ToRoxy

Election Day is here! Issues which will shape our country will be decided upon and you definitely want your voice heard! Exercise your independence and right to vote as an American citizen.

Feeling a little intimidated or overwhelmed by voting? Check out Rock the Vote.

Rock the Vote is a really helpful, non-partisan website that answers some common questions about voting. (Such as where to vote, what to bring, and when to go.)

I really like the polling place finder feature. You enter in your home address and then it finds your polling place. It also includes other helpful information about voting in your particular state. No matter where you live you can find out information about polling places in your neighborhood. You can also find out where to vote if you attend college.  See ya at the polls!

Click here to see this featured jacket.         

Look for this little greenprint logo (pictured to the right) on clothes that are part of Roxy’s eco-initiative called Greenprint. They are made with earth-friendly materials, like organic cotton (grown pesticide-free) and recycled bottle fleece (every jacket made from recycled PET
fleece uses about 25 plastic bottles).

Feel like you want to brush up on your eco knowledge? Here are some good resources for green reading:

Ecological Footprint Calendar
www.earthday.net/

Al Gore’s foundation for climate protection: (an excellent source of hard eco info).
www.climateprotect.org

The ultimate green resource blog:
www.treehugger.com

The eco nerd’s answer to Daily Candy:
www.idealbite.com

Environmental news and humor:
www.grist.org

An LA perspective on going green:
www.greenlagirl.com

Smart articles and good shopping:
www.sprig.com

If Perez Hilton were green:
www.ecorazzi.com

Green UK style:
www.stylewillsaveus.com

We received word from our friends at Surfrider that the UC Irvine Bren Center hearing has been postponed. Apparently UC Irvine is concerned that their facilities will be overwhelmed by the turn out.

From Surfrider:

Big News!! Toll Road Hearing Possibly Postponed
   

   
         
      

We
were informed this weekend that UC Irvine’s Bren Center will NOT play
host to the Commerce Department’s public hearing on the 241 Toll Road
on July 25th. They feared that the turnout from supporters of San
Onofre State Beach and Trestles would overwhelm the facilities at UCI,
estimating that over 10,000 of you would show up.

Clearly
there is strong community opposition to this destructive highway
project, and those voices need to be heard. Unfortunately no other
venue has been identified, and the Commerce Department has made no
definitive decision on how or when to move forward with the hearing. We
will keep you informed as the situation develops, but for now we are assuming there will be NO Hearing on July 25th at the Bren Center.

In
the meantime, make sure that the Commerce Department knows that you
still want the opportunity to be heard. Send an email to Commerce
Secretary Carlos Gutierrez demanding that they reschedule the hearing
so that he can hear from the community on this issue. Copy and paste
the text below or write your own letter, and send it to gcos.comments@noaa.gov

Dear
Secretary Gutierrez, You previously promised to hold a hearing in
Southern California to gauge the public’s feelings on the proposed 241
Toll Road through San Onofre State Beach. The venue you chose for this
hearing felt that the expected crowd was beyond their abilities serve
properly. This intense public interest is even more reason for you to
follow through on your promise and reschedule the hearing to an
appropriate venue at a later date. As a member of the public I deserve
the opportunity to have my voice heard on this issue. Please do not
silence my voice on this important decision.

Sincerely, Your Name and Address

We will keep you informed about any changes. Thanks for your continued support to protect Trestles and San Onofre!!

Your pals at Surfrider

Everyone near Irvine, CA and near our favorite surf spot, Trestles, must come out with us to stop the toll road! From our friends at SaveTrestles.org:

The biggest hearing yet for Trestles will take place Friday, July 25th at the Bren Center on the campus of University of California, Irvine.

This hearing marks the next critical battle in a decade long fight to protect Trestles!

We
already won the battle, here in California, when the California Coastal
Commission (CCC) struck down the toll road on grounds it violates the
Coastal Act. But, the TCA refused to accept the CCC decision and has appealed it to the Federal Government.

Now,
we need to ensure the Federal Government supports important California
environmental laws and upholds the Coastal Commission decision.

How do we do that? By coming out in droves to the hearing on July 25th!!

Public participation and your voices
were critical in convincing the Coastal Commission to deny the toll
road. We need to apply the same pressure to the Federal
Government–they must see first hand how many people are invested in
protecting San Onofre State Beach and Trestles.

