Bottom Line: The San Mateo County coastline is a world-class resource for recreation, tourism, and coastal ecology. It's easy to get involved with protecting this vital resource.

Countless San Mateo County residents (and many from outside the county) look to the Pacific coastline for recreation and relaxation, or for their jobs in agriculture, fisheries, and tourism. In all cases, the preservation of this critical resource is of paramount importance, and there are a number of organizations working towards that goal that you can get involved with.

Bottom Line: Your local car wash is actually a much more sustainable solution than washing your car at home.

Why take your car to the wash when you can wash it home for free? Believe it or not, washing your car at home can have much more impact on local water supply and surface water quality than you would think.

Bottom Line: The San Mateo County Pharmaceutical Drug Disposal program gives the public a convenient and safe way to dispose of old or off-spec prescription medications.

The San Mateo County Pharmaceutical Drug Disposal program offers the public a convenient way for the proper disposal of expired or otherwise unwanted pharmaceuticals through participating local law enforcement agencies. Anyone can drop off unused drugs at any of 12 police departments or 2 Sheriff's Dept locations. Large white metal receptacles, similar to postal drop boxes, are publicly accessible at each location during their regular hours.

Bottom Line: Be sure that your auto repair shop uses environmentally sound procedures including water based paints to reduce impact on air quality

Select a shop that uses water based paints and complies with all rules and regulations put out by the Bay Area Air Quality Management District (BAAQMD) and the California Air Resources Board. In general, California imposes controls on the amount of VOC's (Volatile Organic Compounds) released into the air from the paints and solvents. The shop should also be using enclosed spray booths, as well as HVLP spray guns and reusable filters.

Bottom Line: Wastewater recycling plants can recycle water using ultraviolet disinfection and use the water to restore wetlands using the hydro geomorphic model (GHM).

The Calera Creek Waste Water Recycling Plant (WWRP) in Pacifica can treat 4 million gallons of sewage per day (up to 20 MGD during storm events) using its innovative treatment techniques. This plant helped pioneer the use of ultraviolet disinfection for wastewater effluent in California. UV treatment allows release of recycled water into wetlands because residual chlorine is not allowed in the permitting process. To minimize visual impact, the entire facility except for the filters and control building are buried in a hillside covered with native plants. Odor control scrubbers pull air from all process areas to neutralize odor-causing gases.

Bottom Line: Using polystyrene food packaging is bad for the environment and the associated marine debris is expensive for local governments. Be one of the many local governments across the nation to enact a Polystyrene Ban.

Local governments across the nation are prohibiting the use of non-recyclable plastics such as foamed polystyrene in takeout disposable food packaging because they are frustrated with the increasing amount of non-recyclable food packaging waste in our marine environment, streets, storm drains and landfills. Studies have shown that in the some areas of the Pacific plastic outweighs plankton by a factor of 46! Polystyrene is impractical to recycle due to its light weight, takes thousands of years to decompose and is the most common form of marine debris. Managing the debris costs local governments millions in storm drain clean up costs.

Bottom Line: Dee Harley is milking her way to success by showing her goat farm is good for the economy, environment and the community.

Harley Farms in Pescadero started 16 years ago with six goats and has since grown into a fully self-sustaining 267+ goat operation and the only dairy farm in San Mateo County. The nine-acre farm is a farmstead dairy, meaning the cheese produced comes directly from the farms animals. It has received six national cheese awards and was the recipient the 2008 Sustainable San Mateo County Award, and the 2008 San Mateo County Farmer of the Year award. It also was featured in a February 2007 New York Times article about agri-tourism (see Eco-Tourism Article), a concept in which small farms open up to curious visiting urbanites.

Bottom Line: No need to go to Costa Rica, Eco-tourism opportunities abound right here in San Mateo County

Visit the Half Moon Bay Coastside, 80 miles of coastal splendor filled with abundant natural, historical and cultural wonders. From some of the richest marine reserves and wetlands on the California coast, to small working farms where you can explore a barnyard and dine on farm-fresh organic produce; from shopping on historic Main Street in Half Moon Bay, to fishing for wild salmon or albacore tuna - the Half Moon Bay Eco-Tourism campaign has it all.

Bottom Line: Pervious paving systems provide an economically sound and ecologically sensitive alternative for managing stormwater runoff and related water pollution issues.

Pervious paving systems (permeable concrete and asphalt, permeable joint pavers, or reinforced grass and gravel grids) allow rainwater to pass through their surface and soak into the underlying ground, recharging watersheds and replenishing ground water supplies while protecting wildlife habitats and greater ecosystems. While these systems help reduce the amount of stormwater runoff, they are not considered a treatment measure. Pervious paving must be designed to manage stormwater runoff adequately, while maintaining the same load bearing capacity as conventional paving in order to support the weight and forces applied by vehicular traffic.

