Alex’s Goodbye – Becoming an Environmental Educator

Today’s post comes from Alex Mullen-Ley who has been ILACSD’s Environmental Educator for the past year. Alex grew up in San Diego and graduated with honors from the University of California, Santa Cruz with a degree in Environmental Studies, focusing her education on fresh water management and political ecology. Alex has been an amazing asset to the ILACSD team and we will all miss her as she moves on to continue her environmental education!

If you had told me five years ago that I would end up teaching K-12 students I would have never believed you.  I didn’t think I had the patience or the temperament required to be an educator.  And yet for the past year I have been standing in front of thousands of elementary school students, high school students, and even adults, teaching them about the causes of water pollution and how individuals can take action to protect the environment and care for their communities.

My time as the Environmental Educator at I Love A Clean San Diego has been an incredible learning experience. It is not easy to inspire 30+ young people, each with a unique background and different strengths and weaknesses, to listen and learn. Looking back on the past year I think it’s pretty unbelievable that only myself, the Education Coordinator, Samantha, and the two part time educators (four people!) spoke with over 30,000 students countywide.

One of the greatest challenges of being an environmental educator is redirecting the conversation away from the “gloom and doom” of the environmental problems and focusing instead on a more positive message.  Some students would groan audibly when they discovered that I would be talking about water pollution prevention, “Aww man, this is going to be boring!” But when I learned to focus my lectures on suggesting simple but tangible things that they could do to help solve the problems, the students were suddenly much more engaged and excited.

Over 1000 students & volunteers brought Alex’s design to life!

My favorite event while at ILACSD was Kids’ Ocean Day. I participated in last year’s event as part of the support staff but this year I was responsible for designing the aerial art and giving assemblies to the participating schools. The assembly was one of my favorite presentations because it was all about empowering students to protect the ocean and getting them excited about the beach cleanup and aerial art. The success of this year’s event is a testament to how well the staff works together. I’m not being egotistical when I say that the event was picture perfect.

Though much of my time was spent visiting schools around San Diego County, I did have the opportunity to work closely with the other staff members at ILCASD. I helped out with cleanups and development events, and worked the booth at countless community events. Because ILACSD’s events always run so smoothly, it isn’t obvious how much effort and coordination go into organizing them. The staff members at ILACSD are very good at what they do, whether that is educating the youth, coordinating events, or managing a fast-growing organization.

I have a good reason for leaving my position at ILACSD- I am going to begin graduate school at Scripps Institution of Oceanography where I will pursue my interests in ecosystem-based marine management. But I am grateful for all of the experiences that I have had as the Environmental Educator and I will miss being part of such an inspired, dedicated, and successful nonprofit. I wish only the very best for everyone at ILACSD and I will continue to attend cleanups and volunteer for other events. Thank you, thank you, thank you!

Kids Take A Stand in the Sand at Kids’ Ocean Day

Today’s post comes from ILACSD Environmental Educator, Alex Mullen-Ley.

Kids’ Ocean Day 2011 Aerial Art

It’s hard to imagine that there are children here in San Diego who have never been to the beach before. Many of us take for granted that when it gets hot outside, everyone heads to the coast. One of I Love A Clean San Diego’s upcoming educational programs is giving underserved youth the chance to visit the beach for the very first time.  

On June 7th, as part of the 19th annual Kids’ Ocean Day Adopt-A-Beach Cleanup, ILACSD is coordinating nearly 900 students from eight Title I schools to help clean up the beach and make a visual statement in the sand about their concern for the future of the oceans. This is the third year that ILACSD will be holding the event at Crown Point Shores, and the ninth year that we have acted as the regional coordinators. 

The annual event started in Los Angeles in 1994 by the Malibu Foundation for Environmental Education and the California Coastal Commission. The original goals of the program were to increase public awareness of ocean issues and to connect children to the marine environment.  Over the past 18 years, the event’s range has expanded to include 7 cities along the California coast. 

During the month of May, ILACSD’s educators will visit each school to give the students a presentation about the importance of minimizing our impact on the marine environment and to get them excited to participate in the aerial art project.  We will meet them again at the beach on June 7th.  At last year’s event we had almost 200 students attend who experienced the beach for the first time, and we expect to have a similar number this year.  The theme for this year’s Kids’ Ocean Day is “Defend the Sea.” We are keeping the aerial art design a secret for now, but we can say that it will be an exciting first in the program’s history!

