As many of you know (500+ runners so far!!), The 5K Run For The Bay is being held this Saturday in Sayville.  Blue Island Oysters and their local initiative, Operation Blue Earth, is hosting this now annual event (click here to register and learn more).
Expanding local aquaculture (oysters), and bringing back our shellfishing industry depends on our water quality.  Operation Blue Earth is there to remind us that what goes on our lawns too often ends up in our bays, contributing to algal blooms. Save The Great South Bay, by its part, has its “Bay Friendly Yards” Pledge, and both efforts are part of the broader I Love Long Island Campaign, which calls for ZERO pesticides and as little nitrogen in your lawn care products as possible.
1. Mulch. Grass clippings make great food for grass.
2. Go native. Grow only plants that belong here.
3. Go naked. No watering or fertilizers or pesticides necessary. The bay will thank you.  Nature will thank you.
We take the view that by revitalizing native habitats as much as possible on the mainland, via ‘swamp forests‘ along the creeks and native plantings that would create ‘bay friendly yards.’  By working with nature, we can improve the quality of our groundwater.  The mainland’s ecosystems are sick. The bay is but a symptom. By preserving what we have, and revitalizing the rest with native plantings park by park, yard by yard, we can help heal our bay.
The Creek Defender Program launched in 2018 April 21st in Babylon. We planted our swamp forest there and led a 100 person clean up.
When They Are 30, The Forest Will Be Full Grown
Now we plan the same for Sayville, and for all our shore towns, knowing that the 41 creeks and the pollution they deliver into the bay are a major problem that each community can help solve with the right effort.
Operation Blue Earth, an initiative from Blue Island Oysters makes this connection: What we put on our lawns directly affects our shellfishing industry. Reinventing our lawns as bay friendly yards is crucial to our future.
Here are the sponsors for this event so far. Save The Great South Bay deeply appreciates Blue Island’s efforts in reaching out to these local companies for support. We all benefit from a cleaner bay and from buying local.
We honor their support here:
https://www.facebook.com/90BourneCandles/?fref=mentions
https://www.cornucopiahealthfoods.com/
Note that Cornucopia is part of 1% For The Planet, and because of them, so is Save The Great South Bay. Shop here, and 1% goes to support Save The Great South Bay. Deeply Grateful!
https://www.facebook.com/Sayvilleford/?fref=mentions
https://www.facebook.com/SayvilleRunning/?fref=mentions
https://www.facebook.com/sayvilleferry/?fref=mentions
https://www.facebook.com/eganorthodontics
https://www.southshoredive.com/
http://sayvillegeneralstore.com/Scripts/default.asp
https://boxedwaterisbetter.com/
https://www.facebook.com/thesubtletea/?fref=mentions
https://www.facebook.com/atyourservicestaffing/?fref=mentions
http://www.bluepointbrewing.com/
https://www.facebook.com/Lislandstrong/?fref=mentions
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Millennium-Steel/162403200450459?fref=mentions
Save The Great South Bay will be on hand. We want to plan with the community how we can help revitalize our little corner of the bay. How do we get people in Sayville and elsewhere on The South Shore to plant ‘bay friendly yards’? Where in Sayville should we be doing clean ups? Where should we be looking at planting swamp forests to improve resiliency and filter our groundwater? Where are the problem areas in our community? What outfall pipes concern us? What are the local sources of pollution for the bay, aside from the many cesspools that sit now in low lying areas? How and where do we restore native habitat and remove invasives? We will be on hand to discuss this before during and after the race, and will continue the conversation at The Sayville Inn.