Santa Barbara Channelkeeper

Keeping Watch for Clean Water

Santa Barbara Channelkeeper

Tracing the Path of Trash

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Text by Arianna McDonald


On a morning walk last week, I picked up a half-buried candy wrapper on the beach. The plastic film and blue lettering seemed so out of place against the sand. I wondered: how had it ended up here? 

I imagined that someone was hungry and bought a convenience store snack. They may have put the wrapper in their pocket, intending to throw it away later. Perhaps it fell out before they could. Blown by the wind, it found its way into a gutter or storm drain, and rainwater carried it through the network of storm pipes into streams. Eventually, the wrapper ended up in the ocean.

Santa Barbara has an elaborate network of storm drains that carries water away from urban areas (page 8), but the stormwater it conveys is not filtered for debris or treated before it enters the ocean. Runoff from irrigation, residential car washing, and sidewalk and parking lot washing can pick up pollutants and carry them through storm drains and waterways to the ocean. 

In 2011 the City of Santa Barbara installed screens in front of storm drains in order to catch trash and other debris from finding their way into the water system. However, these screens retract during times of rainfall to prevent flooding, allowing debris that has collected to enter the drains.

Each year, 5 to 14 million tons of debris flows into the ocean from coastal areas. Not only can it be toxic to aquatic wildlife and humans, this pollution degrades the water quality and also destroys the beauty of our oceans and beaches that we swim and play in. 

Plastic doesn’t biodegrade in the ocean like natural materials do. Once in the ocean, UV exposure, weather, and heat cause the plastic debris to break down into smaller and smaller pieces, known as microplastics. These microplastics cannot be easily removed because they become so small. Fish and other marine life may ingest the plastic pieces, blocking their digestive tracts and changing their eating habits, which can influence their growth and reproduction.  

Toxins and pollutants can bind to the surfaces of microplastics. When these tiny pieces are ingested, they can spread toxic chemicals throughout the food chain. Researchers have also found that smaller particles, or nanoplastics, can permeate tissues and organs, and affect a variety of species when small creatures are consumed by bigger fish and mammals, including people.

A recent study revealed that the rate of plastic consumed by fish has doubled within the last decade and is increasing by more than 2% each year. Two-thirds of the species that had ingested plastic were species that are commercially fished, indicating that human consumption will likely increase in parallel. 

These microplastics can be found all over the ocean, including in the deep sea, and frozen in Arctic sea ice. It’s estimated that 269 thousand tons of plastic are floating in the ocean, with more being added every day. 

Statistics such as these underscore the importance of responsible litter disposal. They serve as a reminder that each of us can take steps to help keep plastic waste out of storm drains and prevent it from entering our oceans. We can choose to be part of the solution–one candy wrapper at a time.

How you can help:
  • Refuse, reduce, reuse, recycle. Choose reusable items and use fewer disposable ones (e.g., bring your own reusable bags).
  • Make sure any waste you produce (plastics, technology, etc) is disposed of properly, whether that be sending them to landfill, recycling, or e-waste drop-off sites. Being diligent about discarding your garbage properly is key to keeping it out of our oceans.
  • Stop the flow of trash to the sea by helping keep streets, sidewalks, parking lots, and storm drains free of garbage. Learn more about how the path trash takes to the ocean and download our Watershed Wise poster here.
  • Get involved! Join Channelkeeper’s Watershed Brigade! Conduct clean-ups in your neighborhood, at a creek, beach, or anywhere and invite others to help keep the beaches and oceans clean.

Watershed Hero: Joy Downing Riley

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Some people see a problem and wonder how others will solve it—but not Joy Downing Riley. When she noticed that litter was impacting marine life along one of her favorite coastal areas—the Rincon Parkway—she leaped into action, not only by picking up trash herself but by addressing the issue at its upstream source.

Joy believes in the power of individual action to create positive change and over the years she’s served the community in a variety of volunteer roles. Until last spring, she volunteered as a literacy coach. But when the pandemic made it too risky to meet in person, she looked for other ways to give back and joined Santa Barbara Channelkeeper’s Watershed Brigade to help remove trash from public places. In the past nine months, she’s become a star volunteer—and a true Watershed Hero.

The Rincon Parkway, the stretch of beach along the Pacific Coast Highway between Emma Wood State Beach and Mussel Shoals, is a special place to Joy. It’s a vantage point from which she enjoys watching wildlife while taking in the island views and the ever-changing light. She appreciates that the Parkway is accessible to all and loves seeing the happiness on people’s faces–from fishermen and surfers to families.

When stay-at-home orders went in to place in March of 2020 and people looked to outdoor areas for recreation, Joy noticed an increase in the use of this area and observed more trash along the road making its way to the beach. She felt it was important to be out there cleaning the area, educating the community, and doing something positive.

