When the technology became sufficient, video game designers created open-ended worlds in which characters could roam freely. Obstacles were placed in each character’s way, and if characters overcame them their powers were upgraded. Each character’s “will” was controlled by a higher intelligence, namely the player holding the controls.
Now, where do you suppose the designers got this idea?
In our last column we examined how the universe repeats the same patterns at different levels of resolution. That is also the case with the virtual realities mankind creates. The life lessons offered by sophisticated video games mirror the hard-won wisdom of real life, such as if you encounter a situation that seems unsolvable, there’s probably some key detail you have not noticed. Find your blind spot, and solving the puzzle becomes easy.
Technology’s rise has led some to suggest that reality is a “simulation”; that the material world is designed like a game that ultimately isn’t “real.” The ancients had the same view; they just looked at things metaphysically rather than technologically, believing the world was created by a higher intelligence, and that godly or planetary powers were capable of being upgraded by those who played the game properly.
We moderns think of the world as being matter-based, with Platonic concepts of metaphysical reality belonging to a less-enlightened past. But according to traditional doctrines, the material world is just one plane of reality—the lowest—in a consciousness-based universe. Matter, in this sense, is simply a dense form of consciousness. Hence the saying, “Even a stone is God, it just doesn’t know it.”
This brings up the notion of fate. From the point of view of eternity, past, present and future all exist simultaneously. Ponder this scenario: Say you drop a potato chip in the path of a meandering ant. The ant doesn’t know there’s a chip in its future if it stays on course, but you do. You have a vaster vista of reality, a godlike point of view compared to the ant. Whether it finds the chip or veers on another course is irrelevant to the reality of the chip. Thus, at any moment all future scenarios exist.
You could have chosen not to read this, but you did. And now here you are with a new perspective, wondering what you might do next.
After the last year of pandemic stress, a wellness weekend is just what the North Bay needs. Thankfully, that is exactly what the Meritage Resort and Spa, and its neighboring sister property, Vista Collina Resort, are planning for the first-ever Moondance Napa Wellness Weekend. Opening with a reception and drum circle on June 24, the four-day series of packages include yoga and other outdoor activities, spa treatments, meditation, a “Celebration of Spring” concert, healthy meals, artisan markets with wellness vendors and more. Sign up for individual packages, or the whole weekend, Thursday through Sunday, June 24–27, 875 Bordeaux Way, Napa. Meritagecollection.com.
Point Reyes Station
West Marin’s Heidrun Meadery prides itself on making Champagne-style mead and honey in the most sustainable manner, including supporting local bee populations and beekeepers around the country. In celebration of Pollinators Week, Heidrun Meadery hosts Pollinator Week Mead Tasting, featuring a tour of the property’s fields and meadows with Pollinator Partnership Executive Director Kelly Rourke and Heidrun Farm Manager Adam Smith as guides. Learn about the variety of pollinators at the farm and the relationship Heidrun forges with this pollinator ecosystem. Following the walk, attendees can retire to the patio for a fun-filled mead tasting, lead by Heidrun General Manager Michael Zilber. Friday, June 25, at 11925 Hwy 1, Point Reyes Station. Noon. $40; registration required. Heidrunmeadery.com.
Novato
The Novato Art Stroll, the Novato Chamber’s signature summer event, is back and in-person this year after canceling plans in 2020. The free, family-friendly weekend gathering features several artist vendors from all over the Bay Area (including local Novato businesses) in a socially distanced arrangement. The art stroll will also host many local musicians including James Patrick Regan from the Deadlies, singer James H Harman, Craig Caffall, Pamela Joyce and Bob McBain, Douglas Cross and one-man band Chaz Gunter. Food and beverage stations will be limited due to certain restrictions, but will be available, and the Chamber is adhering to all Covid-related protocols such as providing sanitizing stations and asking that all who attend keep masks or facial coverings on. The Novato Art Stroll takes place Saturday and Sunday, June 26 and 27, on Grant Avenue between Redwood and Fifth Street, Novato. 11am to 6pm both days. Free admission. Novatochamber.com.
Novato
As part of Pride Month, Marin County nonprofit organization the Spahr Center—which serves the LGBTQ+ community and supports those affected by HIV—is holding an LGBTQ+ Pride Rally this weekend at Novato City Hall. The event is being held to thank City and Town Councils throughout Marin, as well as the Board of Supervisors, for flying the LGBTQ+ Pride Flag during the month of June, and to present the center’s LGBTQ+ agenda for Marin. Limited seating is available, and a pop-up tent will accommodate some rally goers. As with all events, masks and social distancing are encouraged for the rally on Saturday, June 26, at 901 Sherman Ave., Novato. Noon. Free. thespahrcenter.org.
