World Oceans Day!

World Oceans Day is on Friday, June 8th and a chance to celebrate and bring awareness to a part of Mother Earth that covers 71% of our world and holds 97% of all the water on Earth.  The concept for World Ocean Day was first proposed by the Canadian Government at the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro, in 1992.  After several years and the coordinated efforts of many organizations and tens of thousands of individuals, a resolution was passed in December 2008, and the United Nations officially began recognizing World Oceans Day on June 8th of every year.  This was an important step in turning the effort into a global one.  Since then the network of partners worldwide has grown to include approximately 2,000 organizations committed to preserving our oceans and the marine and plant life that call them home.  

We will be celebrating the day by spending some time enjoying our local beach and recommitting to being better stewards of our environment.  Some changes that we have personally made include: to not use single use plastic bottles and opt instead for stainless steel or multiple use bottles; to use reusable totes or bags when shopping; to not use plastic straws either at home or while out dining; picking up trash when we see it even when it was not ours; recycle/repurpose when possible; and our Save the Plastic Tree promotion.  We are also exploring other ways of reducing our use of plastic and impact on the environment and will be sharing with you in future posts what we have found successful.   

Help us spread the word and share how you plan to celebrate World Oceans Day this year and any changes you have made or plan to make to preserve our oceans and environment. Change starts with each of us…

https://www.oceanicinstitute.org/aboutoceans/aquafacts.html

http://www.worldoceansday.org

Celebrate National Small Business Week With Us!

We believe small businesses should be celebrated every week but there is an official National Small Business Week which was established in 1963.   Over 50 years ago, President John F. Kennedy signed a proclamation citing the importance of small businesses in job creation and building strong, viable communities.  This year the SBA National Small Business Week officially begins Sunday, April 29th but we are celebrating our local small businesses beginning Monday, April 30th through Sunday May 6th. 

Though many years have passed and many things have changed since the first National Small Business Week over 50 years ago, one thing that hasn’t changed is how important our local small businesses are.  More than 50% of Americans own or work for a small business, every 2 of 3 jobs in the private sector is created by a small business and the success of small businesses is critical to growing the US economy.  Also, on a local level, a healthy small business community contributes positively to the local economy, allowing money to circulate within the same community for an extended period of time.  Local business owners tend to use the services of other local businesses and employees spend money where they work.  This, coupled with the resulting tax dollars for infrastructure that then stay within the community, make for a stronger local economy and community.  

Please join us this year for National Small Business Week with our other local small businesses neighbors!  Visit http://www.lompoc.com/small-business-week.html to find out more and click on our logo to see how we are celebrating!

Sources:

http://www.mainlinemedianews.com/mainlinetimes/opinion/as-i-see-it-national-small-business-week-over-years/article_173736b5-dfb6-553d-9b78-9a6cc95f0231.html

https://www.business.com/articles/small-business-week-2018/

https://www.sba.gov/node/1615232

https://www.huffingtonpost.com/david-m-kirby/small-businesses-can-make_b_13127000.html

Celebrating Earth Day and Making a Difference!

Celebrating Earth Day

The first Earth Day was celebrated over 40 years ago on April 22, 1970.  It was founded by Gaylord Nelson, a US Senator from Wisconsin, after seeing the impact of a massive oil spill in Santa Barbara, California.  At that time it was the largest oil spill in US history and still ranks at number 3, behind only the Deepwater Horizon and Exxon Valdez oil spills.  It was Mr. Gaylord’s vision to have a “national teach-in on the environment” and energize the public to protect the environment by addressing water and air pollution concerns.  Over 20 million Americans participated in that first Earth Day celebration uniting many in a common cause that had been previously fragmented over several specific environmental concerns.  

This year, Earth Day celebrations will focus on the effort to end world plastic pollution.  Not only is the plastic unsightly in our oceans and detrimental to both ocean and animal life but it has also entered some of our food sources leading to health issues.  The campaign this year includes four main parts, one of which is, ‘educating people worldwide to take personal responsibility for plastic pollution by choosing to reject, reduce, reuse and recycle plastics’ which is in alignment with our ‘Save a Plastic Tree’ campaign.

More than two years ago, as we became more aware of the negative impacts the single use bags were having on the environment, we began our ‘Save a Plastic Tree’ campaign.  It is simple, if you say ‘no’ to a bag at check out you may sign up for a chance to win a $25 gift certificate to the store.  We draw the first week of every month from all entries for that month.  Over time we have noticed a dramatic reduction in the number of single use bags people are requesting when they leave the store and we have a very happy customer every month when they get the phone call to ‘come on down-you're a winner!’  A win win from our point of view.  

So we are asking you to join us in continuing to reduce the number of single use bags that are used and to consider reducing other plastics you use, like single use water bottles, straws, plastic lids, plastic wrap and many other items that have become an integral part of our lives.  Many times there are alternatives and when there aren’t please consider reusing, recycling or repurposing the item.  Together we can make a change.

Sources-

https://www.earthday.org/about/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1969_Santa_Barbara_oil_spill

Small Town~Big Heart

The ‘I Love Lompoc’ window contest is back and we LOVE Lompoc!  We’ve entered again and this is so much more than just a contest.  For us it is about community, about our love for our wonderful town and about a celebration steeped in tradition.

The Lompoc Flower Festival traces its roots back to the 1950’s when an annual parade and two day rodeo was held during the summer in Lompoc.  George Miller, a prominent citizen, began advocating changing the celebration from a rodeo, arguing they were common and rather mundane, to something more unique and aligned with what Lompoc had to offer.  The Alpha Club Flower Show had been established in 1922 and it was decided to develop the Festival around this key event.  Since those days the Lompoc Flower Festival has grown to a 5 day event with local entertainment on stage at Ryon Park, the food booths run by community organizations and nonprofits, a parade on Saturday which includes floats and marching bands and of course the opportunity to visit and catch up with all your friends that you haven’t seen in the past year.  

And so, it is important to us to play what small part we can in this event, a chance to show our community spirit and proclaim our love for our city.  Help us spread some Lompoc Love by voting online at 

http://survey.constantcontact.com/survey/a07ee8za5enj3kna5qz/start for your favorite windows (please remember us!) this year.  We may be a small town but we have a big heart!

Thankful, Greateful and Blessed

Thankful, grateful and blessed.  Three simple words that due to a sequence of events last fall were brought into sharp focus and spurred a new venture for us.  It is a simple idea; take old, beat up surfboards with little value, have them transformed into works of art and auction, raffle or sell them to raise money for children in our community.  

And so we have begun this new journey with the first of these boards on display at South Side Coffee Co.  It was painted by local artist Melody Lara and is a breath taking rendition of a surfer in a barrel with a very realistic shark underfoot.  Tickets are available for $5 each or two for $9 with only a total of #225 tickets to be sold.  The winning ticket will be drawn on March 20th.  Proceeds from the ticket sales will go Jason Contreras for medical expenses.  He is 5 years-old, a bilateral amputee, full of love and life and through a chance meeting, our inspiration for this project. 

Other boards are currently in the process of being transformed so that we may help more children in our community.  We hope you will consider assisting us realize our dreams by purchasing a ticket, sharing this story, donating an old used board or being a participating artist.  Thanks everyone!  We are thankful, grateful and blessed!