Her experience locating and assessing stranded California sea lions and seals as a volunteer for Channel Island Marine and Wildlife Institute has provided her with firsthand insight into the trash eco-system while also fostering a sense of personal responsibility for the marine life. She has observed the impact that our trash and human street waste have on sensitive areas along the coast as the flow of stormwater runoff carries litter to the ocean and notes the direct connection between the health of wildlife and humans.

“Sea lions are important to study. They are sentinel mammals, and their health can be indicative of a number of environmental concerns,” she explains. “The trash we tend drop on the ground or let blow from trash cans, ends up in our roadsides, culverts, barrancas, and eventually in the ocean. Our degrading debris is toxic to wildlife.”

During her time clearing trash and debris from the Parkway, she’s seen beer bottles strewn by visitors, she’s watched dump trucks unload heaps of dirt, people change their oil, discard Styrofoam to-go food containers, diapers, dog waste, tangled fishing line, and cigarette butts (she once collected 150 in a ¼ mile radius), but she believes that when people know better, they do better.

Beyond cleaning litter from the coastal roadway and beach areas, Joy has taken measures to address litter at the source by educating the public and connecting with companies and public agencies to ask for their help. She talks with people and shares her passion for keeping trash out of waterways and habitats clean.

“My sense is that if people had a better understanding of ecosystems—and the flow of trash to the sea—that they would be more cautious about litter.”

While doing clean-ups in the neighborhood near Telegraph Road and Ventura College, she regularly noticed 10-12 Starbucks cups in the storm drains on her mile and a half route. In Ventura and Santa Barbara open storm drains flow straight to the ocean. So, she made an appointment to talk with the Starbucks manager and together they outlined a strategy to keep cups out of the stormwater system. Their initiatives included new signs reminding customers to dispose of their trash responsibly. She was also able to voice her concerns to the regional Starbucks manager and open a dialogue with local city officials about more expansive litter-prevention actions they could take.

Joy’s enthusiasm is infectious and her presence along this special stretch of roadway has not only shown people that she cares deeply about the Rincon Parkway, it has inspired others to join in.

“It’s as if my presence there—seeing me in my gloves and mask picking up trash has given people permission to go out there and do something positive too. That feels good.”

Joy is living proof of the power of citizen action. By doing regular clean-ups, meeting with store managers and City agencies, and launching an educational campaign to increase public awareness of the path trash takes through storm drains and creeks to the ocean, she has contributed to a community-wide movement and has empowered others to take steps toward creating change.

We are profoundly grateful.

Science Supports Our Clean Water Work

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Data can provide powerful insights to support environmental change. Channelkeeper regularly collects data related to the composition, quality, and availability of our water resources. Our team uses this data to measure critical threats facing our waters, to support decision-makers in their efforts to protect local waterways, and to raise community awareness and involvement in protecting our water resources. This science-based approach is one that helps us keep local waters clean and that also distinguishes us as a data-driven water quality organization.

Since 2001, Channelkeeper has leveraged citizen science to monitor water quality in local watersheds. Our flagship volunteer monitoring program, Stream Team, is one of the longest running and largest citizen water quality monitoring programs in the State. Stream Team collects baseline water quality data every month at up to 43 sites in our region. Over 1,400 community volunteers have participated in the Stream Team program, all trained to follow State approved quality control protocols. Stream Team data is uploaded to the State’s California Environmental Data Exchange Network. The data has been used as lines of evidence to support multiple listings on the State’s 303(d) Impaired Water Bodies List as well as to support development of Total Maximum Daily Load programs in several local watersheds. Regulatory agencies regularly utilize the data we collect to inform and prioritize their pollution prevention and restoration efforts.

Technological innovations in the field of water quality monitoring have enhanced Channelkeeper’s ability to monitor local watersheds. Specifically, we’ve integrated the use of deployable sensors and data loggers to collect continuous data for various applications. In the Ventura River watershed, Channelkeeper deploys dissolved oxygen data loggers each summer to monitor the water quality effects of algae growth and diminished stream flow. This data was recently used in an evaluation of minimum flow thresholds necessary to preserve water quality for endangered steelhead trout.

We also use deployable data logging devices, such as pressure transducers and conductivity sensors, to document and track illicit discharges emanating from the municipal storm drain system. In 2012, this technique helped us monitor the daily, illegal discharge of industrial brine waste into a local watershed in the City of Goleta. This discovery led to intervention of local and state authorities and the eventual elimination of the pollution source.

