Let your creativity and paintbrush flow at ILACSD’s ‘World without Water: Solution to Pollution’ art exhibition event taking place early in March. Stay tuned for location specifics!
At this family friendly event, you will:
• Check out the art exhibition created by emerging young artists
• Paint your own ocean centric masterpiece
• Visit educational booths
This is a two-part event series. For more information, visit our event series landing page.
Register to receive your free ticket and event details! Thank you to Think Blue San Diego for sponsoring this event.
Join I Love A Clean San Diego to help prep for several upcoming events. Staff will prepare workstations in our parking lot.
16th Annual Clean Beach Coalition – I Love A Clean San Diego partners with the City of San Diego and Urban Corp to put out additional waste receptacles to help support the additional waste produced on Memorial Day, Labor Day and the 4th of July around Mission Bay, Mission Beach and Pacific Beach. For this to be possible, we need the help of volunteers to sticker the 200 temporary bins with labels for trash and recycling. Volunteers will be given quick instruction on how to easily apply the stickers and where they go on the boxes.
39th Annual Coastal Cleanup Day – I Love A Clean San Diego hosts over hundred cleanup locations around San Diego county on a single day. We organize supplies for every location to host their volunteers. For this to be possible, we need the help of volunteers to bundle gloves and trash bags. Volunteers will be given quick instruction and a station to work at.
25th Annual Kids’ Ocean Day – I Love A Clean San Diego hosts over a thousand kids to cleanup the beach and pose in an aerial art photo to inspire all. For this to be possible, we need the help of volunteers create bus kits full of supplies. Volunteers will be given quick instructions and a station to create this prepacked kits.
This is a simple and relaxing way to volunteer for your community and meet some new people!
Did you know the average American throws away 82 pounds of textile waste every year?
Join I Love A Clean San Diego from 10 – 11 AM on Saturday, May 21, for our free Conscious Closets webinar in partnership with the City of San Diego Environmental Services Department. Come learn about textile recycling, the environmental impacts of fast fashion, and how to mindfully clean out your closet. We’ll also share tips on shopping secondhand, repairing clothing items, and creating a low waste laundry routine. Please register to receive the Zoom link.
Thank you to the City of San Diego for sponsoring this event!
Join I Love A Clean San Diego for our free Green Routines Workshop on Saturday, May 7th from 10am to 12pm at Live Oak County Park! Whether you’re just starting out on your zero waste journey or you’re looking to level up your sustainable lifestyle, this workshop will cover a wide variety of zero waste practices you can adopt in your kitchen, bathroom, office and home common areas. We’ll also talk about the environmental impacts of fast fashion, how to make your laundry routine more sustainable, and green cleaning products.
Attendees will have the opportunity to make DIY zero waste cleaning and personal care products to take home, and we will also have our Swap and Shop booth open anyone who wants to browse through secondhand clothes, books, toys and other trinkets!
This event will be held in person at Live Oak County Park in Fallbrook, please register to attend and receive further details. Thank you to the County of San Diego for partnering on this event. We can’t wait to see you there on May 7th!
You’ve mastered remembering reusable bags at the grocery store, you’ve fine-tuned your meal planning to eliminate food waste, and your reusable water bottle is like a new appendage, always at your side. What’s next in leveling up your sustainable lifestyle? Join I Love A Clean San Diego as we dive into sustainable habits in niche areas of your life, namely pets, hobbies, and how to avoid greenwashing. During this webinar, we’ll discuss:
How to find low waste options for pet food, toys, and more
Where to take items from hobbies we’ve left behind, and how to create waste free habits in your current hobbies
How to avoid greenwashing and what to look for when shopping new brands
Our Step Up Your Sustainability webinar will take place on Saturday, May 1st, from 10-11am. Please register to receive the Zoom link. Thank you to the City of Encinitas for sponsoring this event. We can’t wait to see you there!
Did you know the average American throws away 82 pounds of textile waste every year? Join I Love A Clean San Diego from 10:00AM-11:00AM on Saturday, April 10th, for a free Conscious Closets webinar all about creating an environmentally conscious closet! Learn about textile recycling and how to mindfully clean out your closet. We’ll share tips on thrift shopping successfully, repairing clothing items, and creating a low waste laundry routine. Please register to receive the Zoom link. Thank you to the City of San Diego for sponsoring this event!
On May 24th, I Love A Clean San Diego celebrated its 20th Kids’ Ocean Day, fostering the next wave of environmentally informed and engaged students. Kids’ Ocean Day is not just an excuse for students to hang out at the beach during the school day. It actually begins weeks before in the schools with ILACSD staff facilitating educational presentations for local elementary school students! These students then join ILACSD and a team of volunteers at the beach for a litter cleanup and the formation of an aerial art piece.