Sebastopol
With in-person events making a comeback, local venues like HopMonk Tavern are welcoming bands back for much-needed live music. This weekend, Sonoma County five-piece party-starters Burnside are at HopMonk in Sebastopol and ready to make the crowd move with original tunes that incorporate soul, folk, indie-rock and Americana. Joining Burnside for the show is another popular local figure, singer-songwriter Caitlin Jemma, who will likely perform some songs off her upcoming record True Meaning, due out later this summer. Catch up with the music on Saturday, June 26, at HopMonk Tavern, 230 Petaluma Ave, Sebastopol. 8pm. 21 and over. $18. Hopmonk.com/sebastopol.
While the Covid-19 pandemic certainly hit the pause button on live music in Marin County last year, it did not break up the scene; local bands are jamming once again as venues reopen and live events return to the North Bay.
One of Marin’s busiest musicians is Point Reyes–based Danny Vitali, who’s playing in a half-dozen groups right now, and who just released his second album under his own name.
Out now as a digital album and soon coming on blue vinyl, Vitali’s Fronds is a seven-track trip of psychedelic-folk that tells the story of, well, everything.
Born in California, but raised in the Midwest, Vitali relocated to West Marin a decade ago, and his debut solo record, 2016’s Invernesia, was heavily influenced by his surroundings.
“In the five years since (Invernesia), I’ve been traveling around California and exploring it,” Vitali says. “I feel like California is so broad and wide, there’s so much to see.”
After taking in sights ranging from Mount Lassen to Death Valley, Vitali used that expanded landscape to fuel his creativity, making Fronds a somewhat musical continuation of Invernesia.
Yet, Vitali plunges his indie-folk style into deeper waters on Fronds, creating his most ambient tones yet—such as the album’s hypnotic instrumental title track—as well as crafting his catchiest song to date, “The Afterglow,” which is a heavy contender for Marin’s song of the summer.
Thematically, Fronds contains a compelling narrative arc that Vitali compares to a sci-fi fantasy story.
“Sort of like an alternate world that you enter in the first song,” he says. “And you go through kind of like a psychedelic trip.”
In that trip, Vitali experiences the death of the ego in the song “The Big Beyond” and finds clarity in the final track “Alturas,” which both refers to the idea of altruism and is the name of a tiny town next to Modoc National Forest in the northeast corner of California.
“I was reading a lot of Ursula K. Le Guin,” Vitali says.
Recorded before the pandemic, in the Bay Area’s acclaimed Tiny Telephone Studios, Fronds features the talents of Rob Shelton (production, synthesizers, keyboards), Luke Temple (co-production, guitar, synthesizer, vocals) Dylan Squires (guitars, vocals, co-writing), Michael Pinkham (drums), Andrew Maguire (percussion), Paul Spring (vocals) and Carly Bond (vocals).
When the pandemic shuttered the North Bay in March 2020, Vitali says he began stress gardening and refocused on completing the album’s production and release. Given that the record was recorded analog and straight to tape, he says the imminently-arriving vinyl is the ideal way to experience Fronds. “It makes a lot more sense when you hear it in that format,” he says. “Really loud.”
Now that West Marin destinations like the Old Western Saloon and Smiley’s Schooner Saloon are reopening, Vitali splits his time by playing with several local outfits including the Haggards, Kelly McFarling’s band, the West Marin Grateful Dead Appreciation Society led by Alex Bleeker and more.
“I’m playing in about eight groups right now, and everybody has a record coming,” Vitali says. “It’s going to be a fun, outdoor-show summer, and I’m looking forward to it all.”
Please extend my congratulations to Eva Chrysanthe for her superb article, “Pushed Around” in the June 9–15 2021 issue of the Pacific Sun. It is well-researched, well-documented and well-written, and deals with a topic—homelessness—that has relevance on the local, state and national levels.
I think it is worthy of consideration for a Pulitzer Prize. Please submit it to the Pulitzer Prize committee for consideration. Again, my congratulations to Eva Chrysanthe for a beautifully written article on a difficult and complex subject.
Sara Godwin, Fairfax
Bad Blood
The article titled “Bad Blood” in the June 9–15, 2021 Bohemian is not referenced on the cover.
