A hanging sign in the San Benito River bed.

Five years ago, San Benito High School student Matt Medrano
approached his government teacher, Mitch Huerta, with a simple
request: He wanted to gather a group of like-minded students to
organize a community service project that would both benefit and
educate the community.
Five years ago, San Benito High School student Matt Medrano approached his government teacher, Mitch Huerta, with a simple request: He wanted to gather a group of like-minded students to organize a community service project that would both benefit and educate the community.

So, one day after school, Medrano and Huerta brainstormed and came up with an idea that stuck – fishing garbage out of the San Benito River.

The project expanded and is now a collaboration among the city of Hollister, San Benito County and the San Benito County Water District. The cleanup takes place every year on or around Earth Day – April 22 – and gathers about 30 volunteers, said Mandy Rose, director of San Benito County’s integrated waste management department.

“It’s always a challenge, trying to connect people to their choices and what that means for the environment,” she said. “Like oven cleaner: It might clean really well, but you’re breathing toxic fumes, and when you dispose of it, it eventually ends up in the groundwater or in the ocean.”

The river cleanup is one of several local events planned to mark Earth Day, which got its start in 1970 by former Wisconsin senator Gaylord Nelson and environmental lawyer Denis Hayes, president and CEO of the Bullitt Foundation, a $100 million environmental foundation in Seattle.

The goal of Earth Day is to raise awareness about the Earth’s natural resources and provide education about environmental conservation. Although Earth Day technically is April 22 – a Friday this year – many communities worldwide organize events for the following weekend, or even throughout the week and month.

The river cleanup is an ideal activity for Earth Day because it provides participants a realistic, hands-on lesson about the Earth’s needs, said Huerta, who’s aiming to recruit 50 students for this year’s event.

“It’s something a lot of them enjoy doing that has a positive impact, but also a real impact because they see what’s in the river,” he said. “The list is incredible, and it’s sad – it’s really sad. There’s abandoned cars, stoves, water heaters, NordicTracks, dead animals wrapped in blankets. One time we found a homeless encampment. Our work is cut out for us.”

Huerta said he’d eventually like to make the cleanup a friendly competition of sorts among area high schools, with the school that ends the day with the most trash declared the winner.

Elsewhere in the South Valley, the city of Gilroy and the Santa Clara Valley Audubon Society will hold their annual Earth Day Festival from 10am to 2pm April 23 at Christmas Hill Park in Gilroy. The event will feature free food, live animals and several activities for children including constructing birdhouses, planting seeds in a vegetable garden and painting ceramic pots. The city also will give away woodchips and compost, and the Audubon society will hold bird walks throughout the day beginning at 9am.

The city’s tree division will hold planting and pruning demonstrations around 11am. Roughly 30 environmental organizations will be on hand throughout the day, including the Warehousing Education and Research Council, which will give an educational presentation at 1pm. Several informational items will be available for festival participants to take with them, said Lisa Jensema, environmental programs coordinator for the city of Gilroy.

“Individuals … don’t always realize they can make a difference, but they can by doing simple things – like reusing their plastic bags or bringing their own bags to the grocery store,” she said. “Those little things really add up.”

In Morgan Hill, the city will hold its Second Annual Earth Day Art and Science Fair from 3pm to 6pm on April 22 at the Morgan Hill Community and Cultural Center, 17000 Monterey Road. The fair is a showcase of artwork by students in the kindergarten through 12th grades, and all of the projects relate in some way to beverage containers.

Last year’s winning piece, for example, was a large sculpture constructed with water bottles and cans, said Katherine Filice, coordinator for the fair. Intent-to-enter applications, available on the city’s Web site at www.morgan-hill.ca.gov, are being accepted through this weekend.

“Hopefully, the message here is that it’s so important that we start with educating younger generations so they grow up understanding this message,” Filice said.

Pinnacles National Monument will celebrate Earth Day in conjunction with National Park Week, April 18 to 24. On April 22, the park will hold a moonlight hike beginning at 8pm. The hike is a moderate, two-mile trek, and reservations are required by calling (831) 389-4485, ext. 235.

A walk for kids ages 5 to 8 will take place from 11am to 11:45am April 23, followed by a walk for children ages 9 to 12 from 2:30pm to 3:15pm. Other events include a geology hike to Balconies Cave at 2pm and an evening program at the park’s campground amphitheater at 8pm. For more information, call (831) 389-4485 or go online to www.nps.gov/pinn.

Statewide, the California State Parks Foundation will again team up with Pacific Gas & Electric for their Earth Day Restoration and Cleanup program, a volunteer-supported, one-day event to clean and maintain state parks. According to the foundation, more than 45,000 volunteers have contributed more than 188,000 hours of work over the event’s seven-year history, resulting in an estimated $4.2 million in park improvements.

This year, recycling bins will be installed at San Juan Bautista State Historic Park, and in Santa Clara County, volunteers will clean up trails and creeks and pull weeds at Alum Rock Park in San Jose. For more information, call (415) 258-9975 or go online to www.calparks.org.

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