Heal the Bay: Fighting for what’s right

Since Lucky Earth’s inception we have believed in separating ourselves from the barrage of “green” companies by setting higher social and environmental standards.  We figured the best way to show this was by putting our money where our mouth is.  So why not donate a percentage of our profits to an environmental cause.  We searched and found many worthy charities by the one the stood out was Heal the Bay.

So why Heal the Bay?  Well, first off, they are local to our company.  Since we are both based out of Santa Monica, California we figured it would make things a lot easier and we could see firsthand the effects of our charity.   The second major appeal of Heal the Bay was that their focus is clean water. They are dedicated to making Southern California coastal waters and watersheds, including Santa Monica Bay, safe, healthy and clean. Seems to be the perfect fit and we are happy to do our small part in helping the earth.

If you don’t know too much about Heal the Bay, they started in 1985, when a handful of people learned that the City of Los Angeles was dumping barely treated sewage into Santa Monica Bay; the pollution from sewage and storm drains had led to a decrease in the number and quality of fish in the Bay, dolphins that had reproductive problems and were full of tumors, a large patch of the bottom of the Bay was essentially lifeless, and people who swam and surfed in the Bay complained about infections and other illnesses. This is close to my heart because, in my youth I would go body boarding several times a week in Santa Monica and many times after surfing I would come down with flu-like symptoms. A handful of people, led by founding president Dorothy Green, got angry and they got organized. Heal the Bay was born.

They held rallies at the beach and got the media to inform the public of what was happening.  They also joined the Environmental Protection Agency lawsuit already pending against the City of L.A. Because of these actions, the City consented to comply with the Clean Water Act. Plans were developed to totally rebuild Hyperion to provide full secondary treatment by December 31, 1998, and replace a major sewer line that was regularly causing raw sewage overflows into Ballona Creek. Since that 1985 decision, Hyperion has become a world-class treatment facility.

Heal the Bay believes and acts on the belief that a small group of people can change their world, can literally “fight city hall” and win.

We are proud to support Heal the Bay in their efforts to protect the health of oceans and bays in Southern California by donating 1% of net profits to the cause. With every purchase you make, you are in effect making a personal difference.