During the assemblies, ILACSD educators teach students about the importance of marine life, how their actions affect the ocean, and how they have the power to protect the health our environment. “It was absolutely fantastic. We had kids eager to go to other beaches to clean them up. I can’t say enough good things about how much the kids loved the assembly,” said one teacher from Los Peñasquitos Elementary. The teacher explained how they loved their students being able to see others come together to make a difference for their community during the beach cleanup. The teacher was thrilled to have their students participate in Kids’ Ocean Day, saying, “Thank you so much for this incredible experience. We can’t thank you enough for this opportunity.”
Over the 20 years that ILACSD has hosted Kids’ Ocean Day, we have engaged 20,816 participants and removed approximately 7,280 lbs. of debris from San Diego’s coastline.
Each year, the five participating California cities determine a statewide-theme for the artwork. The 2018 theme – “Waves of Change” – evokes images of our youngest generations propelling us forward towards a cleaner, safer, and more mindful future. It illustrates how our daily choices, including what we eat, wear, discard, and purchase, have far-reaching effects. This message is broadcast to the world through the art formation. It serves as a call to action for others to join the cause and be mindful of consumption and disposal habits. Check out the video below to see the final aerial art image being formed!
Students collected plastic debris on Mission Beach using re-purposed water jugs!
“Kids’ Ocean Day is my favorite day of the year,” said Emily Nelson, Education Manager at I Love A Clean San Diego. “This entire event, from the assembly to the cleanup and aerial artwork, showcases the power of the individual, no matter their age. I hope each child realizes just how important and powerful they are.”
We would not have been able to make “Waves of Change” without the help of our sponsors, our volunteers, teachers, and students!
Thank you to all of our Kid’s Ocean Day sponsor for investing in a cleaner San Diego!
Today’s blog comes from our Education Coordinator, Erika! We all have become accustom to separating out the junk mail from our mail box, but what if there was a solution to avoid this all together? What if that same solution could save you time, tax payer money AND the environment? Read more below about Erika’s 6 easy solutions to significantly reduce the amount of junk mail in your mailbox and your impact on the environment.
Over the past few months, I have worked to reduce the amount of waste I generate. This began when I learned that on average, each San Diegan will produce 5 lbs of trash per day and 2,000+ lbs of trash per person per year! I started with cutting out Trader Joe’s samples, disposable Starbucks cups, and zip lock bags. I thought I was doing a pretty good job, until I looked in my mailbox. It was full of junk (mail). So I decided to do something about it.
Are you frustrated with junk mail as much as Sheldon? Follow the steps below!
For starters, it’s interesting to learn how many of us receive junk mail every single day, but most people I know hate it! In addition to it being an inconvenience, a lesser known fact is that it negatively impacts our environment. According to an EPA report, in 2001, more than 4 million tons of junk mail are shipped annually, and it is estimated that 50% of that mail ends up in our landfills.
Currently, paper and paperboard account for 27.4% of waste disposed. While a large percentage of that is recycled, paper is still one of the largest components in our landfills . Talk about a waste!
If the environmental impact doesn’t convince you to unsubscribe, consider your wallet. Reducing junk mail saves you money. The Postal Service offers lower prices for bulk mailings, so in essence, our standard postage subsidizes junk mail. Additionally, taxpayers pay for the cost of disposal, which amounts to $370,000,000 a year.
Last year, I received a catalog out of the blue. I had never shopped at the particular store and actually had never heard of it before, so I was surprised to see my name located in the address field. My curiosity led me to call the company to find out if I had unknowingly signed up for this their catalog. After a pleasant conversation with the woman, I learned that they bought my name from a mailing list. That got me thinking about how many other companies have my name and address.
Here is your go-to guide on how to reduce your impact on the environment and your wallet by refusing junk mail:
• Register on the National Do Not Mail List
• To cancel credit and insurance offers click here!
• Cancel unwanted catalogs here
• Unsubscribe from ValPack
• Sign up to receive your favorite grocery store’s e-coupons online and cancel your direct mail coupons here
• Call the businesses and organizations that sent you the junk mail and request that take you off their list
These simple steps will significantly reduce the amount of junk mail you receive and thus, the amount of waste you produce. For other excess mail, check out our Junk Mail board on Pinterest and see what you can create!
The ILACSD staff always enjoy a good laugh. Check out this Saturday Night Live spoof about junk mail. Enjoy!
As Thanksgiving approaches, we wanted to take a moment and share all that we are thankful for here at I Love A Clean San Diego!
At ILACSD we’re thankful for…
…the opportunity to work in, protect, and preserve a community as beautiful and diverse as San Diego.
Keeping SD clean for 60 years!
…the teachers and schools who partner with us on our education programs, allowing us to reach almost 40,000 San Diego County students annually and teach them the importance of recycling and resource conservation and protection.
Student pledges for America Recycles Day 2013
…everyone we’re connected to online: thanks for staying involved and giving us feedback through our Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, and Twitter accounts!
…our great team of staff, interns, and Board members who work hard everyday to conserve San Diego’s coastal and inland resources.
…the fact that 2014 will be our 60th year, making ILACSD the longest-running environmental non-profit in San Diego!
…the donors who help support our efforts. From $5 to $5,000, we’re thankful for every gift.
