When it comes to spring cleaning, rather than getting rid of the clutter in the garage, I Love a Clean San Diego (ILACSD) is looking for volunteers to help clean up the city’s beaches and waterways during its sixth annual Creek to Bay Cleanup Saturday, April 26.
The Creek to Bay Cleanup is scheduled for 9 a.m. to noon at 60 sites in five regions countywide.
Local cleanup sites include:
“¢ Santa Clara Point
“¢ Mission Bay South Shores
“¢ Mission Beach Jetty
“¢ Rose Creek
“¢ Tourmaline
Friends of Rose Creek is sponsoring the Rose Creek site. The organization will have some fun with the cleanup by providing free T-shirts to the first 40 volunteers, raffling off prizes and having an ice cream social from 11:45 a.m. to 12:15 p.m. Volunteers will meet in the dirt lot across the street from Coventry Cars, 5097 Santa Fe St.
“This event is significant because it involves inland and coastal cleanup sites so that anyone anywhere in the county can get involved nearby pretty easily,” said ILACSD events and education assistant Natalie Roberts,"
Although coastal sites may be more convenient or more attractive to volunteers, Roberts said inland areas that play a large role in ocean pollution need the most help.
“They need the most attention,” Roberts said. “Those [areas] get a lot of urban runoff through the canyons and the creeks and they have less groups who go out throughout the year to clean up.”
At last year’s event, 3,111 volunteers collected 202,367 pounds of trash and debris from 55 cleanup sites. Roberts said these numbers alone show the significance of the event.
“We had less volunteers but more trash, so it just showed that those hardworking volunteers did a lot last year,” Roberts said. “It was the dirtiest year yet.”
Roberts said ILACSD is hoping to have at least 4,000 volunteers at this year’s cleanup. All of the necessary supplies will be provided, including collection bags and gloves. Volunteers will also be provided a commemorative event T-shirt and snacks at each site.
Prizes will be awarded at each location to the volunteer that picks up the most trash and the one that finds the most unusual item. Odd finds from last year’s cleanup a velvet tuxedo in North Park, antlers in National City and a Louis Vuitton bag in Coronado.
Scouts looking to add a merit badge can do so by participating in the cleanup. Those eligible must fill out a badge order form found on the event’s website and present it to their site captain to receive their distinction.
Visit www.creektobay.org for volunteer information and site directions.