The Coast Is Clear- Santa Barbara Coastal Cleanup Day
Good job, Santa Barbara! Over 1,191 volunteers at over 29 sites from Rincon Beach Park to Guadalupe Dunes cleaned up our local beaches, rivers, creeks and parks. Over 5,323 pounds of trash and 1,276 pounds of recyclables were collected and prevented from entering our ocean and waterways. A total of 6,599 pounds of waste was removed and 39 miles were cleaned.
This year’s local event was organized by Explore Ecology and Project Clean Water with assistance from the Cities of Goleta and Santa Barbara. Over 250 volunteers from United Way of Santa Barbara County’s Day of Caring helped clean up at four sites.
With 75% of the cleanup sites reporting, California had 54,124 volunteers who picked up 576,571 pounds of trash and an additional 109,494 pounds of recyclable materials, for a total of 686,065 pounds or 343 tons. Impressive!
This tremendous cleanup effort would not be possible without the hard work and services provided by local businesses, organizations and community members who act as site captains and by the many community members who volunteer their time and labor.
If you can’t wait for next year’s Coastal Cleanup Day on Saturday, September 19th, 2015, join us for Monthly Beach Cleanups the second Saturday of every month from 12-2pm at Arroyo Burro Beach. For information contact Mariana at 805-884-0459 x18.
Josh was born and raised in Santa Barbara, where his passion and curiosity for the environment began and has continued to grow. During his undergraduate studies, Josh pursued this interest at the University of California at Santa Cruz, receiving a Bachelor’s Degree in Environmental Studies.
Melissa Dodos developed her passion for creative reuse as a mother of four and elementary educator over the past 25 years. She loves to inspire creativity by connecting people with resources and ideas.
Veronica grew up in San Diego and spent four years in San Luis Obispo studying Animal Science at Cal Poly. As an undergrad she learned lots about livestock, agriculture, and wildlife.
Stephanie began her journey as an educator over twenty years ago working as a preschool teacher in Washington state for a cooperative preschool program affiliated with Whatcom Community College. She loved observing the wonder and curiosity of the children and bringing them out into nature to explore the natural world. She continued her love for learning and got her teaching license and then her Montessori certification and worked as an elementary teacher in Tribal, Public, and Montessori schools. She collaborated to create a school garden and her students loved it so much that it became a special place where they could garden, read, explore, play, and it provided a safe sanctuary for students to calm down and reset when they were having difficult moments.
Morgan’s mermaid soul is always seeking adventure—swimming a relay across the Santa Barbara Channel and taking the first photo of a newborn orca off Anacapa Island being standout experiences close to home.
Lindsay Johnson