IBM has been a long time sponsor of Bay Day for the last 4 years. 2021 is the 3rd year IBM supports Bay Day as a title sponsor.

IBM is dedicated to being a good steward of the environment and has well-established, comprehensive environmental programs and goals that help conserve natural resources and reduce our impact on biodiversity and ecosystem loss.

For example, the following four IBM sites have achieved Wildlife Habitat Council (WHC) Conservation Certifications for their wildlife habitat management and conservation education programs. This includes IBM’s two largest sites in California, which are in the Bay Area.

IBM Almaden Research Center: San Jose, California
IBM Silicon Valley Laboratory: San Jose, California
IBM Corporate Headquarters: Armonk, New York
IBM Research Triangle Park: North Carolina

Wildlife habitat management and conservation education programs at these sites range from maintaining nesting boxes for avian species and conducting semiannual bird counts to providing pollinator-friendly habitats and organizing employee nature and species identification walks.

In continued efforts to support ecosystem diversity and well-being globally, IBM has set a goal to plant 50 pollinator gardens at IBM locations globally by year-end 2023.

An important objective of this goal is not only to plant pollinator gardens but also to engage employees to help plant and care for the gardens. In addition, IBM is committed to not only fostering site-level habitat management, but also sharing habitat management and conservation knowledge with employees. In March 2021, IBM leveraged its 30-year collaboration with WHC to develop education materials on how to create pollinator-friendly habitats and provided it to IBM employees worldwide. Employees can reference these geography-specific Conservation Pollinator Toolkits to learn what plants are suggested for their region, including planting instructions, to start their own pollinator gardens at home, in their communities or at work. Pollinators are essential for maintaining a diverse ecosystem and a simple and effective way to support pollinators is to plant appropriate flowering plants that attract and provide pollinators with the habitat resources they need.

IBM would like to share the North America Pollinator ToolKit with anyone who is interested in planting their own pollinator garden. The toolkit will help determine the plants that are best suited for the soil and climate in your area.

Bay Day Regional Spotlight

Brought to you by Facebook, weekly regional spotlights give an in-depth look at the Bay Area. From trails and activities to inspire your Bay Day Trail Challenge adventures, to partners and locations vital to Save The Bay’s mission of creating a healthy and resilient Bay – discover what makes our region so special, and so important to protect.

Don’t forget to follow us on Instagram and Facebook and share your adventure with #BayTrailChallenge #SFBayDay and tag @saveSFbay for the chance to win a $50 REI gift certificate every week in October.

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Discovery Guide

Trails

Activities

Become a Backyard Botanist

Our “Young Botanist” activity connects art with science, inviting participants to carefully observe, locate, and draw their own subjects. →

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Hayward Shoreline

While exploring the Bay shoreline, notice all the ways that the landscape has been altered by development. In many parts of the Bay, we have built right up to the shoreline with houses, roads, and other critical infrastructure like water treatment plants. Much of this development is already in areas that are at risk of flooding, and in coming years that risk will increase and expand as sea level rise pushes the Bay shoreline upland. In an era of rising tides due to climate change, where we develop in the future and how we protect existing homes and infrastructure are some of the most pressing questions that Save The Bay is working to address.

Hayward is spearheading an approach that could serve as a model for the entire Bay Area. Earlier this year, the Hayward Shoreline Adaptation Master Plan was adopted between the City of Hayward, Hayward Area Recreation District, and the East Bay Regional Park District to prepare the area for rising tides. Importantly, this plan heavily relies on restoring tidal marsh and natural habitats and utilizes gradual sloping landscapes called ecotone levees. These types of levees absorb storm surges and allow shoreline habitat to migrate as seas rise while still providing needed flood protection for developed areas behind them.