The beauty of “Bad Blood” is its close focus on crimes, lawyers and the example it sets for the country in its detailed, concise and colorful presentation. Easy to miss. This is an issue whose front page features “Vinyl Destination,” “Culture Crush,” “Left Edge Returns” and “Trivia Cafe.”
“Bad Blood” is an exceptionally good article, and hard to find in the Bohemian’s feel-good layout.
Hugh Brady, Sonoma County
Numbers Game
I’ve never before responded to an article, but I feel “compelled” to share my observation on 50 Up Magazine. Every decade seems to make most people feel “old.” After all, it’s the oldest they’ve ever been. My mother said the same thing in her 80s that I’m going to share here, at 68. Inside, we are still that young, somewhat-awkward person. When I say, “when will I grow up?” I realize this IS me grown up. Still enjoying cannabis 50+ years later, still loving the Beatles and reggae music and live concerts. Enjoying dancing. Wearing tie-dye. At almost sixty-freakin’-nine! I used to think it was just men who didn’t grow up. But I was wrong.
As a CA Indian, I feel a strong tie to the celebration of emancipated Black people. It is a celebration that crosses racial and cultural boundaries. A shared set of broken chains. But while it did not end there for tribal people living here in CA, it was the road to the end of the enslavement of CA Indians.
In his book, Unholy Traffic in Human Blood and Souls, author Benjamin Madley details the gruesome history of slavery in California and documents instances of Indians being worked or beaten to death. In other cases, enslaved people were abandoned in the wilderness after their labor was complete.
A financial solution to the cheap labor need, CA slavery was propagated by the state’s first non-Indian residents. Those Anglo Americans, Europeans and Mexican land owners used religion as their moral pacifier to weaponize their churches and the Mission system here in CA against CA Indians.
The celebrated priests and monuments to genocide built along the El Camino Real stand today as a reminder of the church’s use of the Missions as their slavery distribution centers for CA Indian women, children and men.
In 1863, five months after the emancipation proclamation, California repealed its Indian apprenticeship laws. These prohibitions were strengthened by the 13th Amendment, which California immediately ratified in 1865.
We were not set free on June 19th, 1865, but the writing of freedom had been set in the pages of history and it would only be a matter of time until we were. Slavery in CA ended in 1873 when tribal people were given the right to testify in court, ending the ability to claim an indian was a vagrant.
I say today we celebrate that the freedom for one is the freedom for us all. I say we embrace our brothers and sisters of all races who were enslaved, and acknowledge the lives that were lost and the trauma our communities still suffer from. This day belongs to all of us. Happy Juneteenth to all of you.
Reno Keoni Dono Franklin lives in Santa Rosa.We welcome your contribution. To have your topical essay of 350 words considered for publication, write le*****@********un.com.
On May 10, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) quietly signed off on a plan meant to reduce pollution in the 146-square-mile Petaluma River Watershed.
That’s right. Although the problem is rarely discussed, the Petaluma River has been listed as “impaired” by excessive levels of bacteria since 1975.
The bureaucratic document approved by the EPA is known as a Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL). It sets levels of acceptable waste discharge from various sources in an attempt to lower the levels of fecal bacteria found in the watershed until the water is deemed clean.
While preparing the TMDL, scientists from the San Francisco Bay Regional Water Quality Control Board tested water from throughout the watershed for Fecal Indicator Bacteria to determine the amount of waste from warm-blooded mammals that has seeped into the water. Although indicator bacteria themselves are not dangerous, scientists use the strains to detect potentially dangerous levels of contamination in the water.
In a report accompanying the TMDL, water board staff identified 12 sources of pollution, which they then lumped into three general categories: human waste, animal waste and municipal stormwater runoff. In tests conducted between 2015 and 2016, water board scientists found bacteria tied to humans, horses, cows and dogs throughout the Petaluma River and its tributaries.
When asked in late 2019 about the levels of E. coli discovered in the Petaluma River, Farhad Ghodrati, an environmental scientist with the San Francisco Bay board, said the test results showed “some of the highest concentrations we have seen in the region.”
At the same time, Dr. Celeste Philips, who then served as Sonoma County’s Health Officer, warned Petaluma River users against drinking the river water or using the water for cooking due to the levels of E. coli. “Adults and children should wash hands/shower and towel dry after swimming; rinse off pets after they come into contact with the water,” Philips added.
Although some of the various parties named in the report appear to be undertaking the work required of them by the TMDL, the clean-up process will likely stretch on for at least a decade, according to an implementation timeline.
