In this E-Letter:
HTO Flags are Flying on State Street!
Speaking of Birthdays – meet Remi, HTO Poster Baby!
HTO Imaginary Gala Selling Out – Hurry, Hurry!
CCC Reviewing Permit for Revised Summerland Oil Capping
Bring Your Own Reusable Bag to (Some) Grocery Stores Again!
Our Own Heather Wins Best Feature at Honolulu Film Fest!
Carbon2Cobalt Shirts and Trunks
Soon out – HTO’s 2020 Newsletter – send us your address to get it!
Please Don’t Trash Our Beaches – and Happy Labor Day to All
CELEBRATING OUR 22ND BIRTHDAY –
HTO FLAGS ARE NOW FLYING!
HTO Flags on State Street in Winter 2016. Photo by Heather Hudson
r a time to come in with your recyclables. If you have Facebook access, you can check the Ablitt's Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/Ablitts/ then email sales@ablitt.com to reserve your spot. (Note: apologies to our supporters for previous, incorrect information).
State Street is again a sea of blue, as HTO flags are flying from today, Wednesday, August 26, for a full week. We love this time slot because Heal the Ocean’s 22nd birthday is Friday, August 28. A lot has happened in 22 years, and we are celebrating! Put on your mask and come on down to State Street to cheer us on, and support a local business! Thank you, Downtown Santa Barbara for supporting HTO and celebrating our anniversary!
SPEAKING OF BIRTHDAYS, MEET REMI,
HTO’S POSTER BABY!
Remi Barels Crail
HTO welcomes the newest supporter to the HTO membership, Remi Barels Crail! Remi (short for Remington) is the daughter of Tiare Barels and S. Devon Crail, granddaughter of longtime supporters Larry & Wendy Barels, who have helped us since Day One. Larry personally came to the HTO office to pick up this token of ocean love, a pink infant “Onesie” for his new granddaughter.
To purchase your little one an HTO Onesie, we have sizes 6-12 months & 12-18 months, in baby blue and mint green (pink is out of stock), $10 each. Visit our store here.
HURRY, HURRY! HTO IMAGINARY GALA SELLING OUT!
HTO’s Imaginary Gala 2020, with Julia Louis-Dreyfus starring as our Fantasy Chair, has caught on like a flying cloud – and we are almost sold out! The deadline for sponsoring is this Friday, August 28, so it’s coming right up. By participating, you are listed in the invitation that goes out to the World as a HTO sponsor, plus some fun goodies in a HTO bag will come your way, donated by a generous supporter. Because of popular demand, we’ve extended the deadline to Friday, September 4, which happens to be HILLARY’S BIRTHDAY! So, come celebrate with us on the Flying Whale. To purchase a sponsorship online, click here.
CCC PERMIT REVIEW OF REVISED SUMMERLAND OIL CAPPING SET FOR SEPTEMBER 11
Diagram by Harry Rabin/On the Wave Productions
The August hearing date originally set by the California Coastal Commission to consider the permit for the capping of the next set of leaking Summerland oil wells is now set for Friday, September 11, 2020. The rescheduling was necessary because of a revised plan reconfigured by the State Lands Commission engineers, InterAct, to accomplish the well capping(s) without the use of the cofferdam, a big metal tube that is sunk around the wellhead to provide space inside for contractors to work, and also to catch any escaping oil. Using a different method involving the sinking of pipes would allow for faster work at less cost – which means at least one more well could be remedied during the one operation under the permit. The new issue for the CCC was the potential escape of more oil, but the engineers spelled out what little amount there would be, and their use of booms to catch anything escaping. HTO Advisor Harry Rabin, who worked with the engineers to sort out the process, produced a memo for HTO to explain the procedure to be used (diagram at top of this story). Click here for Harry's report, which explains what will happen. The great payoff of this revise is that capping one more well would reduce the amount of oil going into the ocean from that well – every day – as compared to what might escape during the operation. CCC staff is recommending approval. Read the staff report here, and then e-mail the commission your vote of support here. In your subject line, and at the top of your e-mail, insert Public Comment on September 2020 Agenda Item Friday 15a – Application No. 9-20-0268 (State Lands Commission, Santa Barbara Co.) Thank you!