We are still looking for adult volunteers to help with the event from 8:00am to 1:00pm. If you are interested in signing up to volunteer, please contact Jemma De Leon at jdeleon@cleansd.org.

5,800 Volunteers + 150,000 Pounds of Trash = a Cleaner San Diego

Today’s post comes from ILACSD’s Marketing Intern and USD student, Maddy Blake. Updated 5/3/2012 with new totals!

ILACSD’s Staff ready for the big day!

I Love A Clean San Diego celebrated its 10th annual Creek to Bay Cleanup this past Saturday, April 28th. An amazing 5,800 San Diegans joined together across the county to preserve and beautify their local environment. This year also marks the San Diego Girl Scouts’ 100th anniversary, over 1200 of scouts took part in the cleanup to show their commitment to the environment and witness the effects that pollution has on their communities.

Volunteers separated trash and recyclables.

Thanks to all of these fantastic volunteers, San Diego is a much cleaner county. In fact, more than 150,000 pounds of trash and debris were removed from local parks, canyons, creeks, bays and beaches in the span of just three hours! As in years past, cigarette butts and plastic bags were among the most common items found, but this year, some of the most interesting items our volunteers picked up were a rocking horse, a bowling pin and a five-gallon container of pickles.

Daisy scouts pitch in at Creek to Bay.

With a total of 88 cleanup sites, the most we’ve ever had for Creek to Bay, there was somewhere for everyone to go and something for everyone to do. This year, cleanup events were held at five brand new sites in communities we hadn’t reached yet:

  • Paradise Hills – 40 volunteers filled an entire roll-away dumpster of debris
  • Spring Valley – 49 volunteers collected over 260 pounds of debris
  • Santa Ysabel – 20 volunteers removed 200 pounds of debris
  • Banker’s Hill – 49 volunteers removed 250 pounds of debris
  • University Heights – 32 volunteers can boast removing 1,200 pounds of debris

You read that right, at the site known as Camelot Canyon (the area beside the 163 at the Vermont St. bridge in University Heights), volunteers picked up 1,200 pounds of debris in that three hour timeframe and unfortunately there is more work to be done in that area. The site was brought to our attention by local University Heights resident, Alison Whitney, who bikes past the canyon on her way to work everyday. With the help of CalTrans and ILACSD, Alison organized this cleanup to make this corner of her community a little more enjoyable for local residents. Click here to read Alison’s interview with KPBS.

Just a sample of some of the debris picked up.

While about 40% of this year’s cleanup sites were in coastal areas, cleaning up inland sites like Camelot Canyon ensures that the trash will not travel down the watershed system and end up in our waterways, bays and the ocean. Furthermore, by expanding into the five new sites, an additional 2,000 pounds of debris were removed from the environment! After ten years, I Love A Clean San Diego still dedicates itself to county-wide programs and expanding its reach even farther to preserve and ensure a healthier San Diego for everyone.

Volunteers painting over graffiti near Fashion Valley Mall.

Picking up trash is not the only activity our volunteers participated in – many sites included other beautification projects such as graffiti removal, mural painting, native planting, brush maintenance and other general park maintenance.

Don’t forget – if you joined us at Creek to Bay this year, remember to submit your favorite photo to ILACSD for our Sony Volunteers In Action photo contest! Photos are due on May 4, 2012, then the top 3 photos will be posted on our Facebook page, where our fans will vote for their favorite. The winner will be announced on May 18th! Click here for more details.