On the day of
the event, Surfrider will be running buses from the LA and San Diego
areas. If you want to leave from San Diego, please RSVP at:
savetrestles@surfrider.org with the subject line: buses to hearing.
Please indicate if you want a bus from North or South San Diego County.
If you want to leave from LA area, please RSVP: click here
Please make plans to attend the hearing at UC Irvine with your friends
and family and stand up for Trestles, for state parks, and against the
toll road.

Quiksilver Foundation and Surfaid International have recently taken up the fight
against the effects of reoccurring earthquakes, tsunamis, famine, and disease in the Indonesian region of Sumatra. In November 2007 the Quiksilver SurfAid International Community Health Training Center was officially opened in the small village of Katiet.

Surfers have been traveling to Katiet in semi-luxury for years in search of the perfect wave while living there can often be a struggle for survival. Many do not have clean water and are constantly battling issues associated with a lack of sanitation, disease and malnutrition.

Through this initiative the Quiksilver Foundation and SurfAid hope to work with the people of Katiet to establish sustainable and healthy living practices for them and the surrounding region.

Fuel TV is airing "Beyond Katiet," a documentary about this initiative. Watch it Thursday, Feb. 28th at 8:00 pm ET/5:00 pm PT or at 11:00 pm ET/8:00 pm PT.

If everyone lived like you, how many Earths would you need?

Take this quiz to find out….Footprint Quiz

If you play or surf in the Southern Great Lakes region then you’ll want to know about an EPA hearing tomorrow night in Gary, Indiana.

Yes – surf happens on the Great Lakes!

From the Third Coast Surf Shop:

EPA Sets Hearing Date for Disputed U.S. Steel Pollution Permit

Please see the info from the Alliance for the Great Lakes in this link

http://greatlakes.org/news/111107.asp

Also see the info from the US EPA in this link:

http://www.epa.gov/region5/publiccomment/ussteel-pubmtg.htm

This pollution issue affects everyone living in the Great Lakes region, but it is especially scary for those of us who surf and swim in southern Lake Michigan waters. There are numerous surf breaks within mere miles (one within 100 feet!) of the U.S. Steel plant in Gary, Indiana, so this directly affects you!

In cooperation with the newly formed Surfrider Lake Michigan chapter based in Grand Haven, Michigan, Third Coast Surf Shop is calling on our friends and customers throughout the southern Lake Michigan region to attend this public hearing the evening of Tuesday, December 11th at Indiana University Northwest’s Savannah Auditorium, located at 3400 Broadway Ave in Gary, Indiana. Please see the link above for all of the details.

Comments may also be submitted online to EPA’s Web site at www.epa.gov/region5/publiccomment.

As surfing continues to grow into the mainstream in the Great Lakes, it is especially important that we all do our part to make a difference in helping to preserve our natural environment. This issue directly affects us and surely future generations. If you have experienced sickness of any kind from surfing near the US Steel plant, your attendance and contributions is especially needed.

Do we want our kids learning to surf in contaminated water?!

Please plan to attend one or both sessions in the hearing on December 11th! You do make a difference!!!

Every once in a while someone comes up with a truly brilliant idea … and this is one of them!

For each vocabulary question you answer correctly, FreeRice.com will donate 10 grains of rice to help fight world hunger. In just 2 months time, they’ve almost donated 2 billion grains of rice (yes, 2 billion!) that will be distributed by the United Nations World Food Program.

Not only do you get to exercise your brain (and trust me, this is pretty challenging!), but it’s for a great cause. Someone out there is enjoying a bowl of rice that you helped provide. That’ll put a smile on your face.

So far I’ve donated 340 grains of rice, how many have you donated?? 

During the horrible fires that we experienced in Southern California, I answered the plea for volunteers and donations. In my web travels I came across Servenet.org. Servenet is a new website created by Youth Service America (YSA), a resource center and the premier alliance of 200+ organizations committed to increasing the quantity and quality of opportunities for young Americans to serve locally, nationally, or globally.

The site is simple to use and I could easily find volunteer opportunities near me by typing in my zip code and looking at the different groups and the types of volunteers needed. You can match your skill with a group. Go Volunteer!

it’s unbelievable how quickly fire can spread, especially in California where there’s not a lot of rain.  With 512,000 people forced from their homes nearly everyone in southern california has been touched by the fire in one way or another. 

I think when distasters like this happen it’s important for communities to all come together and do what they can to help people in need.