I just listened to a story on NPR about a group that is starting a campaign to reduce paper use by urging people to change the margins on their Word documents from 1.25 inches to 0.75 inches. It’s a small change but it will reduce paper use by 4.75% which translates into a HUGE savings in resources - trees, water, energy, …

What do you say? Want to do your part?

http://www.changethemargins.com/

Dear Friends,

As you know, one of my concerns is for the health of our oceans. I don’t get too involved with politics, but I think this is an issue we can all agree upon – We need to keep our oceans clean and healthy!

Through a link on the Environmental Activism Page on www.patagonia.com, I have just contacted Dr. William T. Hogarth of the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS). NMFS is revising its procedures for reviewing the environmental impacts of fishing activities and for allowing the public to comment on its proposed fishery management actions. The existing procedures ensure that ocean wildlife and habitats are protected to promote healthy wildlife populations and continued fishing opportunities. Some are calling for theses procedures to be weakened, which would put ocean wildlife and habitats at risk. Weakening theses procedures would also close the public out of management of our publicly-owned oceans.

Please take a moment to learn more about the Marine Fish Conservation Network and thank your representative about this important issue. It takes just 30 seconds, but can truly make a difference. Please support this effort by taking action at the link below.

http://www.patagonia.com/web/us/patagonia.go?assetid=2962

(Link through Environmental Activism through Patagonia)

Once you have sent your letter, you can help even more by asking your friends and family to participate.

Thank you!

Cheers,

Liz

One of Liz’s latest obsessions is maintaining her new backyard compost bin. Here’s a shot of the weekly maintenance: Turning the contents of the bin over and adding in new material and water, if necessary.

Oakland (Calif.) April 9, 2007 — Strictly Sail Pacific, the largest sailboat show on the West Coast that opens in Oakland on April 18, brings environmentally friendly activities to Jack London Square on Earth Day weekend. The five-day event—which runs until Sunday, April 22—features a large fleet of sailboats fueled by wind power, boats and companies that tread lightly on the ocean environment, and opportunities to try sailing.”As a group, sailors are respectful of the ocean environment, and the weather,” said Kevin Murphy of show organizer Sail America. “They have to work with winds and tides, and they have to operate according to the weather … The ocean is much more than a playground: it`s integral to everything you do as a sailor.”

Sailing is a generally “green” activity, but one boat coming to Strictly Sail takes that concept to a new level.

The Derek M. Baylis, a 65-footer designed by pioneering California naval architect Tom Wylie and built in Watsonville (Calif.), was designed to give marine researchers and educators access to the ocean while leaving a minimal footprint on the environment.

In the world of marine research vessels, this sailboat is like a hybrid car—tapping both the power of the wind and that of an auxiliary diesel engine. Fitted with an innovative double-masted, cat-ketch rig, the boat consumes a fraction of the fuel used by research vessels driven by engines alone: “It`s like powering an 18-wheeler using a motorcycle engine,” said Wylie.

The Derek M. Baylis—which is operated by the nonprofit Sealife Conservation and also works with the Monterey Bay Aquarium “Science Under Sail” program—takes researchers, school kids, tourists, and all those with an interest in the oceans aboard for a first-hand look at how man`s actions can have a positive, or devastating, effect on the health of the ocean. The boat is coming to Strictly Sail Pacific to extend its environmental education to showgoers who step aboard.

Strictly Sail Pacific runs April 18-22 at Oakland`s Jack London Square. For more information and to purchase tickets, visit www.strictlysail.com.

The Patagonia web site has some interesting articles about Environmental Activism. On their “Recommended Books List” for their Oceans As Wilderness campaign is “50 Ways To Save the Ocean” by David Helvarg. (Click on the picture to go to a bookstore site.)