However, if critics of the plan are correct, the process may stretch on much longer due to flaws in the TMDL. San Francisco Bay Keeper, a nonprofit focused on cleaning up Bay Area water sources, raised concerns throughout the approval process that the plan does not meet the legal requirements of a TMDL laid out in the Clean Water Act.
“Baykeeper has concerns about the strength and legality of the Petaluma River Bacteria and Nutrients TMDL because we believe the TMDL isn’t specific enough or strong enough to lead to meaningful improvements for the river,” Ben Eichenberg, a staff attorney with Bay Keeper, said in a statement. Among other weaknesses, Eichenberg says that the current TMDL fails to identify specific pollutant sources and “underestimates the scope and cost of what it will take to clean things up.”
The regional and State Water Quality Control Boards largely dismissed Bay Keepers’ concerns throughout the plan approval process, and the EPA appears to have signed off without making any changes.
Whether or not the current plan is strong or specific enough, the current TMDL and accompanying documents do offer some insight into the reason the watershed is polluted—and what should be done about it. Now, without further delay, let’s take a look at a few of the sources and suggested solutions.
Cattle and Horses
According to a 2020 staff report, the 17 cow dairies in the Petaluma River Watershed are home to an estimated 11,000 cows. Meanwhile, 32 horse farms house approximately 8,600 animals in the watershed.
Given the number of four-legged watershed residents, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that tests found that bacteria originating from cow and horse waste “were identified at very high rates throughout the watershed, in both dry and wet seasons.”
In order to comply with the TMDL, Confined Animal Facilities, the technical term for high-density commercial ag operations, must prove they comply with Water Board regulations “as soon as possible,” and monitor water quality as required by the Water Board moving forward.
Meanwhile, grazing operations in the watershed, which include less dense ag operations, must obtain a Grazing Order from the Water Board by September and follow Water Board regulations.
Sewer Systems
Sewer system overflows during heavy rainstorms appear to be another historically significant source of pollution in the watershed.
Between 2007 and 2017, the Petaluma and the Penngrove Sanitation Zone, a small district located north of Petaluma, reported 94 large overflows, spewing a total of 1.35 million gallons of sewage into the watershed.
Tests in 2016 and 2017 “detected fecal bacteria of human origin at many sites throughout the watershed, which could point to discharges from the sanitary sewer collection systems as a likely source,” the 2020 staff report notes.
The report tasks Petaluma and the Penngrove Sanitation Zone with preparing an updated Sewer System Management Plan identifying necessary repairs to the systems within a year. Once the plans are approved by the water board, the agencies will have 10 years to complete all of the required improvements. More pressing projects identified in the report must be completed within five years.
Homeless Encampments and Marinas
People living in informal shelters inside the watershed may also pose a risk to water quality.
In July 2017, there were an estimated 17 encampments along waterways within Petaluma city limits. If encampment residents are not disposing of their waste properly, it could make its way into the waterways.
As a result, the TMDL requires Petaluma and CalTrans, the state transportation agency, to create a plan to “prevent human waste discharges into storm sewer systems from homeless encampments on City of Petaluma and Caltrans properties within the Petaluma River watershed” by next May. The resulting plan must be implemented by the end of 2022.
The TMDL also requires marina owners and operators to increase “no dumping” education for boat owners by the end of 2021, and to create a plan review and install proper waste management equipment by next May. The marina owners must complete the improvements within five years.
More information about the Petaluma River Bacteria TMDL is available here.
I’ve fallen hopelessly in love dozens of times over the past decade. Apparently, I’m just a girl who can’t say no, immediately opening my heart and home to every new sweetie who comes my way. Age, breeding and even gender never matter to me.
I’m addicted to caring for foster dogs.
The furry faces and soulful eyes of abandoned pups do me in every time. My first foray into fostering was with a black toy poodle named Alfie, who came from Muttville, the Bay Area’s senior dog rescue. Since then, I’ve cared for so many that I’ve lost count. Some stay only a few days, and others, like my current foster dog Jordan who had health issues, live with me for months.
Jordan, a four-year-old, 90-pound Alaskan Malamute/Siberian husky mix, was dumped at the Peninsula Humane Society & SPCA. The family he lived with since he was a puppy said they were moving, a common reason given for surrendering a dog. The notes on Jordan’s paperwork indicate he stayed outside on a balcony in Daly City for most of his life.