We want to thank ALL of the volunteers who took time out of their weekend to do more with their morning at the 10th Annual Creek to Bay Cleanup! We’d like to give a special thank you to the following volunteer groups who came out to show their love for a clean San Diego:

  • Local members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Mormon Helping Hands Service Day
  • Girl Scouts, San Diego-Imperial Council
  • Sony
  • Gothic Volunteer Alliance
  • Torrey Pines Elementary School
  • Palabra Miel Oceanside
  • Vista Magnet Middle
  • Palquist Elementary School
  • Palomar College TRiO
  • New Haven Youth and Family Services
  • Temecula Kids for Peace
  • PASS AmeriCorps
  • Nokia
  • Ramona High School Fusion
  • Toler Elementary School
  • Starwood San Diego
  • LEVI
  • Chula Vista Learning Community Charter School
  • Mueller Charter School
  • Pima Medical Institute
  • AMC Plaza Bonita 14
  • TSC San Diego
  • Pima Medical Institute
  • San Ysidro High School Surf Club
  • Montgomery Middle School

Volunteer Spotlight: Bob and Jan Rogers

For many years, Bob and Jan Rogers saw a need for beach cleanups and public awareness about clean water in their local community. Since 2004, the couple have been site captains at Beacon’s Beach for ILACSD’s annual Creek to Bay Cleanup and have even involved their family in the fun. “When we first started with the beach cleanup program, our sons were part of the volunteers cleaning the beach. They are now married and our son, Jesse, and his wife work as our bilingual co-captains. Our son, Randy, and his wife, Virginia, also help out as volunteers – they now have a daughter, Sierra, and she is also part of the beach cleanup crew.”

Because the family spends so much time together at Beacon’s Beach (and it’s Bob’s favorite surfing location!), they realize the importance of keeping the water clean and safe and value being a part of this volunteer effort every year.

One of the main goals of the Creek to Bay Cleanup is for residents to gain a sense of ownership of the local environment, especially by teaching the next generation of San Diegans the importance of keeping our community clean. Bob and Jan say, “It’s a  great learning experience for the kids. A friend of ours brought her son to Beacon’s years ago and now wherever they go to the beach he picks up trash. They are the stewards of the environment.” The Rogers family also encourages all of the volunteers at their site to bring their own reusable supplies, like gloves and buckets, so that they aren’t producing more waste by using plastic bags and latex gloves at the cleanup.

All of us here want to thank Bob, Jan and the entire Rogers family for dedicating their time each year to cleaning their local beach and spreading awareness about the importance of keeping San Diego clean to their community!

The Rogers Family!

What motivated you both to volunteer with ILACSD?

We moved to Leucadia in ’96 and saw the need for beach cleanups and public awareness about clean water.  We love the beach and feel we all have a responsibility to give back.

How long have you been volunteering with ILACSD?

In 1998 we organized our first beach cleanup at South Pontos.  Surfriders sent us to Coastkeepers and from there we made contact with ILACSD.  With each group we’ve met friends that share our interest in the environment.

How long have you been a site captains for Creek to Bay?

We have collected some of the posters from our beach cleanups.  After checking the posters we figured we began around 2004.

Have you always been a captain at one particular site?

We captain Beacon’s Beach for Creek to Bay, South Pontos for “Day After the Mess” and back to Beacon’s Beach for the Sept. Coastkeeper International Beach cleanup.

Why is that site important to you?

This is our neighborhood beach.  It attracts families so we get a lot of children at the cleanups.  Bob also surfs Beacon’s.

What is your favorite part of participating in the Creek to Bay cleanup?

The returning people that come back year after year and the kids.

Why do you think cleanups like Creek to Bay are important to keeping San Diego healthy and clean?

It’s a vehicle for getting the word out about keeping beaches and our waterways clean.  It’s a  great learning experience for the kids.  A friend of mine brought her son to Beacon’s years ago and now wherever they go to the beach he picks up trash.  They are the stewards of the environment.  It’s a great event.

What is the strangest piece of trash you’ve found at a Creek to Bay Cleanup?

Led Zepplin album and a jar of pickles (?).  In the future, it would be nice to see no balloons, cigarettes and plastic trash bags.  Also, volunteers bringing their own supplies to cut down on the debris we generate.

We love doing this.  It is so rewarding.

Registration for ILACSD’s annual Creek to Bay Cleanup is now open at www.creektobay.org. Out of the 86 cleanup sites around San Diego county, there’s bound to be one near you! Join us on Saturday morning, April 28th to be a steward of the environment and do more with your morning.

Trash Trackers Prove Cleanups Are Effective

In the winter of 2010, San Diego CoastKeeper and I Love A Clean San Diego partnered together to start a new project called Trash Trackers. One year later, the results are in!

