State Parks on the 4th of July

On July 4 every year, Americans celebrate Independence day. This falls almost bang in the middle of summer which means most people enjoy the day barbecuing, going to the beach or pool and in many cases camping out for the weekend.

This year we joined many others, camping at Leo Carrillo State beach park in Malibu, California. This is one of the beaches and parks slated to be closed should the State of California stops funding the parks, which they are proposing to do in order to cut their deficit.

As I was checking in to our camp site I was interviewed by KTLA news (a Los Angeles news channel) about the possible closure of the State Parks. I have talked about the State parks closing in a previous post (Saving California's State Parks) and that from our understanding the State may actually lose out on tax revenue by not funding the parks. I put this across to the interviewer and hope that I was able to make an impression.

The interview reminded me that we need to be vigilant and active to ensure we can continue to enjoy our environment and pass on this enjoyment to our children.

• We need to go out camping and make use of our State Parks.
• We need to join in at beach clean ups and similar environmental clean up opportunities.
• We need to let our selected Representatives, Senators and Congressman, both Federal and State, know that we support strong laws protecting the environment and reducing carbon outputs.
• We need to reduce our own waste in whatever ways we can.

Back to the weekend - we enjoyed a few days surfing, barbecuing and hanging out with friends on the California beaches. The camp site was full, which hopefully means the park was able to raise enough of its own revenue to support itself this long weekend. We hope that next year the state beaches, such as Leo Carrillo will still be open and that we can enjoy more of these fun occasions and not just on the 4th of July weekend. We have bought our annual state park pass, which means we feel confident that California's congress will understand the importance of the parks and keep funding them and gaining the tax revenue that the parks bring in.

At the beginning of July GoGreenMug.com linked with http://smart2begreen.com/ because we have been enjoying their website and articles for a while now. Please visit their site to find some green living tips.

Respect the Beach

International Surfing Day was held 20th June around the world. We took part by volunteering with Surfrider Foundation at their booth and with a beach clean up at Huntington Beach.

Unfortunately the surf and weather was not the best at Huntington Beach for the festivities. Rain and wind forced us to spend more time under the tent, but we were there to have fun and respect our regular beach and that's just what we did. We hope you too were able to enjoy the beach or the ocean and that you did something to keep that beach clean and a place we will all enjoy visiting.

Here are a few pics from our day out.

Dennis in his International Surfing Day T-Shirt manning the Surfrider Newport Beach Desk.

If you were a surfer there were numerous boards available to test ride, although the conditions probably didn't allow surfers to really push their limits.

Tiki carving, live music, free mini burritos and energy drinks were all part of the action on the beach.

Remember that you can still pick up a personalized Go Green Travel Mug from http://www.gogreenmug.com/ for only $14.99. So visit the site today.

Have a great week and reduce your waste.

Too Much Trash in Our Oceans

International Surfing Day is on June 20th 2009. The day was created by Surfing Magazine to promote and celebrate surfing. The day is not only about surfing , it is also about the ocean and protecting it for our recreation both in the water and on the beaches.

On International Surfing Day, Go Green Mug will be at Huntington Beach, CA to take part in the fun and help with the beach cleanup. We would love to see you there too. Check out http://www.surfingmagazine.com/isd/ to find International Surfing Day activities in your area.

The recent crash of the Air France flight was a terrible disaster and the search for the remains of the plane highlighted another disaster, this one environmental. In the early stages of the search for the plane, the searchers thought they had found some of the debris from the crash, but on further investigation it turned out that this was not part of the missing aircraft but other, all too common, ocean trash.

The ocean is unfortunately full of trash, from large items such as couches and refrigerators to the tiny pieces of plastic that we have discussed before in the blog http://gogreenmug.blogspot.com/2009/01/coffee-shop-discounts.html. This trash circles around in the ocean currents and destroys marine life.

How can so much trash end up in our oceans that it becomes difficult to identify parts of a plane from other debris that just happens to be there? The fault of course lies with all of us, particularly in the USA. We know we can do more about our consumption of single use plastics or paper or polystyrene.
We know we do not need to buy bottled water.
We can bring our own canvas bags when we go grocery shopping and reject the plastic bags.
We can drive more fuel efficient vehicles or drive less and use public transport or bikes.
We can use reusable travel mugs at coffee shops and eliminate our use of paper cups.
And we can help at beach and/or river clean ups and prevent the trash from running into the oceans.

http://www.gogreenmug.com/ is still selling personalized travel mugs at only $14.99 with shipping. If you are not using a travel mug when you visit a coffee shop, then get one now.

