Mission: The Valley Women’s Club is dedicated to community action, awareness and leadership in environmental, educational, social, and political concerns that affect the health and welfare of the San Lorenzo Valley and our community.
Mission: The Valley Women’s Club is dedicated to community action, awareness and leadership in environmental, educational, social, and political concerns that affect the health and welfare of the San Lorenzo Valley and our community.
Environmental CommitteeThe Environmental Committee works to protect the watershed and to educate the public on forestry issues, erosion control, hazardous waste, recycling and other issues. We also monitor government policies and procedures. Events River & Road Cleanup with Save Our Shores Watershed Festival of Events ENVIRONMENTAL NEWS Winter 2011-12 The VWC's San Lorenzo Valley Restoration Project Starts Up Linda Skeff Takes On Huge Task The first meetings of an on-going environmental restoration and community collaboration, focused on the removal of invasive non-native plants & the restoration of native flora, began in October, with enthusiastic response from the first participants. Non-native, invasive plants are harmful. They don't provide the appropriate food and habitat for our fauna, and they displace plants that would do so. They don't provide the fire protection that native plants provide. They leach toxins into our soil, destroying the ability of native plants to thrive. If done properly, removing the invasives can enable valuable native plants to reestablish themselves, and this Project can give you the skills and resources to do so on your own land and in your own neighborhood. You learn through a series of Saturday morning sessions at Highlands Park in collaboration with other participants – then you help them and they help you with the invasives causing you trouble. With the rainy season in play, the next session will take place in the Spring. However, you should contact Linda now for further information and answers to your questions. Email Linda Duff. There is no fee for this class, only a desire to nurture one's own land and to help restore the San Lorenzo Valley back to its native habitat through community collaboration. Cigarette Butt Reduction Campaign Continues A dedicated group of Environmental Committee members is working on the next steps of the VWC's campaign to reduce cigarette butt litter and its pollution of our waterways and fire threat. The next steps include the Second Annual Cigarette Butt Receptacle Contest, with cash prizes for the best receptacles (deadline May 1, 2012) and a featured spot at the Redwood Mountain Faire next June – then placement in one of our SLV towns. Another step is the soon-to-be-announced installation of several commercial butt receptacles in busy locations in downtown Felton, Ben Lomond and Boulder Creek. Funds from the VWC's support of this Campaign, and from sponsors like Hallcrest Vineyards, will help with the purchase of these receptacles that will feature Stephanie Sakasai's colorful logo, to catch the eye of smoker's and remind them where they can dispose of their cigarettes. Soliciting support from local businesses and fire departments is another part of the campaign, as well as designing a series of roadside signs to remind drivers to keep their butts in the car, and a brochure to be mailed to all residents in the SLV. Information, and application forms, are available online at www.thebuttstopshere.org. The website also discusses the reasons we need to reduce cigarette butt pollution and offers the opportunity to become a sponsor or join the campaign. Committee members include co-Chairs Mark Becker and Stephanie Sellers Sakasai, Michele Estrin-Gelblum, Quinn Becker, Karen Burman, Tai Stills, Nancy Macy and Jennifer Hennig. You are invited to join the committee and help make this campaign a success. Environmental Tidbits Greywater is water from sinks, showers and laundry. Its disposal on the surface of the ground or into a waterway continues to be considered an illegal sewage discharge. In rural areas, it is often an indication there are septic problems as residents try to divert water from their septic tank and/or leach field. It can cause environmental damage as soaps and pollutants directly water the plants or waterway without being filtered through the septic and leaching systems. Most native plants and trees need acidic soil, and soaps are basic so they can harm local flora. Many aquatic species are harmed by the soaps and chemicals that come from greywater. There are, however, 3 legal options to deal with a laundry discharge, according to John Ricker, Water Resources Division Director, including the following: 1. Connect it to the septic system and upgrade the septic system if needed. 2. Obtain a permit from the County Environmental Health Services for a greywater sump for greywater disposal, or 3. Construct a laundry-to-landscape greywater irrigation system. This does not require a permit but must be done pursuant to the requirements in the building code, which includes subsurface disposal in suitable soils at an allowed distance from any waterway. Download .pdf. Environmental Health has folks that can advise you on what to do, if you are looking to find an alternative way to dispose of greywater, but if they become aware of it, you will need to correct it in one of these acceptable ways. Update on Effort to Save State Parks In the last VWC Newsletter, we reported on the visit by Alden Olmsted and his campaign to protect State Parks from closure. You can get an update on his efforts at the website names after his father, who dedicated his life to the parks. http://johnolmsted.net/index.php
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