Save The Bay has partnered with the Oro Loma Sanitary District to manage a horizontal levee that protects the wastewater treatment plant, and the concept has proven very successful. We are very excited that this plan will build on that initial pilot project, and restore several former salt production ponds into tidal marsh habitat that will also protect the surrounding community from flooding. The Hayward plan is proof that when jurisdictions work together, we can prepare our cities for sea level rise while also improving the health of the Bay, restore native habitat for endangered species, and expand recreational opportunities along the shoreline.

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SF Bay Trail Birds

The San Francisco Bay Trail is a necklace of essential habitat for threatened bird species, including the Ridgeway’s Rail and the Western Snowy Plover. These species are both federally protected under the Endangered Species Act; cooperation between local agencies and nonprofits here in the Bay Area is imperative for ensuring their continued survival.

The Ridgeway’s Rail is endemic to the tidal marshes of the San Francisco Bay, living amongst the pickleweed and Pacific cordgrass. Its survival is put at risk by the spread of invasive and hybridized cordgrass, whose dense growth tends to clog the marsh channels that the rails rely on for foraging. Additionally, invasive predators, such as cats and rats, are a major concern.

The Snowy Plovers breed on beaches and dunes up and down the West Coast, including Crown Memorial Beach in Alameda, and Eden Landing Ecological Reserve in Hayward, where Save The Bay conducts restoration. Like the Ridgeway’s Rail, the plovers are impacted by invasive species, including European beachgrass, which eliminates their nesting habitat. Both species’ critical habitats – tidal marsh and beach – have been lost due to residential and commercial development in California.

If you are interested in helping threatened bird species along the San Francisco Bay Trail, check out some of these nonprofits doing amazing work in the Bay Area: San Francisco Estuary Invasive Spartina Project and San Francisco Bay Bird Observatory.

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West Oakland Environmental Indicators Project’s Shoreline Academy

Every day, anywhere from 6,000 to 20,000 cars pass through the community of West Oakland. West Oakland residents, tucked in between four major Bay Area freeways, are in the 99^th percentile in the State for proximity to traffic and exposure to exhaust. This is just a small piece of the unfortunate saga of environmental injustice this community has been fighting for decades. West Oakland Environmental Indicators Project (WOEIP) is an organization leading the fight for environmental justice by empowering the residents to collect, analyze, and share data about the quality of the air in their community. Owning Our Air is WOEIP’s action plan to address poor air quality with 89 strategies from expanding Asthma Management programs and air filtration systems in community centers, to biofilter design and urban canopy planning.

This summer, WOEIP launched the first Oakland Shoreline Leadership Academy, another project aimed at community-informed solutions to environmental hazards threatening West Oakland. Save The Bay is honored to be part of the curriculum by leading a seminar on habitat restoration and ecosystem services of tidal marsh.  Academy members will also participate in a restoration program located on the Martin Luther King Jr. Regional Shoreline. At the end of the 6 month session Academy participants will develop a community engagement plan and shoreline improvement project. Check out how you can get involved with West Oakland Environmental Indicators Project. Get involved!

Cooley Landing Trail Loop blog was written and originally published by Environmental Volunteers. Explore more of the South Bay during your Bay Day Trail Challenge.

Nestled behind the Palo Alto Airport hides a gem of an outdoor opportunity for all ages; the EcoCenter in Palo Alto Baylands. This public nature center can be the jumping off point to the Cooley Landing Trail Loop.

Are you an aviation buff? The Cooley Landing Trail Loop will be a sensory feast!

As you walk, bike or run the 3.2 mile trail you’ll hear the sounds of the single engine planes take off.

Feel the breeze from the bay, hear the calls of snowy egrets, or be lucky enough to spot the endangered Salt Marsh Harvest Mouse. Along the way try and spot the varieties of wildflowers or get the kids, young and old involved in counting the number of different types of birds they see. When you close in on the loop don’t forget to stop into the EcoCenter during their open hours and learn even more about what you saw. This year around access, flat trail won’t disappoint!

Contact communications@evols.org to register for the Environmental Volunteers Team today!