Bottom Line: The Sustainable Green Streets and Parking Lots Design Guidebook (First Edition: January 2009) is Now Available!

In 2007, the City/County Association of Governments of San Mateo County enthusiastically supported the development of a local guidebook for developing sustainable streets and parking lots. In January 2009, the first edition guidebook was released and made available for easy download. This guidebook is intended to inspire small but widespread changes that will improve San Mateo County's watershed health.

Sustainable streets integrate sustainable design principles, promote least-polluting ways to connect people and goods to their destinations, and make transportation facilities and services part of livable communities. The guidebook covers a wide range of topics, including: site layout and stormwater facility strategies, discussion on key design and construction details, and conceptual designs for demonstration projects being constructed in the county. The goal is to provide designers, builders, municipal staff, and other interested groups with practical and state-of-the-art information on creating low-impact development roadways and parking lots within San Mateo County.

Bottom Line: Reduce your ecological impact and potential health hazards by drinking tap water instead of bottled water. Bottled water is not necessarily any cleaner or safer than water from the tap.

Health and QualitySan Mateo County Tap water is highly regulated and tested for public safety by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The Safe Drinking Water Act authorizes the EPA to enforce health standards for drinking water and requires public notification of water system violations and annual reports to consumers on contaminants found in drinking water. Alternatively, bottled water is regulated by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), which often uses EPA's tap water standards to determine safety. However, the FDA exempts from testing water that is packaged and sold within the same state, which accounts for 60 to 70 percent of all bottled water sold in the United States. Bottled water is not necessarily any cleaner or safer than water from the tap.

Bottom Line: The City of Millbrae completed a $6 million facility at its Water Pollution Control Plant that will turn grease from local restaurants into biogas and pay for itself in 17 years.

The City of Millbrae (with the help of Chevron Energy Solutions) recently completed a new $6 million facility at its Water Pollution Control Plant that will turn inedible used kitchen grease from local restaurants into biogas -- generating renewable energy to treat the city's wastewater. Their old plant was aging and too small to support the installation and use of modern cogeneration equipment that can capture and reuse biogas. Instead of wasting a valuable energy source, the City took on the challenge of building a custom system that can be replicated anywhere.

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: Victory Gardens, which lost popularity after the end of World War II, are making a comeback in San Francisco. Campaigns like Slow Food are energizing the resurgence.

1943 was the first time San Franciscan's planted a Victory Garden in the Civic Center Plaza. It was part of a nation-wide movement to grow food stateside because most food supplies were shipped to the soldiers overseas. Backyard vegetable gardens provided forty one percent of all vegetables consumed in the nation. Fifty-five years later, with help from the arts community, the Civic Center Plaza became the epicenter of a new Victory Garden campaign. Started in 2008, the focus of this new campaign is local food and slow food. Local and slow are really interchangeable terms when it comes to food; the idea is grow nutritious, organic food as close as possible to the consumer.

Bottom Line: Pesticides are rarely, if ever, needed in home gardens. Most of the bugs in our garden help it grow! The pests we need to keep in check can be controlled using targeted and alternative methods.

Lawn Pesticides are rarely, if ever, needed for home lawns. Chemicals in them are linked to adverse long-term health effects. In particular weed and feed type products, which mix fertilizers with pesticides, result in unnecessary pesticide use.

Less than 2% of the insects you encounter in the garden will be pests. The vast majority of insects in your yard are not harmful - they're either beneficial or neutral. In the interest in keeping them alive, take a targeted, selective approach to dealing with the insects that are pests. Spiders, bees, ladybugs, and dragonflies are good examples of bugs that we want in our garden, along with many others, they help your garden grow!

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: 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: The common products you use to maintain or remodel your home can be hazardous and harm wildlife in and around the Bay and Ocean and threaten our most valuable resource - water.

Maintaining Your Home Can Pollute the Bay. Unless we take steps to prevent it, motor oil, paint products, pet wastes, chemicals we use to clean our homes and pesticides used to beautify our gardens are washed day after day into neighborhood gutters and storm drains by rainwater and water from lawn watering. These pollutants flow through the storm drain system into local creeks and empty directly into the Bay or the Ocean. They present an ongoing hazard for the fish, birds, and other wildlife living in and around the Bay and Ocean and for many of us who use and enjoy our most valuable natural resource - water.