Someone you know may be a member of a secret society.  Shortly after a rain, clad in heavy slacks, long sleeves and sturdy shoes, they leave the comfort of their living rooms and televisions to hunt for gold in the oak forests of California.  What they seek cannot be melted into a ring or fashioned into a trophy, but certainly can be heated in a skillet and transformed into a miracle of culinary science.

Going alone or with clandestine companions, the locations of their wanderings are kept secret so as not to give away the position of their hauls.  They dodge poison oak, slog through mud, and scramble up steep slopes.  What these adventurers are tromping around the wilderness for is the enchanting, delectable chanterelle mushroom. Underneath the cap, pseudo-gills run all the way down the stipe, or stalk.  The emit a fruity, peppery fragrance that fills the air when cooked.  Extremely high in vitamin C, vitamin D and potassium, these delicacies formerly reserved for the tables of nobility are as healthy as they are flavorful.

Cantharellus cibarius, or the golden chanterelle, is a funnel shaped fungus that appears in veins or clusters across Europe, North America and Mexico.  They have also been found as far afield as Asia and Africa.  Popping up along amidst leaf litter and detritus of the forest floor, chanterelles have been discovered near birches, conifers, beeches, oaks and, occasionally among chaparral.  Here in San Luis Obispo, the positions of large crops of these little beauties are kept under wraps, as they can be sold at market for nearly ten dollars a pound.

However, with a little luck and the knowledge of an experienced mushroom hunter, you can capture some chanterelles of your own.  Take care to only pick mushrooms of which you are certain, and when in doubt, leave them in the ground.  It should be mentioned that there is a species known as the “false chanterelle”, and for beginner and amateur mycologists confusion is not worth the risk of slight gastric distress and embarrassment.

For help identifying and cooking the golden chanterelle amongst many other mushies, pick up a copy of All the Rain Promises and More by David Arora.  This guide is filled with excellent descriptions, photos, and stories from fungus fanatics.  Easily stored in a pocket or backpack, the little volume will inspire you to tromp about the backcountry in search of nature’s most fascinating organisms.  After sauteing nearly fifteen pounds of a recent haul this season, you will definitely spot this hunter in the hills of San Luis Obispo scanning the logs and dirt for tasty morsels and objects of scientific curiosity.  See you on the trail!

No one likes to sink their toes in to the warm sand of their favorite beach and come into contact with a piece of litter left by careless visitors.  A trip to the ocean should be about enjoying nature, not dodging cigarette butts, plastic bags, and abandoned fishing equipment.  No matter how well we dispose of our trash, large amounts of garbage still finds its way from the mainland into the seas, forming massive aggregations, or “patches“, concentrated by swirling currents.  All of this man-made detritus harms marine ecosystems, chokes wildlife, and eventually washes back up onto shores the world over.

As a group, we humans have made quite a mess.  Luckily, there are many among us who every year participate in activities such as the California Coastal Cleanup Day, an event that takes place every September in an effort to remove trash from our shores. Last year, over 82,000 volunteers collected more than 1.2 million pounds of trash and recyclables in a single day throughout the state’s coastal and inland waterways.

The idea for a nationwide beach restoration day began in 1986 by a former Ocean Conservancy employee, Linda Maraniss, who was compelled to organize other concerned citizens in her home state of Texas.  Within only two hours, 2,800 volunteers picked up 124 tons of trash over 122 miles of coastline, an achievement that caught the attention of communities across the country.  The movement has since spread to 152 countries and locations across the globe, engaging nearly 9 million people who clear millions of tons of trash and collect data to document the amount, composition and frequency of ocean debris.

Organized by the Ocean Conservancy, the California Coastal Cleanup day will take place statewide on Saturday, September 17 from 9am-noon.  To find a cleanup coordinator in your area, follow the California Coastal Commission’s link or email <coast4u@coastal.ca.gov>.  Make sure to bring hats, water and sunscreen.  Collecting bags, data sheets, pencils, and gloves will be available on site.  However, if you would like to go the extra mile and reduce waste even further, bring a pair of your own work gloves or reusable collecting container such as a plastic bucket or cloth shopping bag.

Looking to make a difference on a more consistent basis?  Visit the Adopt-A-Beach site to see how your community can sponsor litter removal 365 days a year or donate to the Ocean Conservancy’s ongoing efforts to keep our seas healthy and trash-free.

Sorry Oscar, but I HATE trash.  Case in point; marine garbage patches.  What exactly are these giant, floating messes?  Technically, these suspended litter heaps are concentrations of debris (usually consisting of small pieces of plastic) concentrated within a common area.  Contrary to popular belief, there are no permanent “islands” being created in the middle of the ocean that can be detected via satellite.  These collections of rubbish are, however, extremely harmful to marine ecosystems and enormously difficult to contain, clean and manage.

There are several massive known aggregations throughout the world, identified as the Eastern Pacific (between Hawaii and California), Western Pacific (off the Coast of Japan) and North Pacific Subtropical Convergence Zone (north of Hawaii) garbage patches.  There are also Atlantic equivalents to the Pacific concentrations (as debris will collect around major gyres, or large circulatory currents), although research is comparatively thin compared to those in the Pacific.  While these are not the only places flotsam accumulates from human activities on the mainland, they are by far some of the biggest and the subject of great concern. Since their size and shape changes daily or seasonally, estimates of location and span are at time difficult to pin down in exact terms.

The vast majority of the masses are made up of plastics.  From single-use bags to water bottles, plastics are responsible for chemical pollution through degradation, choking marine life who mistake objects for food (see the Guardian’s photo essay on Albatross death), and endangering entire ecosystems by disintegrating into tiny pieces which are taken up through the bottom of the food chain.

These  particles are then accumulated upwards into the tissues of larger organisms, eventually reaching top predators and human beings who consume animals lower down on the food chain.  Plastics are very hard to remove from the oceans as sunlight may reduce them into pieces unable to be captured by nets. Where trash collects, so does marine life, and attempts at skimming debris might also harm the creatures swimming amongst the junk.  Major clean-up efforts would also use a large amount of fossil fuels to locate, process and haul the detritus out of the sea.

Luckily, as individuals, we have the power to make decisions that can have large-scale effects.  Water bottles and plastic bags, who are common occupants of these floating landfills, can be replaced with multiple use items such as cloth grocery sacks (like Blue Lotus’s stylish produce bags), thermoses, canteens and reusable water bottles. At Bambu Batu, we dig the sustainable and attractive Bamboo Bottle. We also offer an attractive assortment of re-usable bamboo utensil sets and sporks, to further reduce your dependency on disposable plastics.

Reducing the amount of plastics we use, as well as recycling and properly disposing of what we purchase, can go a long way to stem the flow of trash making its way into our oceans and food chain.