The best of our newest adoptable site, Dixon Lake

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ILACSD’s Admin Assistant, Erika, took a weekend hike to explore one of our newest adoptable sites in Escondido.

This past Monday was Summer Solstice, which marks the longest day of the year and the official onset of summer! With the longer days, it’s the perfect time to get out and explore the endless hiking trails around San Diego County. This weekend I did just that and took a trip to Dixon Lake, one of I Love A Clean San Diego’s newest inland adoptable sites in North County.

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The perfect spot for a  picnic. For easy cleanup, choose reusable utensils and pack snacks in tupperware instead of sandwich bags that can get blown into the lake.

When I first walked through the ranger station, I was pleasantly surprised to see several covered and uncovered picnic areas. Below is one of the areas I found, which I will definitely be coming back to for a summer picnic! I spotted several trash cans in the area, but whenever there aren’t any, the most important thing to remember is the principal of pack it in, pack it out. By making sure that you carry out all the trash that you brought into the open space or park, you can easily help to reduce litter at the source.

Walking past the picnic tables, I crossed a little bridge which led to the 2.1 mile trail that follows the edge of the lake. The trail was mostly flat and perfect for hikers of all ages.  027

About half a mile into the trail there was the opportunity to turn onto a bridge covered in reed grass. My curiosity got the best of me, so I veered off the path and crossed the bridge, and I’m so glad I did!

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The bridge led to a dock right on the water, providing a beautiful view of the entire surrounding area. I took a few moments at this spot to enjoy the morning tranquility of the lake.

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Behind me, there was a fisherman enjoying some early morning fishing off the end of the dock. One more of the activities you can take advantage of at the lake!

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Dixon Lake is also a great fishing spot for locals!

On the way back to the parking lot I decided to take the service road, which runs several feet above the trail. I was a little disappointed to stumble across some trash in the middle of the road. With just a few feet of separation between the road and the lake, the trash could easily end up in the water within a matter of seconds. Thinking back to the beautiful views from the dock, I know I would not want that view ruined by a fast food bag and coffee cup floating in the water.

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Unfortunately, plastic bags, pet waste as well as food wrappers and bottles are commonly found along the trails.

Interested in keeping Dixon Lake clean? Visit AdoptSD.org to learn more and to schedule your own cleanups! We provide a free educational presentation to kick off your first cleanup, and if you complete three cleanups over the course of a year, you can apply to have your group’s name posted on a sign on site. 021

Whether it’s your favorite, beach, canyon or park, let’s keep San Diego clean, together. Find out how you can get involved in a program that fits your schedule at CleanSD.org!

Hundreds attend kickoff event at Dixon Lake

Here at I Love A Clean San Diego, we like to make it as easy as possible for people to volunteer with us. That’s why we love our Adopt-A-Beach and Adopt-A-Canyon programs—people can schedule beach or canyon cleanups any day of the year, and we provide all of the cleanup supplies for free.

Thanks to a grant from the Escondido Charitable Foundation, we are now able to bring this program to two sites in Escondido—Dixon Lake and Kit Carson Park. These are the first adoptable sites in inland North County, and we’re thrilled to have this program as an option for people who live far from the nearest adoptable beach.

This past weekend, we hosted a kickoff event to officially launch the program. We invited volunteers to join us at Dixon Lake in northeastern Escondido.

And we sure did kick off this program with a bang! A grand total of 402 volunteers collected 348 pounds of trash and recycling from around the lake and nearby Daley Ranch hiking trails. Here’s a recap of how the event unfolded.

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Our volunteers listen attentively to the kickoff and safety talk from Lexi, our Development Manager. She covered topics like how trash travels through the community, why cleanups are important, and local recycling rules. She also talked about how to get involved with the newly launched Adopt-A-Canyon program in Escondido. Some of these volunteers have already signed up online and scheduled their next Escondido cleanups!

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A team from the Division 37 East Key Club paused for a photo in front of scenic Dixon Lake. Throughout the morning, lake visitors thanked our volunteers for helping to keep the park clean and litter-free!

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Miles of trails run along the lake, so our volunteers were able to spread out and cover a lot of ground. Here, a team from North Coast Church walked along one of the lake trails hunting for litter with our trash grabber and bucket in hand!

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You never know what you’ll find at our cleanup events! This young volunteer wins our Most Unusual Item prize for finding this full bottle of sparkling cider. Here’s to you!

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We weigh all of the trash and recycling collected at our cleanups as a way of measuring our impact and accomplishments. When volunteers use their own buckets instead of single-use plastic bags, we simply subtract the weight of the empty bucket to determine the weight of the trash. The buckets get emptied right into the dumpster—no single-use plastics needed!