Save California's State Parks!

Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger is proposing to cut funding to 80% of California's State Parks. We live in Southern California and regularly enjoy the State Parks. We head to them to surf, camp out and go hiking. We plan numerous vacation trips around visiting these State parks and would hate to lose any of them.

California is in a budget crises, a big part of which is because of reduced sales tax revenue. People are buying less, as they try to save more and therefore the state is losing money from sales tax. Most of those people who used to spend their money at the shopping centers are most likely spending more time at the California State Parks. In a study published in 2008, the University of California-Berkeley found that for every $1 in public money spent on state parks, $2.35 is returned to the state in taxes from tourism and other revenue they generate.


It therefore seems to us, that California can only gain tax revenue by keeping the State Parks open and funded. With more Californians taking vacations at home this year and other US State residents also cutting back on their holiday travel, we suspect that the State Parks will be even more popular this year than ever before. Even without funding visitors will come to the parks anyway and enjoy the beaches or redwoods or hiking trails. They will park on the roads outside and walk in. However without funding these parks may need to reduce the number of rangers on duty and these rangers will have a wider area to patrol. This could lead to environmental damage such as fires, vandalism and erosion because of the difficulty the rangers will have in covering a park.

Of course we hope that we can all restrain ourselves from damaging property or causing environmental damage on purpose. But the rangers are there to guide all visitors to the park and are prepared to take the correct action to prevent or reduce problems when they arise.

There must be a better way for California to save money and solve their budget problems. Eliminating funding for the State Parks does not seem to be a good solution and may result in increased spending in the future. You can send a message to the governor and other state legislaters through the Surfrider Action Network at http://actionnetwork.org/campaign/caparks05_09 and tell them not to cut funding to our State Parks.

At http://www.gogreenmug.com/ we are having a huge sale in June. Visit our Go Green Mug website and personalize your travel mug for only $14.99 including shipping. Reduce your waste at coffee shops and keep the paper and polystyrene cups out of our landfills.

Is Your Sunscreen Killing Coral Reefs?

Summer is approaching quickly now and we are all starting to enjoy the outdoors far more. More hiking, gardening and for some of us surfing and snorkeling. If we are going to spend time outdoors in the sun we all know that sunscreen is a must, but a study in January 2008 suggests that sunscreen may be killing off coral in the ocean.

The study found that four common sunscreen ingredients; octinoxate, oxybenzone, 4-methylbenzylidene camphor and the preservative butylparaben, can awaken viruses in an algae called Zooxanthellae that live inside many coral species. The sunscreen ingredients cause the viruses to replicate, eventually killing off the algae and spilling over to infect nearby coral.

The Zooxanthellae provide the coral with food through photosynthesis and also contribute to the bright and vibrant colors. Without them the coral loses its color and eventually becomes a white coral skeleton and dies.

I found out quickly that my favored sunscreen contained these four ingredients and I often find myself in the ocean and love snorkeling and viewing the corals. I searched and found very few alternatives. So although this story (about the coral) is more than a year old, I wondered what we could do about it, without an easy sunscreen alternative. Once again human consumption is causing possible harm to our planet, but this time we can't simply decide not to use sunscreen. Skin cancer is one of the most prevalent cancers with more than 1 million people diagnosed in America each year. Protecting yourself from the sun can significantly decrease your risk of skin cancer.

Before we all give up on our ocean recreation to save the coral reefs, I did find some information in my searches.

1. Look at the ingredients before you buy sunscreen. Look out for any of the 4 chemicals that awaken the dormant viruses: octinoxate, oxybenzone, 4-methylbenzylidene camphor and butylparaben and do not buy these sunscreens.


2. Natural sunscreens that have no synthetic ingredients are not known to harm the coral. They may also be better for your skin as studies have shown these synthetic nanoparticles may cause skin irritation and even illness.


3. Look for sunscreens using natural UVA and UVB blocking zinc oxide and or titanium dioxide.


4. Make sure your sunscreen contains both UVA and UVB protection. I won't get into the details but you need both.

I have a trip to Hawaii coming up, so I am off to find my natural sunscreen
Have a great week and Mothers Day and reduce your waste.
The GoGreenMug mothers day 20% off coupon is still available until May17. Coupon Code: grnmom2day

Earth Day Events and Photos

Today we come to the end of 2 weeks of fun environmental activities that we took part in for Earth Day celebrations. We have put together an assortment of some of the photographs from the events we attended.