Unfortunately, Jordan, who started out as a friendly fellow, emotionally shut down in the shelter after being there for two months. He no longer wanted attention, became unresponsive and even growled at a staff member. With Jordan’s spirit broken, it was clearly time for him to leave the noisy, fast-paced shelter.
Shelters often work with rescues to help find homes for animals, particularly those with special needs. The Bay Area Siberian Husky Rescue, a small rescue focusing on Northern breeds, took Jordan into their foster program. I volunteered to foster the pooch, and brought him home to Sausalito.
Foster dogs and cats live in a home, and are treated as a member of the family, until they’re adopted. The foster parent gets to know the pet’s personality, and works with the animal on socializing and training. Sometimes, as with Jordan, the foster person nurses a pet back to health as they recover from medical conditions or surgeries. Mostly, the foster family provides love and stability.
“All dogs thrive better in a home,” said Sherri Franklin, founder and CEO of Muttville. “Even though we have a shelter, we stay foster based. It’s best for the dog and the adopter. We’re able to give an adopter a clearer picture of what sort of dog they’re bringing home. We can matchmake a dog with a person in a more confident way.”
Most shelters remained closed to the public during the pandemic, and relied on foster homes to care for their animals. The foster program was such a success for Marin Humane in Novato, they have decided to continue the model of keeping as many pets as possible in foster homes. In fact, they recently tripled the size of their foster program by partnering with Hopalong Animal Rescue.
Baxter was recently placed with a loving family by Marin Humane. Photo courtesy of Marin Humane.
“We found that we had less sickness among pets in foster homes,” said Lisa Bloch, director of marketing and communications at Marin Humane. “Especially with cats, because stress can often lead to upper respiratory infections.”
Kittens also benefit from staying in foster homes. Spring marked the start of kitten season, and shelters are now overflowing with the tiny felines.
“Our foster program is essential, because we bring in kittens from shelters across the state that have too many kittens to handle,” said Asher Belden, adoption program manager of the Humane Society of Sonoma County. “If we didn’t take the kittens, they might be euthanized.”
The agency has taken in 329 kittens this season, with 60 in foster care right now. People are flocking to their kitty adoption events.
During the pandemic lockdown, pets available for adoption were in high demand, an unusual and gratifying phenomenon, according to animal welfare groups. Some rescues and shelters are still seeing more adoption applicants than in pre-pandemic times.
“It was an explosive year,” said Hannah Houston, director of foster and adoption at Dogwood Animal Rescue, based in Sonoma County. “It became abundantly clear during Covid that people were suffering from loneliness and isolation. They didn’t just want a dog, they needed a dog.”
Dogwood Animal Rescue adopted out 750 dogs and cats in 2020, close to double the amount of a typical year. Each dog had at least 25 applicants, and 60 people were on the kitten waiting list.
Adoption applications during the pandemic increased by 400% at Muttville, the senior dog rescue. Even dogs that are typically harder to place, such as blind or diabetic dogs, were adopted quickly.
Popcorn, an eight-year-old Parson Russell terrier, is awaiting adoption. Photo courtesy of Muttville.
With last week officially marking the end of the lockdown in the Bay Area, many pet parents are heading back to the office for the first time in more than a year. There have been dire headlines in the media about people giving up their newly adopted companions now that we’re on the move again.
“The pandemic brought about a pet adoption boom—but now, U.S. shelters are struggling to take in growing numbers of cats and dogs,” the BBC reported last month.
Not so, according to Bay Area shelters and rescues. The agencies say the extra time and effort they invested to prepare adopters for the inevitable return to normalcy was well worth it.
“We’re not seeing returns at Muttville as people go back to work,” Franklin said. “Most of us in the adoption world talked to the adopters about their expectations and their plans for when they go back to work. We made sure people thought this through, because it’s a commitment. Having these conversations during the adoption process really helped.”
Discussions with pet owners have now shifted to how to leave their dogs and cats at home alone. It’s not just the animals suffering from separation anxiety—humans are having a hard time adjusting, too.
Experts recommend initially leaving your pet for a few minutes, exiting and returning without fanfare. Come and go frequently, gradually extending the amount of time you’re away.
“It’s also helpful to increase their exercise,” Bloch, of Marin Humane, said. “Take your dog on an extra-long walk or jog. Play with your cats as well. Leave toys at home that provide mental stimulation.”
Although we managed to foster and adopt in record numbers during the pandemic, the never-ending flow of stray and abandoned animals entering shelters and rescues continues. Fostering and adopting remain just as important in our post-pandemic world.