This Bay Day Trail Challenge we encourage everyone to explore the Bay in their own way. Whether you hit the trail on your bike, jump in a kayak, or paint a picture of nature outside your door, try something different and see what you discover.

There are so many fun and free activities you can do while you explore the Bay, here are a few of our favorites.

Bay Day Trail Challenge Tips

This year, Facebook has strongly demonstrated its support for Save The Bay’s mission by becoming one of the title sponsors for our 6^th Annual Bay Day. The tech company that makes the Bay Area its home has sponsored the event every year since its inception and also engages in ongoing partnerships with other outstanding local organizations that are focused on endangered species protection efforts.

These include:

San Francisco Bay Bird Observatory (SFBBO)

The SFBBO has combined science and outreach for 40 years to conserve birds and their habitats and protect endangered species in the marshland—the crucial area where Save The Bay also focuses our restoration work. The SFBBO maintains a particular focus on helping protect the Snowy Plover, and also aids the Ridgway’s Rail and salt marsh harvest mouse.

Facebook recently supported one of the SFBBO’s exciting new programs, the Pacific MOTUS Tower Network, which uses an automated radio technology to allow the scientific community to track migrating birds. SFBBO Executive Director Yiwei Wang explains that MOTUS can track species between Bay Area sites… “and also between important migratory locations throughout the West Coast as more Motus towers get added.”

Urban Wildlife Research Project

Facebook supports this project that aims to protect gray foxes in the Palo Alto Baylands—an area important to Save The Bay’s work as well—and to document their behavior in order to establish healthy habitats and develop the biodiverse wildlife corridors necessary for their survival. Some of these foxes even live among Facebook’s on-campus green spaces, having found their way up there from the neighboring Baylands!

In addition to these partnerships that build on Facebook’s longstanding commitment to the environment, the company implements sustainability measures in its operations. Last year, the company achieved net zero emissions (100% renewable energy) in its global operations, and recently committed to being water positive by 2030 (they will restore more water than they consume).

To view Facebook’s Sustainability Report, and learn more about their focus areas—Climate, Energy, Water, Biodiversity, and Responsible Supply Chain—visit sustainability.fb.com.

Bay Day Regional Spotlight

Brought to you by Facebook, weekly regional spotlights give an in-depth look at the Bay Area. From trails and activities to inspire your Bay Day Trail Challenge adventures, to partners and locations vital to Save The Bay’s mission of creating a healthy and resilient Bay – discover what makes our region so special, and so important to protect.

Don’t forget to follow us on Instagram and Facebook and share your adventure with #BayTrailChallenge #SFBayDay and tag @saveSFbay for the chance to win a $50 REI gift certificate every week in October.

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Discovery Guide

Trails

Activities

Bay Summer Camp

Learn more about the wildlife that you can find in the Bay Area through Save The Bay’s Summer Camp activities.

Summer camp activities are a part of OLO: Outdoor Learning Online, Save The Bay’s education portal that offers hands-on science lessons for remote learning environments.

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South Bay Shoreline Study

The South Bay has some of the most incredible access to the Bay shoreline, as the Bay Trail snakes along the levees ringing former salt production ponds that now comprise the Don Edwards National Wildlife Refuge. Many of the ponds just north of San Jose are also part of an ambitious flood protection and habitat restoration project called the South Bay Shoreline Study. Despite its unassuming name, the Shoreline Study is a critical component of the South Bay’s future flood protection from storms and sea level rise. Many of the surrounding communities, particularly Alviso in San Jose, are subject to flooding, and with sea level rise the risk from the Bay is increasing.

The Shoreline Study will build new levees and restore nearly 3,000 acres of former salt ponds into tidal marsh and other natural habitat to buffer Alviso and North San Jose from the Bay’s rising waters. Together with the larger South Bay Salt Ponds Restoration Project, the largest tidal wetland restoration project on the west coast, these two efforts will remake the area’s landscape to provide habitat for endangered species, flood and storm surge protection for residents, water quality improvements for the Bay, and more recreational access for people to experience and enjoy the natural landscape of our region. 

