Alleged Employees of Color Me Mine Santa Monica Illegally Dump Glaze in Viral Video
By Noah Kubacki
A video of two people illegally dumping pottery glaze has sparked outrage throughout the internet. On May 21, 2024, Instagram user @psyskoh uploaded a video of a pair of people pouring a green liquid into a street drain. On the sidewalk next to them an emblem clearly stating "NO DUMPING THIS DRAINS TO OCEAN". The person emptying the bucket can be heard saying, "who cares, it'll rain" before walking away into Color Me Mine Santa Monica. The original video has reached over 50,000 views on Instagram and has been shared repeatedly on TikTok, Reddit and Twitter.
A now deleted Reddit post has a alleged manager commenting on the situation. "I'm not gonna sit here and act like any action was okay cause it really wasn't man, and me and the other mangers are pissed" said user Winter-Potato4899 continuing "[w]e typically take these things to a recycling center that takes care of these things." This user helped confirm that the conduct in the video is not standard procedure. While the glaze is claimed to be non-toxic there is still harm that marine wildlife can face when interacting with this potential pollutant. Non-toxic glaze contains three main ingrediants: alumina, flux and silica. These cemicals can directly impact ocean animinals. For instance, hugh levels of alumina can cause issues in fishes breathing and ability to regulate ions.
Color Me Mine Santa Monica has released a statement on their Instagram @colormeminesantamonica , saying:
"Dear community of Santa Monica,
In light of recent events captured on video of one of our employees dumping a bucket of glaze into the nearby storm drain. We at Color Me Mine want to give our deepest apologies and take accountability for our employees' actions. These actions were not enforced, condoned, nor recommended by management nor ownership.
Santa Monica is a city that prides itself on its lovely beaches and having been a part of the community for many years, we are ashamed that such a huge mistake was caused by one of our own. These actions caught on video not only are not standard procedure but also the first time in 15 years of ownership this has happened.
The glaze in the video is non toxic, water based, and soluble. Mind you, this does not excuse it from being dumped in the storm drain. We are working with the city to pay for fines and the clean up process as well. Please, recognize that these actions are wrong and are being handled, and most definitely are not representative of the entirety of our store.
Going forward, the employees in the video have been reprimanded and the staff has gone under training on how to properly dispose of glaze in the future. We do not expect forgiveness but hope we can earn it going forward.
We're sorry,
Color Me Mine Santa Monica "
Will the internet forgive and forget? Only in time will we know.