When I picked up my foster dog Jordan from the shelter, I didn’t think he’d be with me for seven months and counting, far longer than any of my other fosters. It will be bittersweet when Jordan goes to his forever home, but I’ll dry my tears quickly and make room for the next foster dog who will, no doubt, steal my heart again.
As California reopens for live events, the popular music festival Sound Summit announced this week that it will welcome fans back to the slopes of Mount Tamalpais in Marin County on Saturday, September 11, for a full day of live music.
Produced as an annual celebration of and fundraiser for Mount Tamalpais State Park by nonprofit organization Roots & Branches Conservancy, Sound Summit is staged at the historic Mountain Theater, a 4,000-seat natural stone amphitheater with stunning views of San Francisco Bay and beyond. To date, Sound Summit has donated $200,000 to Mount Tam.
This year, Sound Summit’s lineup is topped by dynamic Americana group Lukas Nelson & The Promise of The Real and indie-rock sensation Father John Misty. The eclectic lineup of music will also feature retro-cool rock band Allah-Las, high-energy New Orleans brass ensemble Cha Wa, and local powerhouse vocalist Teal Collins.
Riding out the beginning of the pandemic with his father (Willie Nelson) and his brother, Grammy Award-winning Lukas Nelson was forced to hit pause in 2020 for the first time in his life. This month, Nelson testifies to the power of finding a human connection in your family, community and yourself on the brand new album A Few Stars Apart.
Father John Misty recently released Off-Key In Hamburg–his first live album–in March of 2020. He followed that release with Anthem +3, a collection of covers of songs by Leonard Cohen, Yusuf/Cat Stevens, and Link Wray, released in July of 2020. Together, Off-Key In Hamburg and Anthem +3 raised over $150,000 for multiple causes including The Recording Academy’s MusiCares COVID-19 Relief Fund, CARE Action and Ground Game LA.
Southern California band Allah-Las mix melodic psychedelic rock, retro garage rock, and sun-filled surf rock into a hypnotic blend that draws you in from the first note. New Orleans brass band Cha Wa radiates the energy of the city’s street culture with funky grooves and rhythms.
Teal Collins grew up in Mill Valley, and her musical projects include The Mother Truckers. Now, the Teal Collins Band blends rock and soul sounds with Collins’ powerhouse vocal delivery.
Charismatic Bay Area radio personalities “Murph & Mac” (aka Brian Murphy and Paul McCaffrey) return as Sound Summit’s dynamic Masters of Ceremonies, along with KPFA’s “Dead to the World” radio host Tim Lynch. DJ Andy Cabic, frontman of San Francisco band Vetiver, will also spin tunes between sets.
“Being able to gather with friends and family again and celebrate high atop this treasured mountain after the long and challenging year we’ve all had is a truly joyful and liberating thought,” Sound Summit executive producer Michael Nash says. “We can’t wait.”
Tickets for the daylong Sound Summit festival go on sale Friday, June 25, at 10am and are $115 for adults and $65 for youth 12 and under; children 2 and under are admitted free.
What happens when the single-use batteries in your flashlight, remote or toy go dead? You replace them. What do you do with the dead batteries? If you throw them in the trash, you’re a criminal.
In California and 18 other states, it is illegal to dispose of batteries in the trash. By law, California’s batteries must be recycled at a hazardous waste disposal facility, a universal waste handler like a storage facility or broker, or at an authorized recycling facility. If batteries reach a landfill, rains will come, eventually corroding the batteries, which then leach nasty chemicals such as mercury, lead and cadmium into the soil.
The chemicals pollute the water table, eventually permeating our food and bodies. Valuable metals and minerals in the batteries such as steel, iron, brass, manganese, nickel, cobalt and zinc are lost. According to some estimates, the average person in the United States discards eight dry-cell batteries per year, amounting to three billion batteries annually, and worldwide, about 15 billion batteries are tossed every year.
In Central Marin, some Next Door contributors are discussing environmental problems and what individuals can do about them. You might now be wondering about how to recycle your household batteries: The alkaline and the lithium, and those old Ni-Cad and NiMh rechargeables, plus the newer lithium-ion batteries found in mobile phones, laptops, tablets, medical equipment, electric vehicles and power tools that all contain recoverable materials.
Fortunately, if you live in Marin, there are approximately 58 drop-off locations that accept batteries for recycling, including some food stores and other commonly visited businesses. Most take all types of batteries, but some take only rechargeables.