With sea level rise from climate change already staring to show impacts locally, this is exactly the type of nature-based, multi-benefit climate infrastructure that Save The Bay works to support. In 2016, we led the campaign to pass Measure AA, a $500 million parcel tax that voters backed overwhelmingly to fund these types of restoration projects. That investment has already been put to work providing significant funding for the Shoreline Study, along with large contributions from the federal government, State Coastal Conservancy, and Valley Water. Save The Bay will continue to advocate for additional state and federal funding to accelerate these types of restoration and flood protection projects to keep our communities out of the reach of rising tides.

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Making our Cities Resilient: San Jose Urban Greening

A day out walking along the Bay provides significant mental and physical health benefits. Unfortunately, the same isn’t always true within our cities where streets are built to prioritize traffic efficiency over pedestrian safety, and urban environments are dominated by hardscape rather than vegetation and natural features. In fact, walking or biking around many cities can be downright dangerous, especially in neighborhoods that have experienced historic patterns of disinvestment and lack access to political and economic power, which often fall along racial lines.  

Climate change is making this situation worse. As average temperatures increase, areas without tree canopy and vegetation experience even higher heat – a situation called the “urban heat island” effect. Trees and other plants can help reduce the ambient air temperature in cities by up to 10 degrees, and pervious surfaces like tree wells, planter boxes, and bioswales can absorb and filter rainfall from the more intense storms that are predicted to occur. Doing so relieves pressure on stormwater systems that can get overloaded and lead to flooding, and stormwater filtered through these types of “green” infrastructure is cleaner – improving water quality in the Bay.  

In San Jose, Save The Bay has been working over the past few years to prioritize equitable investment in “urban greening”, including expanded tree canopy, green streets, and other nature-based features. By doing so, we can make our communities more resilient to climate change and improve water quality in the Bay. If done as part of pedestrian-focused street redesigns, we can also ensure that our streets are safer, more appealing places for people.

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A Long History of Restoration In Palo Alto

Save The Bay has worked in collaboration with the City of Palo Alto in the Baylands for over 20 years, initially establishing a restoration site at the mouth of San Francisquito Creek in 2001. That first season, we held 8 programs and planted over 10,000 plants grown by an outside native plant nursery contractor. In 2004 and with much celebration and fanfare, the City constructed the nursery shadehouse structure we still use today to grow our plants. Over the past two decades, the Baylands have been the site of innumerable education and community-based programs. We join together with the City of Palo Alto staff to restore the shoreline and educate the public about the importance of these critical tidal marsh habitats. This partnership not only gives us a home base from which to conduct our restoration and education work but provides vital support to both parties.

In the next few years, Save The Bay hopes to take our work with the City of Palo Alto even farther. We’ll apply what we’ve learned from our work on the Oro Loma Horizontal Levee demonstration project and apply it to similar multi-solution green infrastructure projects around the bay. A local example of this is the planned Palo Alto Horizontal Levee Pilot Project, undertaken by the City of Palo Alto, ESA, the SF Estuary Partnership and the EPA. Gently sloping, vegetated horizontal levees, like those designed in these two projects, generate greater benefits than a traditional hardened shoreline levee. They provide healthy, native transition-zone habitat, improve water quality, and serve as shoreline and flood protection in the face of sea level rise.

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Meet the Environmental Volunteers

Environmental Volunteers (EVols) is an organization with a longstanding relationship to the Palo Alto Baylands and a mission similar to that of Save The Bay. Since 1972, EVols has provided hands-on science learning to students throughout the South Bay and strives to generate lifelong stewards of the natural world. The organization is housed in a unique building originally constructed in 1941 for the Sea Scouts program’s use in launching boats into the adjacent Palo Alto Harbor. In 1986, the City of Palo Alto chose to close the frequently dredged harbor, allowing it to return to its natural state of tidal marsh wetland. Today, the Baylands tidal marsh and transition zones are lush and verdant, providing critical habitat for migrating waterfowl and endemic species like the elusive Ridgway’s Rail.

