek watershed.

– 17.4 tons of trash and 0.4 tons of recyclables picked up by volunteers over the course of three hours.

The most popular sites this year were the Marsh Creek watershed with 490 volunteers hosted by Friends of Marsh Creek, followed by the Antioch area with 450 volunteers hosted by the City of Antioch, and Shimada Friendship Park in the South Richmond Shoreline hosted by the Watershed Project and Supervisor John Gioia with 425 volunteers. The trashiest site this year was Breuner Marsh, hosted by East Bay Regional Park District. Volunteers at the marsh hauled large amounts of dumping materials such as tires, electronics.


At Shimada, the Flotsam Flotilla took to the water with a group of 15 kayakers that intrepidly cleaned the South Richmond shoreline. The Flotilla removed over 300 pounds of trash from the Bay and were still able to meet the land-based volunteers in time to greet State Assemblyperson Nancy Skinner, Contra Costa County Supervisor John Gioia and Richmond Mayor Gayle McLaughlin.

All public officials and hundreds of volunteers signed The Watershed Project’s pledge to reduce their individual plastic footprint by bringing their own canvas bag to the store, their coffee mug to work and pursuing other simple individual actions that collectively will turn the tide on marine debris.

The Watershed Project seized the opportunity for public education by bringing educational displays to many cleanup sites. We joined the Coastal Commission campaign to promote “Bring Your Own” practices during the cleanup, successfully reducing the environmental impact of the event. Approximately 30% of the volunteers at Shimada used reusable buckets instead of plastic trash bags.


Lastly, volunteers enjoyed lunch BBQ celebrations all over the county. At Shimada, the lunch was provided by County Supervisor John Gioia. Volunteers had a chance to reflect on the surprising amounts of small pieces of plastic and Styrofoam found along the shoreline. This year the most commonly found items along the South Richmond Shoreline were food wrappers, followed by plastic cap lids, plastic bags and Styrofoam pieces.

Volunteers also took my challenge to look for my little mermaid doll, and despite the fact that nobody found her, volunteers did find many treasures including a eulogy message in a bottle– a solemn reminder that the Ocean is sacred to all of us and we must work together to care for it.

There were 37 locations in Contra Costa County and as the designated Coastal Cleanup Coordinator for the County, The Watershed Project coordinates with many partners to make the event bigger each year. Partners for the 2011 event included: California Coastal Commission; Office of Supervisor John GIoia, Friends of Marsh Creek Watershed, East Bay Municipal Utility District and East Bay Regional Park District; the cities of Albany, Antioch, Pittsburg, Oakley, Bredwood, Richmond, Martinez and Pinole; Alhambra Watershed Council, Citizens for East Shore Parks, Friends of Rodeo Creek, Contra Costa Public Works, EarthTeam Environmental Network, Los Medanos College, Making Waves, REI, and many merchants and individuals from all over the county that support and volunteer to manage all the events around the County.

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Your Trash Can Fight Global Warming | Innovative Composting Program Helps the Planet


By Eden Gallanter

You know how throwing things in the garbage is easy, but taking out the trash is something that nobody likes to do? Dealing with trash collection and disposal is a big endeavor, especially if you’re talking about an entire neighborhood or city. Trash has to be compacted and hauled to a landfill, where it often creates health and environmental hazards. Either that or it’s incinerated, releasing toxic chemicals and vast quantities of carbon emissions into the air. These disposal methods are costly and laborious affairs, but it has to be done. Trash is all the stuff that nobody wants, right?

Actually, a great deal of our trash is in high demand. What’s more, it can be taken off our hands at no cost whatsoever and made into something we can use, all with minimal effort on our part. This portion of our trash is any kind of organic matter: food scraps, paper, wood, plant materials, feathers, manure, etc. The natural processes of fungi, worms, and microbes will happily turn this unwanted waste into compost–something many people pay money for in order to enrich their gardens or farms.


Composting is not quite that easy. If you want to do it yourself, you’ll have to know a bit about what you’re doing. For example, animal matter (meat scraps, roadkill) can certainly be made into nutrient-rich soil, but decomposition will take longer than for plant matter, and will require higher temperatures. Compost is best piled in the open air with plenty of sunlight, have the right composition of green and brown material and should be turned over regularly to supply the microbes with oxygen. However, like many skills, once you know what you’re doing, the job is fairly easy.