Trash Trackers began as a program to document our impact on the environment, and see how cleanups help in the long run. During the study, volunteers counted each piece of trash within a one-hundred foot stretch next to a local stream or creek. They cleaned the entire area and documented how many pieces, and what types, of trash they found. One year later, volunteers combed the same one-hundred foot stretch in order to find out how much more trash had accumulated within that time period due to either upstream accumulation or littering directly on site.

Thousands of Styrofoam pieces along the Otay River

So what did we find?

Each of our four sites – Otay River, San Diego River, Buena Vista Creek, and Chollas Creek – showed drastic decreases in the number of items found at the second cleanup. Whereas Otay River showed a 14.5% decrease, the San Diego River showed 63% less, Buena Vista Creek showed 68% less and Chollas Creek documented an amazing 74% less!

One area of Chollas Creek before cleanup

Even the biohazardous material was down an average of 27% at all of the sites.

Thanks to 700 volunteers over the last two years, this program removed 18,400 pounds of debris that otherwise may have ended up in our oceans. By removing this trash every year, we have direct evidence that our cleanup events not only remove debris from the immediate site, but they also help to ensure that in the future, the creeks are cleaner for everyone’s enjoyment.

"The Pit" along the San Diego River by Fashion Valley Mall

Here at I Love A Clean San Diego, we are dedicated to keeping our community clean! The implementation of the Trash Trackers program allows us to collect hard data that reveal the problems that ensue from littering in waterways. We hope that our actions and the photos above inspire individuals to take responsibly for their local environment and get involved in in preventing litter around our community. After all, don’t we all love a clean San Diego?

Don’t Dump Your FOG Down the Sink!

With the holiday season approaching, many people will be cooking up delicious meals to feed their family and friends. What does yummy food have to do with FOG?  FOG stands for  fats, oils, and grease. Just like grease clogs your arteries, when you dump it down the sink it clogs the County’s arteries–the sewer system. 

This doesn’t just apply to large amounts of FOG, like the leftover oil from your deep fried turkey.

When any amount of cooking oil, butter, shortening or even heavy sauces  are dumped into your kitchen sink, it accumulates inside the sewer pipes making it difficult for wastewater to flow to the wastewater treatment plant. This includes wastewater draining from toilets and showers. When wastewater can’t make its way through the sewer pipes, it can overflow into your home, streets, lawns, and stormdrains, eventually making its way to the ocean. Not how you want your holidays to end!

Instead of dumping FOG down the sink, collect your used cooking oil for proper disposal at a local collection facility. To find the closest drop off location, check out our One-Stop Recycling Resource, www.wastefreesd.org.

A few common myths about FOG:

Myth: Wash grease with dish soap.
Fact: Even though soap breaks up grease, it loses its effectiveness downstream, allowing grease to solidify on the pipe walls.

Myth: Running hot tap water will help grease float in the sewer pipe.
Fact: Running hot tap water will NOT help grease float through the sewer pipe because the water will eventually cool as it flows through the pipe and the grease will become solid again.

Myth: Pour cooking oil at room temperature.
Fact: Cooking oil such as canola and olive float on water and adhere to the sewer pipes. It is best to  avoid pouring oil down the drain altogether to avoid sewage problems.

America Recycles Day 2011!

Every year on November 15th communities across the country come together to celebrate America Recycles Day, a day dedicated to educating and motivating our neighbors, friends and community leaders to recycle!  

America Recycles Day logoThis year, over 800 students at Los Coches Creek Middle School participated in an EnviroFair in celebration of America Recycles Day her in San Diego. I Love A Clean San Diego and The County of San Diego worked together to educate 6th, 7th, and 8th grade students about recycling and the importance of conserving the environment.

Activities included a lesson on recycling rules  and a fast and furious Recycle Relay by I Love A Clean San Diego educators, a composting discussion and demonstration by the Solana Center, watershed model presentations and water quality testing from the Splash Science Mobile Lab, and informational booths and recycled giveaways from Allied Waste, the County of San Diego, and I Love A Clean San Diego.

Greg Bledsoe of NBC San Diego caught some great action shots during the day, click here to view the video!