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A big thanks to this massive volunteer team from UCSD’s Upward Bound program. We love working with big groups like this one to get a lot accomplished at our events. These young students were a huge help!

Interested in adopting one of these sites? Visit www.AdoptSD.org to learn more and to schedule your own cleanups. We can provide a free educational presentation to kick off your first cleanup, and if you complete three cleanups over the course of a year, you can apply to have your group’s name posted on a sign on site.

We’ll be back at Dixon Lake, as well as at four other Escondido sites, for our big countywide event, the Creek to Bay Cleanup, on Saturday, April 23rd from 9AM-12PM. Registration opens April 1st at CreektoBay.org!

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Get to know our Program Assistants!

Today’s blog comes from I Love A Clean San Diego’s Development and Marketing Coordinator, Sarah who was inspired by all the hard work that our Program Assistants put into our programs. In addition to our office staff who coordinate events, and educate students about the environment, we have a wonderful team of Program Assistants, also known as PAs.  Read on to learn more about what it means to be a Program Assistant!

(Left to right) Angelica (PA), Halle (intern), Pia (PA), Nicole (PA) and former PA and current Community Programs Coordinator, Moriah all showing off our brand new temporary, I Love A Clean San Diego tattoos at Coastal Cleanup Day!

It’s no secret that we’ve been busy this Fall with everything from Coastal Cleanup Day, to Beautify Chula Vista Day, and most recently, our Fall Social Fundraiser. If you have ever wondered how we do what we do all year round, we’re here to let you in on a secret – Program Assistants. Program Assistants are not volunteers, but rather they are hired members of our staff. While they don’t normally work in the office, they are there to support us when we need them most, at cleanups, fundraising events, and educating students all over San Diego County. If you’ve ever been to one of our events, there is a good chance that they handed out the supplies that you needed, weighed the trash you collected, or came to your student’s classroom. Read below to learn more about each of our amazing Program Assistants!

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Grace joined the team just a couple months ago to support our environmental education department. When she’s not engaging a classroom full of students in a discussion about waste reduction and pollution prevention, you’ll find her running, stand up paddle boarding, and SCUBA diving. Check back in November to read her very first blog!

 

 

 

DSC00301Lauren is a recent Boston transplant who became interested in ILACSD after seeing our logo on a Clean Beach Coalition poster in Mission Beach. Lauren has a degree in environmental studies, and she’s most looking forward to connecting with San Diegans about recycling—at her last job, she successfully initiated a recycling incentive program for her coworkers.

 

DSC00315Vince also joined I Love A Clean San Diego earlier this year and has helped out at a number of our cleanups and adopt-a-beach presentations. In his spare time he’s working to start an organization with a mission to turn beach volleyball players into environmental stewards.

 

 

 

 

Angelica Truong 131 x 172Angelica is in SDSU’s Masters of Public Administration program and works part-time for the County of San Diego conducting research for the Climate Action Plan, LEED Neighborhood Development and other sustainability projects. Angelica is passionate about sustainable development and has a background in urban and regional planning. She’ll also be assisting with our recycling hotline!

 

SONY DSCIn addition to her work at the Water Conservation Garden, Pia has been a great extension of our staff as a program assistant. She runs a fabulous blog where she has highlighted her work with ILACSD and other environmental organizations.  She was also invited to speak on San Diego’s CW6!

NicoleNicole is one of our longest serving program assistants who helps out in the classroom, as well as at cleanups and fundraisers! We are very thankful to have such a knowledgeable and versatile team member like Nicole to support our programs.

Now that you’ve gotten to know our amazing team of Program Assistants, be sure to say hi to them the next time you’re at one of our events! For a current list of upcoming events, please visit our website!

 

ILACSD Internships: More than copies and coffee

Brittany HuthHi there! My name is Brittany and this summer, I was a Community Programs Intern at I Love A Clean San Diego. I recently graduated from San Diego State University in December with a Bachelor’s Degree in Public Administration. In my free time I enjoy exploring and taking pictures of scenic locations in San Diego, as well as watching my favorite sports teams – Go Padres! As a San Diego native, I grew up around the water, doing everything from surfing, wakeboarding, skiing, kayaking, and sailing.  I love being outdoors, and that’s why I have a huge passion for the environment!

In my undergraduate studies, I took a class that focused on contemporary urban issues. In this course, we focused on the best methods of sustainable living, and learned about environmental hazards. The topic that concerned me the most was the abundance of plastic bags found in our oceans harming and killing our marine life. This is one of reasons why I applied for an internship with I Love A Clean San Diego.

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Marine life often mistake small pieces of plastics and plastic bags for food which leads to starvation. In this picture, the content of the albatross’s stomach includes bottle caps, and a lighter.