Interested in volunteering with EVols? Check out their website or email volunteer@Evols.org.

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Facebook’s Ongoing Committment to the Environment

Building on Facebook’s ongoing dedication to fighting climate change and their commitment to Bay Day as a title sponsor this year, they recently partnered with Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District to support a crucial effort to improve access to the San Francisco Bay Trail. This trail system is a central focus of Save The Bay’s 6^th Annual Bay Day, and is planned to eventually include 500 miles around the Bay. Currently, 350 miles are in place and expansion continues as gradually the gaps between segments are filled in.

One such gap is the Ravenswood Bay Trail Connection, in East Palo Alto (near Facebook’s campus and one of Save The Bay’s habitat restoration sites). Closing this gap was a priority since it opened 80 miles of continuous Bay Trail, connecting to Menlo Park to the north, the Santa Clara area to the south, and across the Dumbarton Bridge to the East Bay. Completed in 2020, the new segment enables more people to commute by bicycle and offers new options for recreation.

Facebook has been instrumental in ensuring this vision will become a reality—one that will connect more Bay Area residents now, and far into the future, with the natural environment and with our spectacular Bay.

In 2020, Bay Day brought over a thousand people from around the Bay Area to the shoreline to explore and celebrate San Francisco Bay. Together, we covered over 9,000 miles of Bay Trail and completed 360 activities. We look forward to going even farther in 2021.

Our 5th annual Bay Day was a huge success – because of you! We want to thank everyone who made this celebration possible.

This year over 1,200 people got out and explored the Bay during the Bay Day Trail challenge. Together, you covered more than 9,000 miles of trail and completed 360 activities.

From paddleboarding 13 miles to biking a 118-mile loop around the Bay, cleaning up our shorelines to enjoying weekend walks with family and friends – we were so inspired by the many ways you connected with our beautiful region. We hope you loved Bay Day as much as we did! 

While Bay Day may be over, you can head to savesfbay.org to learn about more ways you can get involved and support our work. And remember to follow us on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter to join us in celebrating and protecting San Francisco Bay year-round.

Facebook has been a long time supporter of Save The Bay and an active participant in our work. From being a top Bay Day sponsor, to their commitment to using 100% renewable energy on their campuses, to a staff member serving on our Board, it is clear to see that Facebook is working to impact the environment in a positive way.

While the Bay Area is a host to many of the largest and most successful tech companies in the world, it is important to measure their success not only by what is profitable, but by how they choose to use their resources to better the community around them. Many companies have their area of focus when it comes to impact or corporate social responsibility initiatives, and Facebook has released a “climate commitment” aimed at driving more awareness around climate issues and motivating action.  

Mentionable initiatives toward achieving this goal include:

Water Stewardship and Biodiversity: An initiative that lies near and dear to Save The Bay, Facebook recognizes that water plays a major role in those that are affected most by climate change. From drought to flooding to lack of biodiversity from habitat loss, Facebook supports water restoration projects and is working to contract restoration projects at ⅔ of their most water-stressed data centers by the end of the year. Check out what Facebook is doing for the bees in Ireland.

100% Renewable Energy: Facebook vowed to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions by 75% and support their operations to 100% renewable energy by the end of 2020. By investing in solar farms, converting their Menlo Park headquarters to 100% renewable energy and diverting 90% of its waste from landfills, and achieving high marks in LEED certifications (for green buildings), they are on track to meet this goal by the end of this year. 

Net Zero Greenhouse Gas Emissions by 2030: This year, Facebook has taken their promises to mitigate climate change further by committing to net zero greenhouse gas emissions in 2030. With guidance from the Science Based Targets Initiative they aim to be a leader in the charge to develop science-based solutions for a zero-carbon future.

