SBCCOG volunteer David Diaz speaks to community members about rebates and incentives for saving energy and water.
When teaching classes as a substitute teacher, David Diaz likes to present information and materials to his students about timely topics, such as the environment. When students throw him questions about ways to solve some of the greatest environmental challenges, like drought management, he can provide answers based on the latest facts from reliable sources. That’s because his work as a volunteer for the South Bay Cities Council of Governments (SBCCOG) has provided him opportunities to interface with representatives from local water agencies such as the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, Torrance Water Department, Water Replenishment District and West Basin Municipal Water District.
“I was recently speaking with Darryl Ramos-Young, a public information specialist at West Basin, and asked him, ‘Why not desalination?’ He explained that it was very expensive and that there are more efficient ways to solve water shortages,” Diaz said. “We [the general public] might think something is great, but it may not necessarily be right for the community. So I share information with my students to prevent misinformation. It’s also an education for me, and I enjoy that. I’m a lifelong learner just like my students.”
“I was recently speaking with Darryl Ramos-Young, a public information specialist at West Basin, and asked him, ‘Why not desalination?’ He explained that it was very expensive and that there are more efficient ways to solve water shortages,” Diaz said. “We [the general public] might think something is great, but it may not necessarily be right for the community. So I share information with my students to prevent misinformation. It’s also an education for me, and I enjoy that. I’m a lifelong learner just like my students.”
Diaz, who lives in Redondo Beach, is one of 20 volunteers whose work supports the SBCCOG. When not teaching or performing gigs as a musician, he can regularly be seen helping the SBCCOG’s community outreach team at more than 100 community, employee and business events at which the SBCCOG participates annually. At the SBCCOG’s booth, he helps present information and materials about services available to South Bay residents related to the SBCCOG programs that work to improve the environment and transportation, provide services to seniors and the homeless, and manage land use.
Through the SBCCOG’s South Bay Environmental Services Center (SBESC), Diaz has helped promote rebate and incentive programs to residents and businesses for replacing grass with more drought-tolerant California native plants, switching out water-wasting faucets with more efficient models, or replacing incandescent light bulbs with LED bulbs. The outreach team also offers the community information about ridesharing and a new transportation initiative—the South Bay Local Travel Network—which will offer safe pathways designated by a Rolling Turtle sign to use low-speed, zero-emission vehicles for local trips. Diaz has also helped the organization with tasks such as data entry and distributing rain barrels at West Basin community distribution events.
Diaz is one of several volunteers recently recognized for achieving more than 100 hours of volunteer service. Since 2008, more than 300 volunteers have provided more than 20,000 hours of service to the SBCCOG. In addition to community outreach and data entry, volunteers have also assisted with projects such as the creation of website pages, the development of grant opportunities and the completion of geographical information system (GIS) mapping—depending on their skills, background and interests.
“We are truly fortunate to have the diverse level of skills and backgrounds our volunteers bring to the SBCCOG to enhance our programs,” said Martha Segovia, manager, volunteer services for the SBCCOG. “Their perspective enables us to view some of our programs through a fresh lens, and some of the volunteers have eventually become employees of the SBCCOG.”
Another volunteer who has achieved nearly 100 service hours is Maria Fonseca. Fonseca has used her passion and career background in sustainability as a solar and electrical project engineer to advance the SBCCOG’s Sustainable South Bay program.
One of her primary projects has been working with the SBCCOG’s CivicSpark Fellows to conduct a meticulous review of greenhouse gas emissions for each of the 16 South Bay cities. They worked with cities to collect data and quantify emissions using the ClearPath tool (icleiusa.org/clearpath) from ICLEI – Local Governments for Sustainability. GHG inventories were previously conducted in 2005, 2007 and 2012 through a grant provided by SoCalGas and Southern California Edison. The new data is being compared with the old to identify usage trends and opportunities to increase savings.
Once the research is completed, the SBCCOG will update climate action plan (CAP) strategies for South Bay cities. The SBCCOG developed CAPs for each city and the South Bay in 2017. These reports outline specific strategies for cities to implement in order to reach their goals.
Fonseca was born in Peru but grew up in the South Bay, where she graduated from North Torrance High School prior to earning an environmental engineering degree at the University of California, San Diego. She enjoys the opportunity to help the community she calls her hometown make tangible change.
“The South Bay has given me so much, and I wanted to give back,” she said. “It takes all of us working together if we want to see more sustainable initiatives come to fruition. Legislation can come, but it takes people on the ground doing the actual legwork to actually push it through. But little by little, municipal building by municipal building, city by city, we can start making a larger change.” •
To learn more or become an SBCCOG volunteer, contact Martha Segovia at [email protected]. Watch highlights from the SBCCOG’s recent volunteer celebration.