However you accumulate your used batteries, the important thing is to keep them out of the trash. Marin County has two main waste streams for consumer batteries. They work something like this: The first end-point is the Marin Household Hazardous Waste Facility at 565 Jacoby St. in San Rafael, near Marin Sanitary Service’s processing center.
This stream is fed by drop-off points at 23 fire stations; seven city offices and police stations; six hardware stores; both Good Earth stores; both United Markets; Radio Shack; Waterstreet Company in Sausalito; Staples and Renew Computers; and, in Mill Valley, the Library, the Sewerage Agency and the Community Center. Additionally, batteries can be dropped off directly at the hazardous waste facility.
Kathy Wall, the Facility’s program manager, provided me with a spreadsheet showing all the locations. She informed me that, although the list is not currently online, it will be made available soon and will include one or two locations that I discovered were not yet on the list. Below, there is a link to Zero Waste Marin’s collection locations:
In Sonoma County, the ZeroWasteSonoma.gov website reminds us that “By law, retailers selling rechargeable batteries are required to take back used rechargeable batteries weighing 11 pounds or less from their customers.”
Santa Rosa and Windsor have an alternate collection solution for batteries that, well, kicks ass. All you have to do is prevent shorting by taping the terminals of all rechargeable batteries and alkaline batteries 9-volt or larger, then tape your batteries up with heavy-duty clear tape. Place the batteries in a bag—preferably paper, of course—and seal it firmly, then place the bag on top of the blue recycle cart for pick up.
In addition, you can dispose of all kinds of batteries through the Agency’s Household Hazardous Waste Facility and related programs. The same packaging instructions apply. Each of the three Sonoma haulers have their own sorting guidelines, also found on the Zero Waste Sonoma website, ZeroWasteSonoma.gov.
Call2recycle.org has a partial list of other local recycling locations, which I have rounded out with the following: Both Staples stores take all household batteries, plus many office and home items. Home Depot accepts rechargeable batteries only. Best Buy and Renew Computers, in San Rafael, seem to be the overall recycling champions, although they, too, only accept rechargeable batteries and not common, single-use batteries such as alkaline, lithium and “heavy duty” non-alkaline batteries.
Best Buy also accepts button batteries, along with a long list of office and home equipment. Renew Computers also takes computers and electronics to be “sorted, repaired, reused, or properly recycled.”
Those batteries are organized, then taped up for shipping by one person at the hazardous waste facility, then are sent to a Battery Solutions center in Mesa, Arizona, for aggregation with other deliveries, which then go on to Battery Solutions headquarters in Wixom, Michigan, for processing.
Battery Solutions processes batteries to recover materials by sorting batteries by their various chemical components. Then, rather than using high heat, they use a mechanical process to separate the component materials.
The 20% that is steel is magnetically separated and sent on to steel mills. The 15% comprising the paper and plastic bits of the label and the brass pin are sifted out and distributed. The 58% that is a powdered zinc/manganese concentrate is separated. Interestingly, at least some of the zinc and manganese are used as soil amendments to enhance the productivity of such crops as corn and beans. 7% is lost in moisture.
The second all-types-of-batteries stream, run by Zero Waste Marin, is fed by 10 collection points from Bolinas to Sausalito. Those collection points can be found at:
Not listed at that site is Batteries + Bulbs in San Rafael, which accepts only rechargeable batteries.
Zero-waste batteries are periodically collected by Don Lees of Revolt Recycling in San Leandro. According to Lees, “Only 22% of Californians recycle their household batteries.”
Lees also collects from several other jurisdictions in the Bay Area. He organizes them by type, tapes them up and ships them to Battery Recycling Made Easy (BRME) in Georgia.
BRME is headed by John Patterson, who says his company accepts all household batteries for recycling. However, they melt only cell phone batteries, creating a “recovered remelt alloy,” which includes nickel, cobalt and iron, and is sold to “the super specialty alloy industry.”
Patterson says that “nickel and cobalt are used in jet engines.”
Iron, of course, can be used to make steel and other iron alloys. When asked what exactly is done with the other batteries that he accepts, Patterson states that, “We recycle them.” When pressed about how that is done and what happens to the resulting metals, Patterson, unlike Spalding of Battery Solutions, responded, “I’m not going to tell you,” a recurring phrase throughout our conversation.
While all batteries have some potential for fire and explosion, there are many more potential hazards with lithium-ion batteries. They are high-energy, and sensitive to humidity and puncture. Stories circulate about computers and toys that use li-ion batteries catching on fire. A runaway fire in a shipment of li-ion batteries brought down a UPS cargo plane, killing its two crew members. That’s why you can’t airmail li-ion batteries.