In the aftermath of the Plains All American oil spill in 2015, the existence of natural oil seeps that regularly oil beaches off the Santa Barbara coastline led to uncertainty regarding the source of oil on fouled beaches. We launched our Tar Ball Monitoring Program to establish a quantitative baseline dataset of natural oil seep fouling that resource agencies could utilize in the future when evaluating both whether to mobilize clean-up efforts and what appropriate clean-up endpoints should be. To develop this baseline, we conduct quarterly surveys of 14 local beaches along the coastline and document the extent, magnitude, and frequency of natural oiling.

Channelkeeper also helps other agencies gather data. Aboard the RV-Channelkeeper, our 31-foot research vessel, our team has assisted the Department of Public Health with biotoxin monitoring, the Department of Fish and Wildlife with Marine Protected Area compliance monitoring, and University of California Santa Barbara researchers with everything from ocean acidification monitoring, biological surveys, and e-DNA sampling of eelgrass beds.

Data collection and scientific research is integral to Channelkeeper’s efforts to protect and restore the Santa Barbara Channel and its watersheds. This has helped us successfully champion stronger policies that better protect our water resources, clean up pollution hot spots, educate our community, and stop illegal discharges into the Santa Barbara Channel and its tributaries. It’s allowed us to better serve our community by supporting our environmental advocacy with quantitative measurements and has informed every aspect of our clean water work.

The 411 on Film Plastic Recycling in Santa Barbara

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Plastic film – also known as plastic film packaging – is soft, lightweight polyethylene packaging used for grocery, bread, zip-lock, and dry-cleaning bags. It’s also used as a wrapper around products such as paper plates, napkins, bathroom tissue, and diapers.

Many recyclers don’t accept film plastics because the material is often contaminated or torn in the recycling bin, thereby losing its value. Film plastics such as plastic bags also tend to jam up sorting conveyor belts at recycling facilities, causing the machines to be shut down.

However, Santa Barbara has a vibrant film plastics recycling program that was launched by Sasha Ablitt, owner of Ablitt’s Fine Cleaners. After taking over her family’s dry-cleaning business, Ablitt noticed the mounting plastic waste that the company was generating from single-use garment bags, and she was determined  to find a more environmentally friendly solution. She discovered a handful of companies that accept bags and convert them into plastic pellets. She began gathering film plastic and purchased a machine to bale and compress it before sending on for recycling. The film plastic is picked up by a company called Trex, that melts it down and mixes it with virgin plastic to create home and garden products, including outdoor decking materials.

In 2018, after several years of recycling her business’s film plastic, Ablitt realized the program could also serve as a collection site for the public. Santa Barbara Channelkeeper and the Community Environmental Council (CEC) partnered with Ablitt’s Fine Cleaners to provide additional support and create more public drop off centers. Channelkeeper and CEC—with the help of volunteers—hand-sort the plastic and perform quality control checks to ensure that the materials are high-quality and able to be recycled.  Since this program became open to the public, 12,000 pounds of film plastic have been recycled.

At the onset of the COVID-19 outbreak, the film plastic recycling project was temporarily suspended.  However, as businesses began to re-open so did the film plastic project, but on an appointment-only basis. Drop off centers at Santa Barbara Channelkeeper and CEC offices as well as at Ablitt’s Fine Cleaners are again accepting film plastic for recycling. Ablitt’s is hosting film plastic drop off events that you can register for by signing up to be on their film plastic email list. CEC and Channelkeeper serve as additional drop off locations and are available by appointment only. More information for CEC and Ablitt’s drop offs is available on their websites. To set up an appointment for drop off at Channelkeeper’s office send us an email at [email protected].

From now on, there will also be training requirements to participate in the program, in order to avoid sorting errors and contamination issues. Community members will now have to sort their own film plastic with a trained volunteer or staff person, and will have to take home any plastic waste that is not accepted for recycling. We greatly appreciate everyone’s efforts to recycle and your commitment to doing it properly.

What you can recycle:

  • Retail, carryout, newspaper, dry cleaning bags (clean, dry, and free of receipts and clothes hangers)
  • Bread bags or tortilla bags turned INSIDE OUT and shaken free of crumbs
  • Plastic shipping envelopes (remove labels/tape as best you can), bubble wrap, and air pillows (deflate)
  • Product wrap on cases of water/soda bottles, paper towels, napkins, disposable cups, bathroom tissue, diapers, and female sanitary products
  • Furniture and electronic wrap
  • Film plastics with a recycle number 2 and 4
  • White Amazon mailers
  • Clean ziplock bags (remove zipper tabs)

    PRO TIP: If the plastic stretches with your thumb and rips in a jagged edge, it is recyclable. If it crinkles and rips straight, it is not recyclable.

Another tip that a community member shared with us that has helped with the sorting is to keep plastic that you weren’t sure if it is accepted in a separate bag from all the good clean and dry film plastic.

