Livermore Staycation - Day Four Municipal Golf Course and the Vine Theater

Well Tuesday was that invariable vacation day where we had to do “life stuff.” I am in the middle of my last class for grad school so had to work on homework while my husband cut the grass and did day-to-day household stuff. One of the advantages of a staycation is that you do not get behind on these things. Towards the end of the day I did have two fun things planned. Number one – golf lessons.

 I signed up for a session of golf lessons at the municipal golf course through LARPD. For those of you who have neither been to the new course nor sampled the many classes offered by LARPD – please do so. First, Las Positas Golf Course is newly remodeled and is looking amazing. Second LARPD has so many offerings to meet the needs of almost everyone. From Bocce Ball to swimming, wood carving, cooking, gardening, and so much more, LARPD has an incredible variety of offerings. Direct Mary Alice Faltings once stated, “we all recreate differently and LARPD is here to help everyone recreate in the manner they choose,” Here is a link to the summer catalog – give it a look. I am also signed up for dance class next week and cannot wait. Now, back to golf.

 First of all, I am very happy to see golf back on the LARPD schedule and love that the city and LARPD are collaborating to bring classes to the public.  So I went off to the class, which, by the way sold out, so my husband could not get in the class (life lesson – register early). There were eight of us and Tony. What a great class. We focused on putting and I am looking forward to the next five weeks. I doubt I will be on tour any time soon but hopefully I will be able to hold my own. Tony left us with a putting game to practice throughout the week so hopefully I will be able to incorporate that into the rest of the week.

Our second activity today was to attend the showing of Bag It. This Bag It website has a trailer for the movie as well as a listing for times it will be showing on the documentary chanel. Additionaly, you can purchase the DVD or read more on the issues surrounding plastic bags.

I was looking forward to seeing this film but way stunned and surprised by how it affected me. So, let me back up. As part of my duties on the city council, I am a member of the Alameda County Waste Management Authority. One of the most far-reaching actions of this board was the passing of the ban on plastic bags. For more information on this initiative, click here. I will also write more about this in the future but for now, will tell you that with the exception of bags for meat and veggies, plastic bags will no longer be available in grocery stores as of January 1, 2013 in all of Alameda County.

To be honest, prior to the election, I had not considered the impact of plastic bags. I have always tried to be environmentally focused and I have always recycled, but being on this board has been eye opening to the hazards caused by single use bags. In Livermore alone, over 100,000 bags are given out EVERY DAY. These bags take a very long time to break down and many of them end up clogging storm drains and in the stomachs of ocean creatures. Take a look around town – they are everywhere. In the hills, in the parks, in the trees – it is incredible.

Bag It is a movie about plastic bags. The Vine Theater in conjunction with the City of Livermore offered the showing of this film for free as a community service. I recommend this movie to anyone who wants the world to be a better place. The overall theme of the movie was reduce. Yes recycling is good, but we really need to think about the products we use and use less.

I sat through the movie sipping on my water bottle and envisioning the millions of water bottles – made from finite resources that were consumed today. It was mind boggling that something as simple as bringing my own bottle would be healthier for me and good for the environment. I learned a great deal from this film. Well, enough on this, check out the film – trust me, it will change the way you look at plastic. 

Thank you for taking the time to read. 

Laureen Turner