Join I Love A Clean San Diego, Council District 9, and SDG&E for a street sweep in Chollas Creek! We will divert litter from the community and keep it from traveling to the Pacific Ocean.
Our staff will be set-up with a check-in table at Charles Stevens the Third Park. Join us at 9am to meet the Council President, grab supplies and help us clean up the neighborhood!
Charles Stevens the Third Park – 4639 Home Ave, San Diego, CA 92105
Join I Love A Clean San Diego, San Diego Canyonlands, and Think Blue San Diego for a VIRTUAL litter cleanup in the Chollas Creek Canyon neighborhood! We will collect trash from around the community and keep it from traveling through the canyons into the Pacific Ocean.
It is so important to stay safe and avoid group-gatherings right now, so we are turning the focus of these canyon cleanups away from public places and towards canyon-adjacent neighborhoods! Have you noticed any areas near your home that need a pick-me-up? Please join us in protecting the environment as well as ourselves, and “sunset sweep” in your neighborhood Thursday afternoon.
Get your family 6-ft apart together for a cleanup down the street! Invite your neighbors and practice social distancing. Bring a bucket or bag from home, grab some kitchen or gardening gloves, and don”t forget your face-covering. You can make this cleanup truly zero-waste by using your own reusable supplies!
Kick-off at 3pm with our included video introduction, then get out there to beautify your canyon neighborhood! We’ll make it a breeze to sort what you collect and dispose of it in your correct residential bins. After your cleanup report your totals in our Volunteer Impact map to track our accomplishments!
Register now to receive resources and event details!
DISCLAIMER: By participating in a cleanup, you agree I Love A Clean San Diego is NOT responsible for any injury suffered and you waive any claim arising from participation in the event. I agree to read and follow all of the safety protocols for this event.
Today, we would like to highlight yet another amazing Creek to Bay site captain team! Recently, our Development and Marketing Coordinator, Sarah, sat down with Kaley, a Community Health Specialist from the International Rescue Committee (IRC) who helps lead the New Roots Community Farm program. Read on to learn more about how this diverse group of community members have come together to do much more than pick up litter.
First, let’s start with a little background; what does the IRC do? The International Rescue Committee (IRC) provides health care, infrastructure, learning and economic support to people from around the world whose lives and livelihoods have been uprooted due to conflicts and disasters. Every year, the IRC resettles thousands of refugees in 22 U.S. cities, including San Diego, in efforts to help people, “survive, recover, and gain control of their future.” (www.rescue.org)
One of their most popular programs, the New Roots Community Farm, helps promote food security for approximately 90 refugee families who reside in the City Heights area. Each family has a plot where they plant, maintain and harvest food that they bring home to their families. They even have a booth at the City Heights Farmer’s Market each Saturday, as well, where farmers can sell their produce to bring in extra income for their families.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RvmA3pEX-Ak]
But the IRC’s reach doesn’t stop there. About three years ago, the New Roots team was introduced to ILACSD through a combined partnership with Ground Works San Diego – Chollas Creek and Linda Pennington; both of which are longstanding ILACSD supporters and advocates for the well-being of City Heights and Chollas Creek. Their collaboration was a natural fit because a portion of Chollas Creek, a 32 mile natural waterway and drainage system, runs along the backside of the New Roots Community Farm. Unfortunately, the creek has been known to attract illegal dumping and litter so when it rains those pollutants move downstream impacting several neighborhoods along the way.
When asked, “What motivated your team to volunteer as site captains?” Kaley replied, without hesitation, “The free dumpster” which may seem like a comedic response but she further explained that ILACSD’s support, training and cleanup materials were great incentives to join. Additionally, her team was motivated by the fact that having pollution near a growing garden is not only unsightly, but could eventually lead to health issues. Thanks to this collaboration, the team at New Roots Community Farm now hosts quarterly cleanups in addition to their involvement with Creek to Bay and Coastal Cleanup Day, ensuring a healthy and safe garden for all to enjoy!
Ensuring safe food is not the only focus for this cleanup site. Although 90 families have plots at the garden, they often don’t see one another. Creek to Bay helps bring together one of San Diego’s most diverse communities, consisting of about dozens of different cultures and ethnicities, to enhance their local environment. It also provides them with a safe outlet to explore areas outside of the gardens. Since being introduced to I Love A Clean San Diego, volunteers have developed a native plants garden, walking paths, and removed pollutants from the creek bed. Above all else, the garden and Creek to Bay has helped to provide the gardeners with a greater connection to their new home in San Diego.
Join Kaley and her team at the New Roots Community Garden cleanup site in City Heights or choose from our other 105 sites at www.CreektoBay.org!
Today’s blog post comes from our Community Events Coordinator, Lexi Ambrogi, who is one of only 2 people who fearlessly and tirelessly planned this year’s Creek to Bay Cleanup!
As the numbers and results trickle into our office, we’re growing more and more confident of one thing: our 12th Annual Creek to Bay Cleanup was a success!
Flash back to 5AM Saturday morning. Our staff members’ alarms were all set to right around this time, and I’m betting that they looked out their windows and thought what I did: that wind! That rain! How is it possibly this loud outside right now?
But fortunately for us, the weather actually improved throughout the morning, and by the time volunteers started reporting to our record 96 cleanup sites throughout San Diego County, it was almost pleasant outside.
While the threat of rain may have kept a handful of volunteers in bed that morning, preliminary totals indicate that we had more than 5,000 people cleaning up their local creeks, beaches and bays as part of this event! And while the trash totals are still being compiled, we’re expecting that these volunteers removed roughly 150,000 pounds of litter and debris from their communities.
Every year at this event—and Coastal Cleanup Day in September—we look forward to hearing about the interesting and bizarre things that our volunteers find tucked away in canyons, riverbeds and trails. Some of my favorites this year include a cast iron bathtub (Alpine), a teddy bear scientist (Golden Hill), a 6-foot stuffed bear (City Heights), and a 5-pound bag of raw chicken wings (City Heights).
Despite the smoking ban at San Diego County beaches, volunteers are reporting that cigarette butts were once again the most commonly found item at their cleanup sites. With the help of initiatives like our Cigarette Litter Prevention Program, we’re hoping that we’ll see fewer butts on the ground and more in the trash can where they belong. Thanks to all of our Creek to Bay Cleanup sponsors who help make this event possible each year!
Looking to join us at our next event? We have a bunch of cleanups coming up in May and June. Click here for more information on how to get involved!
