Samo focuses on building a healthier coastal environment
Emma Godfrey/The Samohi
Samo students help pick up trash to reduce pollution, reduce the sewage spill that have contaminated the water, and create a more sustainable beach for Santa Monica.
Heal the Bay had its 35th yearly coastal cleanup on Sept. 21 in recognition of the international holiday, Annual Coastal Cleanup Day. Heal the Bay will also be trying to raise $35,000 to provide these kinds of cleanups year-round. With over 60 different cleanup sites to choose from, everyone can help remove 2 million pounds of trash from LA County waterways. With numerous other programs and activities to get involved with, there’s something for everyone.
The Safe Clean Water Program (SCWP) is another facet of Heal the Bay. In 2018, Measure W was approved, implementing a ‘parcel tax’ on land owners to help fund the SCWP. LA County is split into nine watershed areas. Each has at least one designated Watershed Coordinator and a Watershed Area Steering Committee (WASC) that is made up of 17 people who decide how regional money from the program should be spent.
The Central Santa Monica Bay Watershed Area is one of the nine areas of the SCWP and is where Samo is located. They have monthly meetings open to the public, advocating for the community and gaining additional information about possible projects that the SCWP will fund. If there is also an issue one thinks needs to be addressed, groups can submit a formal proposal for a program to be supported by their community. The SCWP takes submissions every year up until July 31.
Heal the Bay offers a variety of other ways to help out local beaches. They hold an all-ages Nothin’ But Sand beach cleanup every third Saturday of the month at a different LA County beach each time. Heal the Bay also offers Volunteer Orientations on the second Thursday of every other month. At the Volunteer Orientations they cover current issues and how to get involved with Heal the Bay through the Aquarium, Beach, Outreach, Community Science and Youth volunteer programs.
In the recent past, there have been several sewage spills that have contaminated the water. According to Heal the Bay, in the past 10 years, over 3,000 sewage spill cases have resulted in 30,521,025 gallons of sewage in LA County. To stay safe while swimming, Heal the Bay has a few different apps available to download. The Beach Report Card is an app that provides A - F water quality grades for over 650 beaches along the West Coast. The River Report Card does a similar thing but for local freshwater recreation areas in Los Angeles County.
Heal the Bay is not the only way to gain awareness, Samo also has a club dedicated to spreading consciousness and helping local bodies of water. Team Marine meets every Wednesday in Mr. Kay’s room, D308.
“We made our school go from 50% clean energy to 100% and that goes for the whole district as well. That was an initiative pushed by Team Marine to be more sustainable,” said Dylan Jericau, co-captain of the Team Marine club.
Team Marine also has four ongoing projects, addressing waste sorting, an aquaponic garden on the rooftop, the climate literacy group and instating the Five B’s (bottles, cigarette butts, balloons, boxes and bags). Co-captain of the Team Marine Club expanded on a specific environmental problem that Samo currently has,
“Right now we’re trying to address our waste sorting problem that our school has because sometimes our recyclables don’t get properly recycled and get mixed up with actual trash, and that’s ineffective,” Fay said.
Heal the Bay has a myriad of programs to get involved with to help preserve and protect ocean and river areas in LA County. Their recent Annual Coastal Cleanup marked 35 years of recognizing International Coastal Cleanup Day, with a projection of clearing 2 million pounds of trash out of LA rivers and beaches.
“Stay up to date with climate news and really educate yourself on how you can be more sustainable. There’s a lot of resources out there on how you can incorporate more sustainable practices into your life,” Fay said.
