MSN1109

14 | November 9, 2017 | Malibu surfside news News
malibusurfsidenews.com
City makes the most out of America Recycles Day
Malibu announces
multitude of
conservationfocused
efforts
Submitted by the City of
Malibu
The City of Malibu is
partnering with Sustainable
Surf, Marko Foam
and Access document
shredding service on public
recycling opportunities
throughout November to
celebrate America Recycles
Day, a national call to
action to reduce, reuse and
recycle waste, on Nov. 15.
The City will also be
initiating a new outreach
program using standardized
logos to make it easier
to recycle at all City facilities.
To further highlight
the importance of recycling
and reducing overall
waste, the City will be
screening “STRAWS,” a
film about reducing plastic
waste, together with the local
nonprofit Crayon Collection.
“America Recycles Day
is all about inspiring the
community to join in the
effort to reduce, reuse and
recycle, which supports
Malibu’s core mission to
protect our natural environment,”
Mayor Skylar
Peak said. “The City offers
residents many opportunities
throughout the year
to recycle materials that
can be particularly harmful
to the environment like
electronics and household
chemicals, or that require
special handling such as
personal documents. We
also have year-round environmental
education and
outreach programs.
“The screening of the
environmental documentary
‘STRAWS’ is a great
example how the City is
striving to inspire every
citizen and business to join
our environmental mission.”
The happenings
• Polystyrene Foam Recycling
Collection, Nov.
1-30, Malibu City Hall
upper parking lot
Malibu residents can
drop off polystyrene foam
in the upper parking lot of
City Hall (23825 Stuart
Ranch Road) Nov. 1-30,
from 7:30 a.m.-5:30 p.m.
on Mondays-Fridays, 10
a.m.-2 p.m. on Saturdays.
The foam will be collected
and recycled by the
environmental nonprofit
organization(s) Sustainable
Surf and Marko Foam
Inc. Some of the material
will be recycled into
surfboard blanks to create
eco-friendly surfboards as
part of the Waste to Waves
project.
Over 13 billion pounds
of styrene were produced
in the U.S. alone in 2006,
most of which was used in
manufacturing polystyrene
foam. When it is not properly
recycled, polystyrene
foam ends up in landfills,
where it can take hundreds
of years to break down,
and in the ocean, where it
contributes to ocean pollution
that damages wildlife
and ecosystems.
Since the program was
launched in 2011, Sustainable
Surf’s Waste to Waves
program co-founder Kevin
Whilden estimates that
they have recycled over
50,000 pounds of polystyrene
foam. Twenty pounds
of foam can be recycled
into 20 Marko Foam surfboard
cores, which have
25-percent recycled content.
Sustainable Surf and
Marko Foam have enlisted
notable board shapers and
professional surfers to promote
the performance and
sustainability of the ecoboards.
• Document Shredding,
Saturday, Nov. 18, City
Hall upper parking lot
Malibu residents can
drop off paper documents
to be securely shredded
and recycled for free by
Access from 10 a.m.-2
p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 18,
in the upper parking lot
of City Hall. Secure paper
document shredding
by Access is an effective
way to prevent identity
theft while recycling paper.
www.MalibuCity.org/
Shredding
• Declaration of America
Recycles Day by Malibu
City Council, Nov. 13,
City Hall
The City Council is to
proclaim Nov. 15 as America
Recycles Day during the
council meeting on Monday,
Nov. 13, at City Hall.
The Environmental Sustainability
Department will
give a presentation about
recycling, plastic pollution,
and discuss future opportunities
for the City to promote
waste reduction.
• ‘STRAWS’ screening
and panel discussion,
Nov. 30, at City Hall
As part of its efforts to
eliminate products that
contribute to plastic waste
such as single-use plastic
bags and drinking straws,
the City will hold a free
screening of the environmental
documentary
“STRAWS” at 7 p.m. on
Nov. 30, in the Civic Theater.
The City is co-hosting
the film screening with
the local nonprofit Crayon
Collection, which collects
lightly used crayons to
prevent them from going
into landfills and distributes
them to underserved
schools as part of their free
art education program.
The film highlights the
environmental devastation
caused by plastic pollution
and how eliminating plastic
drinking straws is a fast
and effective way to reduce
plastic pollution. The
film will be followed by a
panel discussion with the
filmmaker Linda Booker.
Please see Recycles, 18
SMMUSD
From Page 7
2026-27, resulting from
the supplemental transition
payment from MUSD to
SMUSD to maintain total
revenues, adjusted for cost
of living,” the report explained.
Michael Ricketts, associate
vice president of SSC
who presented with vice
president Robert Miyashiro,
explained that of the
10,462 average daily attendance
rate for SMMUSD,
8,715 of those students attend
Santa Monica schools.
“Because there are more
students in Santa Monica
than in Malibu, for Santa
Monica to gain a dollar
from Malibu, it takes about
$5 of funding from Malibu,”
Ricketts said.
Malibu would also be
a basic aid district immediately,
whereas Santa
Monica wasn’t anticipated
to reach that classification
until 2023-2024.
SSC also noted that Santa
Monica becomes dependent
on Malibu in either
model, and Santa Monica
would also have a lower
per pupil funding than
it currently does as SM-
MUSD.
“What should precede all
of this is an explicit discussion
of the reorganization
itself and the merits of reorganization,”
Miyashiro
added.
Michael Bishop, interim
assistant superintendent
of business and fiscal services,
noted that while he
personally had no opinion
on the matter, the split does
pose financial risks.
“To the Malibu-district
forming board, I would say
do it and do it as quickly
as you can, because almost
immediately, your revenue
increases,” he said. “To
the Santa Monica board, I
would say be careful because
there are [financial]
risks ... that expose you
more to economic concerns
than you were before separation.”
Further adding contention
to the issue was the
City of Malibu’s petition
for unification, filed Aug.
31, which is expected to
be considered by the LA
County Office of Education
in December or January.
Notably, that petition
does not include financial
plans.
Trying to find common
ground
Board Member Jon Kean
agreed that the Santa Monica-Malibu
relationship
has not always been fair to
Malibu, but he said the proposed
financial solutions
did not add up either.
“We have not done a
good job of being a unified
district,” Kean said. “At
the same time, I don’t see
a financial path that lets us
separate without harming
one group.”
Lieberman posed options
such as a charter school
route, while Vice President
Richard Tahvildaran-Jesswein
suggested an option
in which Santa Monica
and Malibu share revenue
for a longer period such as
50 years. Of the SSC and
MUNC proposals on the
table, Tahvildaran-Jesswein
said he felt SSC’s option
was “cleaner.”
Board Member Oscar
de la Torre also noted that
the resources the district
split has required have put
important issues, such as
closing the achievement
gap, on the back burner.
“In the end we end up
with no progress, just a
lot of ill will and a feeling
of resentment,” he said.
“We’re at a point now ...
that if separation doesn’t
happen that there’s going
to be more resentment.”
Malibu’s lone School
Board representative,
Craig Foster, urged the
board to consider Malibu’s
side of the argument and to
work with them.
“We need to know what
we are willing to do, and
then go to Malibu,” he said.
Superintendent Dr. Ben
Drati was given direction
to work with Malibu
representatives and come
back with further direction.
Meanwhile, SMMUSD is
expected to come up with
a response to the pending
petition.
A SMMUSD vote on the
issue is not anticipated until
December.