**April 2021** Channelkeeper has resumed film plastic collection at our office.

Please note that all drop off locations are now available by appointment only. Please email [email protected] if you would like to schedule a drop-off at Channelkeeper’s office. To sign up to receive info about film plastic collection events at Ablitt’s, please visit https://ablitts.com/filmplastic/. We are also asking community members to come prepared to sort their own film plastic with a staff or trained volunteer and to take home any plastic not accepted.


Plastic in the Time of Pandemic

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It’s ubiquitous—found in the deepest recesses of the Mariana Trench, the bellies of fish, the air we breathe, and our blood. Plastic pollution in all its forms is a mounting global concern, but it appears to have taken a backseat during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Plastic production worldwide has quadrupled in the past four decades, according to a 2019 study. Adding to this somber statistic, the COVID-19 crisis has prompted an increase in the production of plastic products like surgical masks and gloves, face shields, and protective equipment. While this heightened production is, of course, important for protecting human health, the additional plastic will eventually end up somewhere – in a landfill, incinerated, or in oceans around the world.

Concerns about plastic have been seemingly pushed aside during the crisis. From the careless disposal of plastic gloves and masks in cities around the world to aggressive plastic and petroleum industry lobbying, and the rollback or cancellation of regulations on the use of single-use plastic, the COVID-19 health crisis has posed a series of challenges for reducing plastic pollution worldwide.

Increasing Ocean Pollution
Every year, 8 million metric tons of plastics enter our oceans on top of the estimated 150 million metric tons that currently circulate in our marine environments. Scientists predict that there will be one pound of plastic in the ocean for every three pounds of fish by 2025 and more plastic trash in the ocean than fish by 2050. And according to several studies, discarded personal protective equipment (PPE) is particularly hazardous for marine life since gloves and plastic bags can be mistaken for jellyfish or other food sources, while the straps on masks can present entangling hazards.

Furthermore, due to concerns over viral spread, recycling and municipal waste services in the US and worldwide have been significantly limited during the pandemic, making it highly unlikely that the extra plastic we’re using to protect ourselves today will be recycled.

Pre-Pandemic Progress

In March, the European Union voted to ban single-use plastics by 2021. In June, Canada followed suit, promising to also hold plastics manufacturers responsible for their waste. One hundred and forty-one countries, including China, Bangladesh, India, and 34 African countries, have implemented taxes or partial bans on plastics.

Meanwhile, in the US the Trump administration has worked against many of these efforts to reduce plastic waste, so cities and towns have led the charge independently. As of today eight states have enacted plastic restrictions and municipal governments have passed more than 330 local plastic bag ordinances in 24 states.


Fears Feed Rollbacks 

On April 22nd, amid concerns about spreading the Coronavirus, California Governor Newsom signed an executive order that suspends the state’s voter-approved single-use plastic bag ban for 60 days. Many California grocery stores have discouraged people from bringing reusable bags due to concerns about contamination.  However, at this time there’s no scientific evidence that a reusable item is more likely to spread COVID-19 than a single-use plastic item. Unfortunately, the plastic industry is exploiting fears and spreading misinformation while pushing for rollbacks of plastic bag bans across the country.

As restaurants begin to re-open throughout California for dine-in service, the plastics industry continues to exploit fear and misinformation by encouraging consumers to utilize single-use, disposable plastic cutlery as opposed to reusable silverware. From production to packaging and shipping, disposable items pass through a countless number of hands by the time they reach a restaurant. According to the experts, the most hygienic food-ware for your meals is the kind that can go through a dishwasher.

What You Can Do

Reuse Your Bags – Channelkeeper encourages people to continue using their reusable bags safely and to follow individual store policies.  While some local grocers have asked customers not to use reusable shopping bags for the time being, many are still allowing their use provided that customers bag their own groceries and do not place reusable bags on the counter. Another alternative is to load groceries back into the cart, take the cart out to your car, and place your groceries into your reusable bags at the car. If you choose to use reusable bags when going shopping for food and essential goods, it’s wise to wash them by hand or launder in hot water and soap. 

Conduct a Beach Clean-up – Get fresh air while making a difference in your community. Check out our Beach Clean-up Guide for tips on how to conduct a clean-up and contribute to Channelkeeper’s database of trash collected from local beaches.

Bring Your Own Reusable Cutlery – In an effort to keep yourself and restaurant employees safe while reducing your plastic footprint, consider bringing your own your own reusable cutlery to use when dining in. Just be sure to let restaurant employees know that you will not need disposable plastic cutlery with your order. You can even make your own utensil carrying case to keep your silverware clean and secure in your bag so you always have them handy.

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