BYOB IS MAKING A BIT OF A COMEBACK
(BRING YOUR OWN BAG)
Graphic by Plastic Pollution Coalition.
Heal the Ocean has surveyed Santa Barbara grocery stores to find that some of them – not all – are allowing you to enter the store with your own, reusable bag(s) – with the proviso that you bag the groceries yourself. And some stores have put plastic bag recycle bins back out, so we hope everyone uses them. The following stores allow you to bring your reusables inside:
Vons in Montecito (1040 Coast Village Rd.)
Vons at Turnpike (163 S Turnpike Rd.)
Vons on the Mesa (2010 Cliff Dr.)
Ralphs in Downtown SB (100 W. Carrillo St.)
Check with the store as you enter, to see what their policy is. If you can’t use your own reusable bags, consider taking your loose items in the shopping cart to your vehicle, and bag them yourself. Always wash your reusable bags after use!
HTO’S OWN HEATHER HUDSON – WINS ANOTHER FILM ACCOLADE
Heather Hudson, an independent filmmaker (and also on the Board of HTO, and also HTO Event Manager) has just won another accolade for her latest film, “93 - Letters from Marge.” Produced through Heather’s GracieGirl Productions company, the film focuses on surfing pioneer and Big Wave icon, Marge Calhoun (1924-2017), who won the 1958 Makaha International Surfing Championship, and shares her life story through her letter. Already wracking up accolades during the difficult age of COVID-19, where people can’t get into theaters, Heather and her film company, GracieGirl, have just won the Audience Choice Best Feature at the 2020 Honolulu Museum of Art Surf Film Festival. Congratulations, Heather!
To learn more about this award-winning film, or to watch it, click here
Ocean Warrior Tees (left) and Sandbar Trunks (right)
As a local, coastal, Santa Barbara-based sustainable clothing company, Carbon2Cobalt has reached out to HTO to partner on a special line of Ocean Warrior tees & trunks, all made of 100% sustainable cotton and utilizing environmentally friendly water-based techniques for screen printing. The ocean art featured on the tees and trunks pays tribute to those dedicated to keeping our waters clean. Carbon2Cobalt donates a portion of net proceeds to HTO, and so far they have raised over $3,500 from the sale of these awesome ocean clothes! If you are interested in supporting Carbon2Cobalt (and HTO) by purchasing a tee or trunks, click here.
Cover Painting (“Sailing West”) by Thomas Van Stein
At Heal the Ocean, we’ve been working on the 2020 issue for months on end, as COVID-19 changed our lives, and our news, and everything else. Through ZOOM and phone and e-mail, we have kept pace with changes, and our work has actually expanded. There is such big and interesting news, we’ve expanded our book to 24 pages (from 20).
To receive this beautiful publication, full of interesting and surprising news, please e-mail Alison Thompson Alison@Healtheocean.org your address, so you can receive your free copy.
HAPPY LABOR DAY, EVERYONE -
BUT PLEASE DON’T TRASH OUR BEACHES!
Image by Maire Radis, HTO Advisory Board.
It appears Santa Barbara beaches will be closed or at least regulated over the Labor Day holiday, but with the hot weather and quarantine fatigue driving people to Santa Barbara each weekend, our beaches continue to be bombarded with an overwhelming amount of trash. Even with additional trash bins and extra service days, the trash problem can’t be contained. The image above is of Santa Claus Lane beach, which is especially hard hit. This photo was taken seven days ago by HTO Advisory Board Member Maire Radis, who goes with her family every single Sunday to clean up the mess.
If the trash bins at your local beach are full or near capacity, please PACK OUT YOUR TRASH, and LEAVE NO TRACE. When trash bins are overstuffed, or trash is left on the ground near the bin, the wind, birds, and other critters carry the trash away, towards the ocean, toward everywhere. Please do your part to protect our coastal environment and the animals that rely upon by recreating responsibility and packing out your trash.
LAST BUT NOT LEAST…WOOF!
While you’re taking care to pack out your own trash, please, please, please pick up your used dog bags. Dog bags thrown on the beach, left in the bushes, thrown by the trail, is really, really hurtful – both to the environment and the purpose of a doggy bag. Please dispose of your dog bags properly. Heal the Ocean will thank you, your neighbors will thank you – and most of all, your dog will thank you!