We hope you had the chance to do your bit in the last two weeks. Of course you know that these last two weeks should not be the end of your environmental activities. Please join us in the coming weeks for more activities. We will post them in advance on this blog. We will be celebrating earth and the environment every day, so please join us when you can or tell us about what you are doing and how we can join you.

Go Green Mug have decided to extend our Earth Day discount of 20% off, until the end of April. So if you do not use a travel mug at coffee shops to cut down on your paper and polystyrene cup waste, then go to http://www.gogreenmug.com and personalize a travel mug with names and quotes and anything else you want. Add a photograph too. Use the coupon code: svplntmg at checkout to get your 20% off.

OK, we promised some photographs, so here they are:

On Saturday 18 April, we had a fantastic day in Southern California and took to the beach in Huntington Beach for a bit of surfing and sun. Unfortunately we have no pics from the day, but we got to enjoy the ocean and even lend a hand in a beach cleanup.

On Sunday April 19 we were at the Earth Day Celebrations at the Rainbow Disposal Center (on Nichols St.) in Huntington Beach and at The Lab and The Camp (the anti-mall) in Costa Mesa (on Bristol). We had the chance to see some neat environmental products and enjoy bites from locally grown organic food stores. Below is a pic of some wall art at The Lab.

On Friday 24 April we helped at a beach clean up at Big Corona beach in Corona Del Mar. Once again finding lots of small plastic pieces, cigarette butts and polystyrene all over the beach.
Saturday 25 April we took to the trails in Laguna Canyon and enjoyed another great day in Southern California. The trails seemed to be busier than usual as many bikers and hikers celebrated Earth Day this weekend.

Finally on Sunday 26 April (today) we were at the Muth Interpretive Center in the Newport Beach back bay to enjoy an Earth Day celebration complete with tarantulas, large iguanas and birds of prey. Here is Dennis helping out at the Surfrider Foundation exhibit.

Have a great week and reduce your waste.

Earth Day Activities: Surf, Hike and Reduce Waste

April 22 is Earth Day. Earth Day was originally conceived to celebrate life on our planet and to encourage us to enjoy this life. The first Earth Day celebration was held back in 1970. Unfortunately since then we have not treated earth very well, as we have continued to waste and overuse the planets resources. In 2009 the day has taken on a much more important and urgent message. This message is for everyone on planet earth and hopefully will encourage us to do more to reduce our waste not just on April the 22nd but for the rest of our lives.

GoGreenMug.com will be involved with a number of activities celebrating Earth Day over the next 2 weeks. We are committing our time and resources to raise awareness, promote environmental causes and reduce waste. Here are some of the events that we will be taking part in over the next 2 weeks:

• We have signed petitions against offshore drilling and asking congress to take strong action to reduce global warming.
• April 18 from 8:00 AM until we are tired, we will be enjoying the beach and surf in Southern California. Exactly where will depend on conditions on the day. If you would like to join us send us an email at support@gogreenmug.com or leave a comment on this blog.
• April 19 from 10:00 AM until 12:00 PM, we will be helping Surfrider Newport Beach at a beach clean up. The beach cleanup is held at the most southerly end of Huntington State Beach. There is also an Earth Day Celebration at the Rainbow Disposal Center (on Nichols St.) in Huntington Beach, where people can bring their e-waste, tour a Materials Recovery Facility, and view fuel-efficient vehicles and energy conservation displays.
• April 23 from 9:30 Am until 11:00 AM, we will be at another beach clean up once again organized by Surfrider Newport Beach. This time at the Newport Beach Bilboa Pier.
• April 25 in the afternoon, we will be hiking the canyons around Laguna Beach/ Crystal Cove in Southern California. Once again send us a message at support@gogreenmug.com if you would like to come along. Distance and exact location will be determine by participants.
• April 26, we will be at Newport Bay’s Earth Day 2009 - “Learning From Nature” celebration.
• From now until Earth Day April 22, visit http://www.gogreenmug.com and get yourself a personalized reusable travel mug for 20% off with coupon code: svplntmg

You probably realized that many of these events are in Southern California, but we know there are numerous events taking place all around the world. So please visit http://ww2.earthday.net/ to find out what activities are available in your area and get involved or simply get out and enjoy the planet - take a walk, swim or surf in the ocean, climb a mountain, but enjoy Earth and think about what you can do to reduce your waste.

Earth Day is about awareness and action and there are many events happening not just on the day itself but for the days before and after. However one day or even 2 weeks will not be enough to reduce CO2 emissions or our use of single use plastic containers or even to clean all our beaches. We need to remain aware throughout our lifetimes and reduce and reuse every day.