Dear Friends,

Due to our efforts cleaning up and removing over 1000 lbs of discarded marine and automotive batteries from a West Seattle scuba diving site, I have recently been honored with a nomination for the Cox Conserves Hero award.  This award comes with a small funding opportunity which I would like to see used toward combating our local environmental problems.  If I win this award, I have chosen “Don’t Feed the Monster”, a subsidiary of Sustainable West Seattle as my non-profit honorary grant recipient.

For this to happen,  I need your vote!  http://www.kirotv.com/s/heroes/

The Puget Sound harbors an amazing abundance of life and profound diversity of habitat.   Although the Salish Sea often looks serene and beautiful on the surface, there is a fight for survival going on just beyond the shoreline.   It is a battle between the creatures that call it home and a massive influx of toxins and roadside debris; much of this results from our polluted storm outfall.  The waterways and their inhabitants are being overwhelmed by an increasingly populated metropolis.

The Salish Sea is more than a collection of names and places on a chart.  These same waters give us recreation, inspiration and livelihood, it is our duty to protect them.

This story does not need to have a sad ending.  There are agencies, government and non-profit alike, lobbying for measures to decrease our impact by reducing this flow of waste and toxins.  But this problem is too big for independent efforts; it requires a coordinated, community response.

The beautiful waters that we take for granted need YOU!   Every single one of us can make a difference with the choices we make on a daily basis.   You don’t need to be wealthy or have loads of time to donate; you CAN make small changes to your daily activities that will have a profound overall impact.   Many people taking small steps over time can develop into a formidable force, fixing seemingly overwhelming problems.

If I am lucky enough to be selected, I would like to see this donation help jump start public awareness for our “7 simple solutions” program (via educational videos and multi-media) which will in turn help educate the general public and help reduce the flow of polluted and toxic storm water runoff into Puget Sound.

I need your support for our continued efforts to make Puget Sound healthier for the future, one person at a time….

YOU can be a part of the solution by voting for me at the KIRO Cox Conserves Hero web site.  http://www.kirotv.com/s/heroes/

Thank you for your time,

Laura James