speaking of mangooooos. i now have so many mangos that i think i'm going mango crazy. i find at least a dozen on the ground everytime i go out in the front yard which is several times a day. i have to grab them up before the squirrels eat them all. i do leave some for the squirrels though. i take them to work, i freeze them, i eat them and i make mango bread with them. i never thought i'd say that i might be glad when mango season is over.

yesterday was a rather long and sort of quiet day at work. andrew works with me on sunday. he is a 22 yr old college student and our summer part timer who is just a sweet heart. we all love andrew. he's smart, works well with people and gets along with everyone. plus..he's just cute and has a great sense of humor. i will hate to see him leave in august to go back to school.

i have been put in charge of obtaining the official "clean marina" designation from the florida dept of environmental protection. http://www.dep.state.fl.us/cleanmarina/marina/default.htm
i have been given the workbooks and manuals to study which include a lengthy checklist of all the things that we must comply with in order to qualify. yesterday i had time to study and restudy the manuals and workbooks and made my final list of things i have to get done around the marina before i call the local rep from the dep to come for their inspection.
i guess it's really not as difficult as i first thought it would be. it's basically all about having good management practices and promoting responsible boating habits.

there's waste management and recycling.. i've got that all under control. we even have recycling bins with bright green recycle labels on them all along the docks now. that's a first in any marina i've ever seen. everyone knows i'm the recycle nazi at the marina...but seriously 90% of what we mindlessly toss out is very recyclable.
we are now using non toxic biodegradable and petrochemical free cleaning products and we will sell and promote them to the boaters once the ship's store is open.
we utilize a solar hot water system for our laundry and shower facilities to offset our energy usage.
we have to post a sign stating our environmental policies in a highly visable place. i have to have that made.
we have to have emergency plans for all sorts of marina related issues such as fires, fuel spills, accidents, approaching hurricane and so on. all staff has to be aware of what to do in case of these. i have handbooks for the staff and we will have a staff meeting soon to go over it.
there's alot of other stuff, alot to do with safety and hazardous wastes but mostly to do with public awareness and the importance of environmental stewardship.

i like to think of it as promoting a more responsible way of living and encouraging people to seriously think about what they do and how everything they do affects the environment that we all live in. every little bit of effort helps and whatever our guests might learn or be exposed to at the marina is something that they might take home with them and hopefully pass on to others.
i hope to have everything done in the next month or so. once we pass the inspection we can fly a giant green "clean marina" flag, courtesy of the fl. dep, out on our flag pole.

that's all for this morning's yak. time to get ready for work.