The Community Outreach Intern position sparked my interest because I wanted to expand my knowledge on environmental issues, as well as provide me with the opportunity to give back to the San Diego region. As an intern, I performed a variety of tasks both in-office and out in the community at our events. In the office, I typically focused on outreach to colleges to get students involved, tracked data from cleanup events, organized supplies for events, and coordinated my internship project. At the ILACSD cleanup events, I provided volunteers with supplies as well as informed them about upcoming events and other programs ILACSD offers.

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The ILACSD recycling board is a great way to test your knowledge and learn about the newest recyclable items.

To wrap up my internship experience, I organized a beach cleanup at Whispering Sands Beach in La Jolla. I was accompanied by my close family and friends, who were more than happy to participate! This provided me the opportunity to share with them everything that I learned during my time as an ILACSD intern including information about proper recycling and waste disposal, and ILACSD’s Adopt a Beach Program. In the two-hour cleanup we collected more than 15 pounds of trash and over 400 cigarette butts. To conclude my project I create a short video clip of the beach cleanup!

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rzZTBQ-3Nck]

My experience with ILACSD has been nothing short of positive! Since I started interning with ILACSD, I have challenged myself to become more environmentally aware of my living habits and to try to make better choices.  Some of the changes I have made include using reusable bags for grocery shopping, recycling more, conserving water by using buckets in the shower, and properly disposing of hazardous materials. I am excited for the change this organization is making in the community and I’m forever grateful for being a part of it! Thank you, I Love A Clean San Diego!

If you’re interested in learning more about environmental issues impacting our local environment please consider applying for one of ILACSD’s internship opportunities. Applications are being accepted now with the intention of the internship starting this Fall. More information is available at http://cleansd.org/v_internships.php.

The ILACSD team  at one of our annual countywide cleanups, Creek to Bay!

You’re the best, Best Buy! Our new Adopt-A-Beach volunteers clean up Mission Bay

Today’s blog post comes from our fantastic Community Events intern, Rebecca!

 

We are happy to announce that the Best Buy in Mission Valley has joined the Adopt-A-Beach program at Mission Bay South Shores! California’s Adopt-A-Beach program gives people of all ages the opportunity to learn about and actively participate in conserving coastal resources.  The Adopt-A-Beach program is I Love A Clean San Diego’s most popular volunteer program.  A statewide program funded by the California Coastal Commission, ILACSD coordinates over 10,000 volunteers annually through the Adopt-A-Beach program.

Best Buy volunteers love getting out and cleaning up Mission Bay. Says sales associate Ivan Gonzalez, “I had a great time at our first beach cleanup event. It was a great feeling helping to make San Diego a beautiful place for everyone including our marine wildlife. I can’t wait for the next event!”

Best Buy employees out at an Adopt-A-Beach cleanup
Best Buy employees out at an Adopt-A-Beach cleanup

Joining the Adopt-A-Beach Program is another step forward in spreading the word about having a sustainable future. Best Buy is also committed to helping you recycle those used electronics piling up in your garage.  If your old electronics have no trade-in value Best Buy can recycle them for free! Visit Bestbuy.com/recycling to find out more electronic items Best Buy can recycle for free. Their certified third party partners break down recycled products into commodities. These commodities then get a second life when they are reused to create a new product.

Thanks to Best Buy in Mission Valley for joining our Adopt-A-Beach Program.  Are you interested in adopting your own beach or canyon?   Sign up today to adopt a site of your choice and conduct cleanups based on your schedule!  ILACSD provides all the supplies at no charge, and offers free educational presentations and sign recognition pending availability.

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Protect Our Coast and Oceans Fund

Protecting the CA coast is now as easy as checking a box!

What if I told you that by simply checking a box, you could provide a meaningful donation to protecting the California Coast? That’s right, this year as you file your state income tax returns, you can show your love for California’s coast at the same time.  Just enter a donation of any amount next to the Protect Our Coast and Oceans Fund – listed in the “Voluntary Contributions” section on the last page of your California tax return. Your contribution will go back into our communities, providing grants to clean up shorelines, restore habitat, bring kids to the coast (some for the first time), and promote beach access.

Just check the box!!
Just check the box!!

The donation goes to to the California Coastal Commission’s Whale Tail Grant Program, which provides a ton of funding for some local San Diego programs, including a couple of I Love A Clean San Diego programs.  Since its creation, the Whale Tail Grant Program has brought almost a million dollars, $902,231 to be exact, to San Diego County coastal and marine education programs!

Protect our coast and oceans for all of us, including our furry friends who love to enjoy some time at the beach.
Protect our coast and oceans for all of us, including our furry friends who love to enjoy some time at the beach.

