Mother Nature’s South Valley home will get a bit of
housecleaning this weekend.
Volunteers are scheduled to meet this Saturday morning from 9am
to noon at parks throughout California for the annual fall Coastal
Clean-up Day.
Mother Nature’s South Valley home will get a bit of housecleaning this weekend.
Volunteers are scheduled to meet this Saturday morning from 9am to noon at parks throughout California for the annual fall Coastal Clean-up Day.
Both Gilroy and Morgan Hill will have cleanup sites at public parks and creeks, said Beeny Sander, Santa Clara County Parks and Recreation volunteer coordinator.
“Everything that gets tossed anywhere will get into the drains, into the creeks that lead into the ocean,” she said. “So picking it up here gets it before it goes to the bay.”
The annual Coastal Clean-up Day is organized by the Creek Connections Action Group. It was started in 1996, and since the program began, a total of 11,800 volunteers have picked up a quarter-million pounds of trash from Santa Clara County creeks, Sander said.
“There’s been all kinds of weird things,” she said with a snicker. “They’ve found wheelchairs, clothes and socks and shoes, divorce papers. A Barbie doll had a plant growing out of its head.”
Most of the volunteers are kids from age 6 to high school ages, she said. Local social studies and science classes often require students to take part in such volunteer activities to increase awareness in preserving nature’s beauty.
“We also get a lot of Boy Scout and Girl Scout troops,” Sander said. “And we get adults as well, such as service groups and all types of different groups. Companies will send out employee groups.”
Garbage bags, gloves, and refreshments such as water and snacks will be provided at each site, she said.
Safety is also stressed.
“Basically, at the beginning of the event, we go over all the safety information – what people should pick up or not pick up,” she said. “We just encourage people to stay on the edges (of the creeks) instead of going in.”
This year’s Coastal Clean-up Day’s theme is “Be part of the solution to creek pollution.” The program is a partnership between the City of San Jose, the Santa Clara County Parks and Recreation Department and the Santa Clara County Water District.
“We partner with local government, other cities, non-profits and environmental organizations,” Sander said. “Everybody’s goal is to preserve and protect the water ways within the counties.”
Emi Totschinger, an assistant engineer for Morgan Hill, will be an administrator for Morgan Hill creek sites during the clean-up day.
“Anything that you put in your storm drain or in the creek winds up coming back to you through the drinking water,” she said. “We want to be good stewards for our creeks.”
San Benito County
While there’s no official Coastal Clean-up Day site in San Benito County, feel free to grab some friends and a few trash bags, and head down to your local waterway to do your part to help keep California beautiful. Remember to wear sunscreen – and gloves!
Creek Clean-up Day sites
Morgan Hill:
• Llagas Creek between Villa Cielo and Edmunson avenues
• Edmundson Creek between La Crosse Drive and Vineyard Avenue
• Anderson Lake at Anderson Lake County Park on Cochrane Road
• Chesbro Reservoir off Oak Glen Avenue
Gilroy:
• Uvas Creek at Christmas Hill Park
• Coyote Lake at Coyote County Park
For more information or to volunteer, call Beeny Sander at (408) 355-2254 or visit the Web site at www.cleanacreek.org
Or for other sites around the area, call (800) COAST-4U or visit www.coastforyou.org