Carbon Removal: Over the next decade, Facebook is prioritizing nature-based carbon removal projects such as forest conservation, reforestation, and regenerative agriculture; acknowledging that reduction of emissions internally is challenging and requires investing in solutions that maintain the natural world. Check out their Climate Commitment for more detail.

Talking About Climate Change: Facebook is keeping the conversation going and raising awareness by continuing to provide access to resources centered around climate change through their Climate Science Information Center, a resource with information from experts and climate organizations with ways to take action.

If you would like to read more about Facebook’s climate action initiatives, check out their recent sustainability report. 

It is brave to take a stance on climate change at a time when it is very controversial, and that is why Save The Bay is proud to align with a company where together, we can create a Bay Area that is proactive about climate adaptation.

 Related articles:

https://www.engadget.com/facebook-sustainability-report-renewable-energy-220144722.html?guccounter=1

https://sustainability.fb.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/Facebooks_Net_Zero_commitment_September_Final.pdf

This week, we encourage everyone to take a step to protect the Bay by preventing pollution. Whether you’re dropping off your ballot and supporting Bay Smart policies, or picking up trash along the shoreline, post your action on Instagram, tag us @saveSFbay, and use #BayDayTrailChallenge #SFBayDay, by Thursday, October 29 at 11:59 p.m. for the chance to win a sustainable storage starter pack from our friends at Stasher or a fun swag box from the wonderful people at AllTrails.

Those lucky enough to call the Bay Area home have no shortage of access to natural splendor. From unparalleled views overlooking the Pacific to wetlands filled with unique plants and animals, it’s no wonder so many people love living here. As we celebrate Bay Day by connecting residents to the many trails and sights around the Bay, we also want to bring attention to an integral part of creating a healthy and resilient future: pollution prevention.

COVID-19 has radically changed our day to day lives. Massive surges in personal protective equipment have led to an increase in plastic pollution globally, the Bay being no exception. As restaurants move to take-out options, use of single-use utensils and bags is sharply increasing as well. While this new plastic-heavy reality is necessary to slow the spread of the disease, it simultaneously creates an urgent pollution problem we must address. What can you do?

Support Bay Smart Policies

Recent legislative efforts have attempted to curb plastic consumption and pollution in California. Assembly Bill 1080 and Senate Bill 54 were introduced by legislators last year to set a framework for plastic reduction in California. Under the bills, single-use plastic products must be 75% recycled by 2030, with all new single-use products being made recyclable or compostable. Unfortunately, these bills were not adopted. Recology, a waste hauler based in San Francisco, has secured an ambitious ballot initiative on the November 2022 ballot. The measure, if enacted, will require CalRecycle to adopt ambitious regulations on big single-use plastic producers and enact a tax on items of packaging or foodware.

Help Clean Up Your Neighborhood

Despite slow movement on plastic reduction policies at the state level, there are plenty of opportunities today to individually make a difference. Organizations like the Coastal Commission have made removing trash in your own community safe and accessible through Coastal Cleanup Month, which garnered over 12,000 participants in September. You can still access their Guidance for Neighborhood Cleanups to help you plan one of your own.

Reduce Your Plastic Use

You may recall earlier this year when reusable bags were temporarily prohibited in grocery stores as an extra precaution to stop the spread of COVID-19. Good news: our county health departments have confirmed that reusable bags are safe to use, so long as you wash in between uses. Look for sustainable solutions for all single use plastics in your life and see how many you can eliminate.

Neighborhood cleanups and bringing your own bag to the store are small steps we can take to keep plastics out of landfills and the Bay, even during this time of uncertainty.Pollution is a collective result of the actions of many, and naturally the responsibility falls upon everyone to ensure proper action is taken. Here in the Bay Area, our shorelines and waters rely on the actions of its residents to ensure we can enjoy the natural beauty for years to come. If each person is able to make consistent and effective changes in their lives, the impact would be undeniably large. So from now on, examine your own ability to safely prevent pollution on every scale, and help keep the Bay Area beautiful.