Some of the programs that benefit from this funding are I Love A Clean San Diego’s “Adopt-A-Beach” Program, UC San Diego’s Birch Aquarium “School to Shoreline” Program, and the American Lung Association’s 1-800-NO SMOKE Campaign.  All of the programs that receive funding from the Whale Tail Grant program are dedicated in some way to either keeping our beaches and coastal areas clean and accessible, educating people about pollution prevention, or getting kids that maybe have never been to the beach educated about the environment and into the water.

For more information about the Whale Tail Grant Program or how to donate, check out www.checkthecoast.org. You can double your impact by getting a Whale Tail license plate next time you are renewing your car registration. Those funds also go right back into the community to support marine conservation.

Funds from the Whale Tail license plate program support ILACSD's Adopt-A-Beach program!
Funds from the Whale Tail license plate program support ILACSD’s Adopt-A-Beach program!

Top 6 Reasons To Be An Adoptive Canyon Parent!

We are excited to announce the addition of two Chula Vista canyons, Del Rey Canyon and Rice Canyon, that are now available through the Adopt-A-Beach Clean Canyons program! Join us as we work with the Chula Vista Charitable Foundation and the California Coastal Commission to protect our canyons—and ultimately our beaches—from the harmful effects of litter and pollution. Whether you’re an individual volunteer, part of a community group, or a business looking to make a different,  you are welcome to register to adopt these canyons on the website at www.adoptsd.org.

Canyons are great places for humans and pets to enjoy nature! Here's our Program Assistant Barbara's dog Wiley on a walk in Rice Canyon.
Canyons are great places for humans and pets to enjoy nature! Here’s our Program Assistant Barbara’s dog, Wiley, on a walk in Rice Canyon.

Why should you add a canyon to your family? Here are our top 6 reasons:

1. Inland cleanups are crucial to preventing marine debris.  80% of trash that winds up in the ocean starts inland and travels through San Diego County’s 11 watersheds.

2. Be our 10,001st adopter! 10,000 volunteers a year are a part of our Adopt-A-Beach program, making it ILACSD’s most popular volunteer activity.

3. The harmful effects of debris are severe: these include negative economic and aesthetic impacts and harm and risk to human health and safety.

4. Free education presentation! as part of the program, ILACSD offers free education presentations to interested adopters as part of their first cleanup.  These presentations are usually on-site at the cleanup

5. Protecting our local plants and animals: trash causes injury and death to animals through entanglement and ingestion as well as habitat destruction.  Species indigenous to these canyons, such as the San Pedro Martir coyote and the San Diego Sunflower, are threatened by polluted environments.

The San Pedro Martir coyote, local to Southern California
The San Pedro Martir coyote, local to Southern California
The San Diego Sunflower: a native that blooms in sage scrub of these canyons.
The San Diego Sunflower: a native that blooms in sage scrub of these canyons.

6. Because YOU love a clean San Diego! 

A bit commitment shy? If you would like to try out a canyon cleanup before deciding to adopt, you are welcome to attend our launch cleanup at Del Rey Canyon on Saturday, December 14th from 9AM-12PM.

 

Our thanks to the Chula Vista Charitable Foundation for their financial support to expand the Clean Canyons program into Chula Vista. We look forward to increasing volunteer engagement in Chula Vista as a result of their generosity!

Show Some Love for Our Coast (and Canyons): Adopt A Beach!

Yesterday, local San Diego company The Control Group rounded up its employees for a cleanup.  But this wasn’t just any cleanup- the Control Group was out at their very own “adopted” beach, Pacific Beach.  So how can you or your company get in on this cool program, encourage employee engagement, help the environment, and even get free recognition signage?

Adopt-A-Beach gives people of all ages the opportunity to learn about and actively participate in conserving coastal resources. ILACSD’s most popular volunteer program, AAB involves over 10,000 volunteers annually!

The Control Group team, out enjoying their beach
The Control Group team, out enjoying their beach

The Adopt-A-Beach program is not just about trash. It’s about the need for clean oceans, shorelines, and waterways. It is about Californians acting together to create lasting solutions to marine pollution. Our oceans and waterways have been a dumping ground for man-made debris. The harmful effects of marine debris are severe and include:

  • Negative economic and aesthetic impacts
  • Harm and risk to human health and safety
  • Injury and death to animals through entanglement and ingestion
  • Habitat destruction

I Love A Clean San Diego has expanded the Adopt-A-Beach program to include inland areas, in order to highlight the fact that almost 80% of marine debris originates from inland sources. By adopting a canyon or park inland, your group can prevent trash from making its way to waterways and eventually the ocean.

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What beach would you chose to adopt? Visit the program website at www.AdoptSD.org for more information and sign up!

You can also help support this free program by providing a donation to ILACSD.