The great news for folks living in the San Francisco Bay Area is that most counties have community-wide composting programs. If you put your organic waste into the green bins, the City will whisk it away and do all the work for you. San Francisco has an excellent urban compost program. Since 1996, the program has diverted 907,000 tons of organic waste from the landfill, using anaerobic microbe digestion to make it it into either compost or energy.

Says Melanie Nutter, the director of the San Francisco Department of the Environment, “We have the highest landfill diversion rate of any city in the nation, with 77 percent [waste diversion].” Also, since all organic matter is carbon-based, and we as a planet have an escalating problem with carbon-based greenhouse gasses, one of the other great things about composting is that it puts that carbon back into the soil, instead of releasing it into the atmosphere. San Francisco has, since the urban compost program’s inception, offset all carbon emissions from Bay Bridge traffic for two years.

So why go down that high-cost, high-impact, high-effort road of trashing everything you don’t want? Instead, you can let nature turn your waste into a healthier future for the planet.

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Programs Swell in 2010 | An Exciting Year for The Watershed Project

By Caitlin Bell


The Watershed Project is always working to improve and expand our programs and services. During 2010, we initiated new projects all over the Bay Area, and even internationally.

Richmond Greenway Bioswale and Native Habitat Garden

With help from volunteers and local businesses and government, The Watershed Project is transforming a drainage ditch into a bioswale, a landscape of native vegetation and engineered soil that filters rainwater runoff from city streets and rooftops to reduce flooding and pollution. An expanse of blooming native plants will surround the bioswale, providing critical habitat for wildlife and insects. The bioswale is part of the Richmond Greenway, a three-mile, Rails-to-Trails project that is transforming a stretch of abandoned railway into a much-needed open space corridor for motor-free transportation, recreation, and urban agriculture. The Watershed Project has adopted two blocks of the Greenway, and is currently raising funds for additional improvements.


Green Academy
The Green Academy provides career training in conservation and restoration. The program works collaboratively with the Contra Costa Workforce Development Board and other organizations to identify young adults from the Richmond area who are interested in earning money while improving the local community and the environment. The participants gain hands-on experience and training that can be put to use in a future green job. This past summer, participants worked at a native plant nursery, built and planted vegetable beds, restored creeks, and explored the Bay on a boat-based marine science field trip. The Watershed Project is looking forward to a new cadre of Green Academy apprentices.

Bye Bye Basura!
In October, The Watershed Project helped students in Manzanillo, Mexico say “bye bye” to trash during our first-ever international program. To address the issue of marine debris, the Sister City Committee of San Pablo, California partnered with The Watershed Project to develop an ongoing educational exchange between San Pablo and its sister city of Manzanillo, Mexico. Bilingual staff from The Watershed Project staff coordinated teacher trainings, developed curriculum, and provided in-class assistance for a third-grade class at Lake Elementary School in San Pablo and a fifth-grade class at Escuela Manuel Antonio in Manzanillo. Students from each class exchanged crafts and letters that were delivered by The Watershed Project staff. We look forward to expanding our international program so more students can learn about the interconnectedness of our world’s creeks, rivers, and ocean.


In addition to our new projects, we continued to deliver and expand our signature programs. Our Healthy Watersheds program engaged 5,021 volunteers, a 176% increase over last year. These volunteers collected 20,025 pounds of trash from local watersheds, an increase of 167% over last year. Our education programs reached 3,645 students in grades K-12, a whopping 486% increase over last year. We also delivered 68 hours of professional development workshops to 128 educators. The Greening Urban Watersheds initiative, launched in 2009, involved 175 volunteers during 14 workdays to improve local urban watersheds. And the Living Shorelines program, launched in 2009 to support native oyster reef restoration, provided 969 contact hours of classroom and field trip-based learning experiences to 148 high school students.

The year 2010 was a rough one for coastal watersheds. The Gulf of Mexico experienced an oil spill of catastrophic proportions, highlighting the sensitivity of coastal and estuarine watersheds. The existence of organizations that protect these sensitive environments depends on support from donors and volunteers. As 2010 draws to a close, The Watershed Project would like to thank you, our donors and volunteers, for your financial support and numerous work hours over the past year. With your help, we will continue to provide services and education to communities in the Bay Area and beyond.

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