Last Friday morning, three Thinkshifters reported for San Francisco Bay patrol duty at Pier 1½. San Francisco Baykeeper, the recipient of our 1% for the Planet donation, invited us to join them on their patrol boat to show us more about what they do. Eliet Henderson, Baykeeper’s development director, met us with the day’s mission: locating drain pipes and outflows along the San Rafael Canal.

Here’s what we learned:

Storm water runoff is the biggest source of pollution in the bay.  Since outflows are not adequately mapped, so Baykeeper is skirting the bay looking for them  so that when the rainy season comes, they can track where storm water comes into the bay and monitor the pollutants.

Baykeeper does amazing work, and they manage it on a very tight budget.  Much of this is due to dedicated volunteers like the skipper and first mate on our boat. Volunteers like these, along with donations, are what allow Baykeeper to continue its vigilant protection of the bay.

Our patrol trip was a treat—we enjoyed a beautiful day on the bay and spotted some wildlife (ospreys, herons, a sea lion) as well as a few outflow pipes. We also learned a lot about Baykeeper’s day-to-day efforts, and we’re proud to support their work.

To learn more about San Francisco Baykeeper and how you can help, visit baykeeper.org.

Thinkshift is proud to once again to support San Francisco Baykeeper with our annual 1% for the Planet donation. This scrappy organization counts major successes year after year in protecting our hometown’s iconic bay—and they do it on a lean budget.

Here are a few of their most recent triumphs:

• Baykeeper successfully settled its long-running lawsuit against Menlo Park–based West Bay Sanitary District, and the agency significantly reduced its sewage spills as a result of the legal action. Baykeeper says the agency used to be one of the worst-polluting sewage agencies in the Bay Area, but it has made major upgrades to reduce spills.
• California Waste Solutions (CWS) agreed to reduce toxic storm water runoff from a San Jose facility that sorts curbside recycling materials after Baykeeper documented stormwater from the CWS facility containing illegal levels of heavy metals running into Coyote Creek, a key tributary to San Francisco Bay. Baykeeper worked with CWS to determine the best solutions, and the company is now implementing key site upgrades.
• Baykeeper also reached an agreement with Svendsen’s Boat Works in Alameda to reduce stormwater pollution that’s toxic to salmon and other fish, and contains common contaminants from boatyard operations. The company responded to Baykeeper’s concerns with “initiative and a comprehensive plan to protect the Bay from pollution,” Baykeeper says.

We love both Baykeeper’s eagerness to work with enterprises to reduce pollution and its commitment to go after the laggards, no matter what it takes. We’re proud to continue supporting them. You can learn about everything they do here.

If you, too, care about the Bay, check out their spring party fundraiser.