They Came. They Saw. They Cleaned.
Coastal Clean Up Day Coordinator Sam Dickinson with 2 Wonderful Volunteers
The most unusual item found on Arroyo Burro beach on Coastal Clean Up Day was a plastic Mr. Potato Head mustache. Although the mustache was unusual, the plastic it was made of- wasn’t. In just three hours, over 70 volunteers found hundreds of pieces of Styrofoam, hard plastic and film plastic.
Volunteers Extraordinaire Bonnie Blakley and Karen Gumtow
A Beautiful Promise
Another ubiquitous item? Dog poop. One unlucky volunteer found over 28 bags.
A Great Way To Get Community Service Hours
Coastal Clean Up Day is the largest volunteer cleanup in Santa Barbara County.
A Fun Family Activity
Over 950 volunteers collected more than 1,900 pounds of trash and 645 pounds of recyclables from 25 sites.
Aaron-Arroyo Burro
Park Ranger
Explore Ecology’s environmental educators were there to help sort, count and keep track of all of the trash that was found. Our totals? 69 pounds of trash and 60 pounds of recyclables.
Thanks to everyone who participated in Coastal Clean Up Day 2013!
Arroyo Burro Lifeguard
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