17.3 Miles - 3,319 Pounds
This is a big thank-you for the 296 people who came out to help during the September Coastal Cleanup. As this year’s theme put it: You are bigger than you think!
And you were! You tidied up 17.3 miles of beach and waterways by standing tall (or bravely bending over, or proudly rolling along, or triumphantly tucked into a kayak) to clean up 3,319 pounds of trash.
Wow.
The news from some sites is that there was less garbage than last year, but alas, not in every location. Micro trash abounds, still, and one team’s notes had the comment: “For God’s sake, quit smoking!” Way, way, too many cigarette butts were found, and the risk they pose to wildlife is considerable.
In addition to the butts, there was the usual run of plastic, cans, and things left behind such as bicycle parts and lawn furniture. But then, there were the items that got the cleanup crews’ attention: a tube of candy called “toxic waste slime licker squeeze,” unused cans of whipped cream—maybe the party ended early, a set of acrylic nails, a tiny dancer doll, a spider man, and the grill off a Land Rover.
Talk about a mixed and messy bag.
Where did all this happen here in Mendo? There was a lot of love laid down on:
• Big River Beach - Mendo Parks & Mendocino Mermaids
• Caspar Beach - Coastal Mendocino Association of Realtors
• Glass Beach - City of Fort Bragg
• Hare Creek Beach - Mendocino Land Trust
• MacKerricher at Ward Avenue - SurfRiders
• Noyo Harbor Beach - Noyo Center for Marine Science
• Ten Mile Beach Dunes - Mendocino Coast Audubon Society
• Noyo River - Boating Cleanup - Liquid Fusion Kayak
• Point Arena Cove - City of Point Arena
• Pudding Creek Beach - Fort Bragg Middle School
• Russian River - Ukiah Valley - Mendocino County Resource Conservation District
• Seaside Beach - Mendocino Land Trust
• Van Damme Beach - Little River Environmental Action Group
• Virgin Creek Beach - North Coast Brewing Company
• Coastal Forest Inland, Jackson Demonstration Forest - Mendocino Trail Stewards
• Noyo Harbor Headlands Park - Latino Outdoors
Ouch. It makes me tired just to write all this down, never mind the work that went on out there!
So many of our groups above come out year-after-year, and we can’t thank them enough. You made these public spaces safer and more pleasant. We will think of you all the next time we visit these sites. If you weren’t able to be a part of the cleanup, then please thank those who did. They deserve it!
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