Fires have also started in garbage trucks, at least one Fedex truck, in homes and at various fire station collection points. Because of that, it’s recommended to put a little tape on the battery terminals when recycling, especially on the lithium-ion ones and alkaline batteries of nine volts and greater.
Robert Alexander massages, trains people, writes and digs through the trash in San Anselmo. He can be reached at rp*****@***il.com.
Since the beginning of the environmental movement, artists and creators have worked to expose humanity’s detrimental impact on the Earth and to provoke positive societal change through their art.
This summer, several North Bay galleries are taking up the movement once again with exhibitions that speak to the perils facing the planet and the importance of saving the natural landscapes we call home.
Across the country, the multimedia project “EXTRACTION: Art on the Edge of the Abyss” is shining a light on all the ways the extractive industry of mining and drilling exploits and destroys fresh water, fertile soil and other resources. The project—founded by members of Bay Area-based CODEX Foundation—encompasses nearly 50 exhibitions, performances, publications, poetry readings and other events.
In the North Bay, a group of creatives and galleries are participating in “EXTRACTION,” including Santa Rosa’s Calabi Gallery, which is displaying a diverse array of artists who respond to environmental issues through a variety of mediums.
“The world is in crisis, and people just don’t seem to be aware of it,” says gallery Director Dennis Calabi. “As artists tend to be in the vanguard of progressive thinking, art is a great way to spread the word that we are in crisis and we need to fix it.”
“EXTRACTION” exhibits at Calabi Gallery, Saturdays from noon to 5pm and by appointment, through July 31. (calabigallery.com)
Elsewhere, Sonoma Valley Museum of Art is showing a retrospective exhibition, “Sacred Landscapes: The Art of Ynez Johnston,” featuring paintings, sculpture and prints spanning seven decades.
Born in 1920, Johnston grew up in the Bay Area and held her first solo exhibition at San Francisco Museum of Modern Art—now SFMOMA—at age 22. Influenced by natural and cultural iconography, Johnston’s modernist paintings almost always featured imaginative animals and environments.
“Sacred Landscapes” exhibits at SVMA along with an innovative video installation titled “Question Bridge: Black Males”—which explores challenging issues within the Black male community across geographic, generational, educational and economic levels—through Sept. 5. (svma.org)
In San Rafael, artist Peter Adamyan exhibits his post-consumer art in the solo show “This Land Is Land,” at Art Works Downtown. Running June 25 to August 1, the show includes paintings that reflect modern society’s obsession with resource consumption. Adamyan contrasts that notion with several works that represent Native American societies, and environmentalists both past and present.
“I want to show what over extraction of resources and commodification of land looks like in the extreme of a materialistic society,” writes Adamyan in his artist statement. “‘This Land Is Land’ is about giving ownership of land to itself.” (artworksdowntown.org)
In July, the Santa Rosa Arts Center will provide artists and writers a way to respond to current environmental concerns in the non-juried group show, “Our Precious Planet.” The exhibit opens with a reception as part of the SOFA Arts District First Friday Open Studios on July 2, and will feature artistic and poetic interpretations of nature, people and places, with works that express environmental respect, love, fear and caution. (santarosaartscenter.org)
Gaming Fate
When the technology became sufficient, video game designers created open-ended worlds in which characters could roam freely. Obstacles were placed in each character’s way, and if characters overcame them their powers were upgraded. Each character’s “will” was controlled by a higher intelligence, namely the player holding the controls.
Now, where do you suppose the designers got this idea?
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Prize Worthy
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I think it is worthy of consideration for a Pulitzer Prize. Please submit it to the...
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As California reopens for live events, the popular music festival Sound Summit announced this week that it will welcome fans back to the slopes of Mount Tamalpais in Marin County on Saturday, September 11, for a full day of live music.
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Trash or Charge?
What happens when the single-use batteries in your flashlight, remote or toy go dead? You replace them. What do you do with the dead batteries? If you throw them in the trash, you’re a criminal.
In California and 18 other states, it is illegal to dispose of batteries in the trash. By law, California’s batteries must be recycled...
Since the beginning of the environmental movement, artists and creators have worked to expose humanity’s detrimental impact on the Earth and to provoke positive societal change through their art.
This summer, several North Bay galleries are taking up the movement once again with exhibitions that speak to the perils facing the planet and the importance of saving the natural landscapes...