Los Coches Creek Middle School already has their own recycling program in place, with bins in classrooms and around campus. Shauna Stueve, a teacher at the school, gets help from students to ensure that the program runs effectively and that all recyclable items are placed in the correct bins. The EnviroFair showed students why their recycling efforts are so important. According to Robert Wade, a science teacher at Los Coches Creek Middle School, “Students were engaged and challenged by your staff and they all came away with global ideas they could implement in their daily lives.”

Immediately after school, many of the students and teachers joined I Love A Clean San Diego in a community cleanup in the area surrounding the school. Trash and recyclable materials were collected separately, and many students were surprised at how much litter they found in their community. Sonja Washer, a math and science teacher at Los Coches Creek middle school thanked I Love A Clean San Diego after the event, saying, “Thank you again for your concern for our environment and for educating our students so our futures are cleaner.”

One-Stop Recycling Resource

Have old paint cans, batteries, or electronics lying around the house? I Love A Clean San Diego provides San Diegans with an online recycling database, www.wastefreesd.org, plus a bilingual hotline (1-877-R-1-EARTH) that offer useful tips for safe disposal of paints and other household waste. This information about waste disposal and recycling helps to prevent illegal dumping, and prevents hazardous materials from entering our landfills, stopping serious environmental problems before they happen. In 2011, we provided referrals to keep 19,000 items out of local landfills!

Protect Our Environment, Safely Dispose Your Prescription Drugs

Got drugs? This Saturday, October 29th, is National Prescription Drug Take Back Day. This is a great opportunity to safely dispose of any unwanted and unused prescription drugs. Why would you want to take part in this? Disposing of drugs in other ways is likely to pollute our environment!

A 2002 U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) study found organic wastewater contaminants, including many pharmaceutical and personal care product contaminants, in 80 percent of 139 streams sampled in 30 states. We want to prevent this from happening! Do your part and help protect our environment.

You can click here to find a collection site near you. Stop by anytime between 10am and 2pm. If you are not able to make it this Saturday, be sure to visit ILACSD’s One-Stop Recycling Resource or call ILACSD’s Recycling Hotline at 1-800-237-BLUE to find the nearest location where you can dispose of your prescription drugs any day of the week.

Just another way that ILACSD is here to help protect our environment and improve the quality of life for all San Diegans!

ILACSD Rides into Local Car Shows

Have you seen ILACSD at car shows lately? We have been all around San Diego, from the Blast from the Past Car Show in Chula Vista to the Santee Car Show, helping to keep motor oil out of our waterways and storm drains. We are working with the South Bay and East County Regional Oil Group to distribute used motor oil recycling information and giveaways. We have reached over 1,000 residents through our presence at car shows, reaching an audience we don’t normally get the chance to interact with. Remember, storm drains link directly to our local waterways, so don’t dump your motor oil in the street! To find a location to take your motor oil or other automotive fluids, visit us online at www.wastefreesd.org.

I Love A Clean San Diego's booth at a recent car show, giving away oil funnels and educating San Diegans about how motor oil negatively impacts the local environment.

ILACSD Profiles Old Town Recycling Center

ILACSD’s One-Stop Recycling Resource, www.wastefreesd.org, connects San Diegan with numerous recycling centers around San Diego County. One of those centers, Old Town Recycling, has been around since 1989 and has diverted millions of pounds of waste that would otherwise end up in our landfills. ILACSD staff members stopped by Old Town Recycling on a busy Friday afternoon and spoke with people recycling, bottles, cans, boxes and much more.

Old Town Recycling...One of 750 centers in ILACSD's recycling database

“We bring the recycling here for our entire apartment complex,” said David, a San Diego resident. David’s apartment building does not offer a recycling option so he decided to take matters into his own hands.

Rodrigo supervises Old Town Recycling and says they get around 300 people a day. “We get a lot of glass, plastic and aluminum cans,” said Rodrigo. He says unusual items he sees is being recycled at his facility are auto parts.

Just a small fraction of what Old Town Recycling processes every day!

“Recycling is just the right thing to do,” said San Diego local, Justin. “We only have a finite number of resources on our planet.”

You can visit Old Town Recycling seven days a week from 7am – 6pm. They are located at 2161 Hancock Street, San Diego 92110. They accept a wide range of items, so log on to www.wastefreesd.org to learn more about what they accept as well as other nearby recycling centers.

Old Town Recycling employee preparing a pallet of recyclables for transport to a processing plant