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Bottom Line: You can make a difference! Before buying seafood, consult the seafood watch guide to be certain your meal comes from a healthy marine population.

Seafood is the only food source that is still actively hunted by humans on a large scale. Once it seemed the ocean would supply an endless bounty of seafood, but today, we are discovering its limits. Off New England, cod were once so plentiful that boats had trouble pushing through them. Now the cod are nearly gone, and a centuries-old fishing tradition is ending. Other overfished species include sharks, bluefin tuna and many kinds of West Coast rockfish. When one kind of fish is no longer plentiful, fishermen must move on to new species.

Bottom Line: Growing food on rooftops reduces your carbon footprint, saves money, builds local economies, and adds diversity to the environment.

Keith Agoada started Sky Vegetables in April 2008. At the time, his sustainable-urban-farming business plan had just won a competition at the University of Wisconsin School of Business. The concept takes advantage of the ‘fields' of flat rooftops found atop supermarkets by using that space to grow crops. Prototype ‘fields' would not look like conventional farming. Vegetables would be grown in greenhouses in a high density arrangement. Water needs would be supplemented by rain stored in tanks. Wind turbines and solar panels would supplement energy demands. Composting bins would provide rich soil. Right now, Mr. Agoada and his partners are looking to build a prototype on a Bay Area supermarket.

Bottom Line: Almost any diesel engine car can go biodiesel with little or no modifications.

Almost any diesel car can run on biodiesel without major modifications. Biodiesel is a clean burning alternative fuel produced from domestic, renewable resources. Biodiesel contains no petroleum, but it can be blended at any level with petroleum diesel to create a biodiesel blend. These blends are sold using a system called the "B factor," which denotes the percentage of biodiesel contained within a petrol/bio mix. Biodiesel is simple to use, biodegradable, nontoxic, and essentially free of sulfur and aromatics.

Only diesel engines can run on biodiesel. All engines that run on #2 diesel can also be run on biodiesel. This means, home furnaces, generators, half-trucks, homestead tools, fishing boats, etc.

Bottom Line: The Samaritan House provides a wide array of valuable free services and resources to low-income residents of San Mateo County with a focus on preserving dignity and increasing self-sufficiency.

Established in 1974, Samaritan House is a non-profit health and human services organization with over 30 years of experience in providing a broad range of free services and resources to low-income residents in San Mateo County. Each year they provide 9,000 visits in their two free medical clinics, supply more than 400 people with a warm bed, make over 120,000 meals, collect over 400,000 pounds of food from food drives and distribute 40,000 new toys to children.

Bottom Line: Become part of the global warming solution by going on a Low Carbon Diet!

This "30 Day Program to Lose 5000 Pounds" is a fun, accessible, easy to use guide written by David Gerbson that will show you, step-by-step, how to dramatically reduce your CO2 output in just a month's time!

Supported with over two decades of environmental behavior change research; this illustrated workbook offers much more than a list of eco-friendly actions. It walks you through every step of the process, from calculating your current CO2 "footprint" to tracking your progress.

By making simple changes to actions you take every day, you'll learn how to reduce your annual household CO2 output by at least 15%! And, for those who are more ambitious, you'll discover how you can help your workplace, local schools, and community do the same. Join the growing number of citizens who have decided to take global warming into their own hands. "Low Carbon Diet" is the winner of the 2007 Independent Publisher "Most Likely to Save the Planet" Book Award.

Bottom Line: You can help prevent local creek, Bay and ocean pollution by following simple guidelines when working in your garden.

Rainwater and water from our lawns and gardens scour pollutants off streets, sidewalks, parking lots, and other impervious surfaces, carrying them into the storm drain system. Because the storm drain system is separate from our household sewer system, this pollution flows directly into our creeks and ultimately to the San Francisco Bay or the Pacific Ocean - without treatment of any kind!

 

Bottom Line: San Mateo County Environmental Health Department sponsors a FREE countywide program to collect, recycle and properly dispose of household hazardous waste (HHW).

Anyone can take advantage of this helpful program to dispose of your dangerous household chemicals properly. There are currently eleven (11) HHW collection events per month at locations around the county.

HHW is considered to be any leftover or unused portions of chemical products you use in your kitchen, bathroom, garage, automobile, or yard.

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