Trashcan overflowing? Raising kids can produce a LOT of waste, but we can help!
Register today for I Love A Clean San Diego’s upcoming free webinar, Zero Waste Parenting Tips and Tricks, on Wednesday, October 26th, from 4:30-5:30 p.m. We will focus on the importance of involving children in decision making surrounding sustainable choices and emphasizing our connection to the planet. From infants to teens, we’ll share how to integrate low-waste habits into daily routines in achievable ways, including toys, snacks, birthday parties, activities, and school supplies.
We will be joined by guest speaker and zero waste parenting expert Fredrika Syren! Syren is a San Diego local, mother of three, and author of “A Practical Guide to Zero Waste for Families”.
Please register to receive the Zoom link.
Thank you to the City of Encinitas for funding and partnering with us to offer this webinar. We can’t wait to see you there!
Today’s blog comes from our Education Coordinator and Kids’ Ocean Day extraordinaire, Erika! Each year, ILACSD invites students to see first-hand how pollution negatively impacts our ocean as well as the opportunity to send a powerful message to the greater San Diego community through aerial art – but this year there is a twist. Read on to see what’s new about this year’s Kids’ Ocean Day and how you can get involved!
What does it look like, when 1000 students, teachers, and volunteers come together to actively conserve the environment? This:
This is the image of the 2014 Kids’ Ocean Day aerial art formation.
Join us Thursday, February 26th from 8am – noon at Border Field State Park!
For the past 12 years, I Love A Clean San Diego has participated alongside 5 Californian cities to celebrate World Oceans Day through Kids’ Ocean Day; a program funded by the California Coastal Commission. This is a multifaceted event, starting with an ocean conservation assembly, then students have the opportunity to take action through a beach cleanup, and can educate others by creating a message that can be seen from the sky.
This couldn’t be happening at a better time. Right now, our oceans are in trouble. Data show our oceans are inundated with trash, specifically plastic pollution. Each of our five major gyres has garbage patches; our local North Pacific Gyre has three. Microplastics, which create a plastic soup in our oceans, are found to absorb chemicals in the ocean, creating a cesspool of toxic waste animals cannot escape. Millions of animals die annually of starvation, with bellies full of plastic. Now is when we need a change. Now is when we need help. We need help to keep our oceans alive.
After educating students on information like the Pacific Garbage Patch and Midway Atoll, I find that most students immediately want to make a change and take action. Kids’ Ocean Day provides this opportunity. This year, we are taking it a step further. This year, we are expanding our program to include not one, but two nations. The ocean is one thing that connects the global world, so we feel like we should act globally through a bi-national Kids’ Ocean Day. Students from both sides of the border will be participating in a beach cleanup and then will create an aerial art image that spans two countries. This year’s image celebrates the ocean while asking for help. It is a message from the ocean, which will read “Unite por el mar” / “Unite for the sea!”
At this time, we are still in the process of recruiting volunteers. If you are interested in helping and celebrating the ocean, please contact Lexi at lambrogi@cleansd.org. Unite por el mar!
Today’s blog comes from our Education Coordinator, Erika Bjorkquist.
The morning started out fantastic. “What do you expect to see when we get in the canyon?” “Squirrels.” “Snakes.” “Majestic birds.” We split into 4 groups of 7 students and a leader and headed down. Half by way of Genessee, half descending behind the school. Four educators, 2 volunteers, 2 teachers, 52 students, one canyon.
Giving kids a chance to learn about and appreciate nature (even if it’s prickly)!
The first group I led down the steep slope into the canyon questioned the quick change in temperature and smell. One student connected the smell to a weekly vocabulary word, musty. Another hypothesizes that there is more shade in the canyon, resulting in colder temperatures. That and the sinking of cold air creates a drainage flow. Once in the canyon and layered up, we followed the creek and made discoveries. One student found tracks and after close examination, decided they belonged to raccoons. Others enjoyed identifying plants through comparison of their naturalist guide. Some looked in every oak tree for galls, like they were hidden treasure. They all liked touching sagebrush and fennel, even if they didn’t enjoy the smelly aftermath.
While some students liked plants the most and others enjoyed looking for animals, they all seemed to appreciate the opportunity to learn outdoors. Most of the students we brought to the Tecolote Canyon had never been there before, even though it is mere feet from their school. This is a fantastic program that opens kids eyes to the nature around them. I am so glad I was able to be a part of it.
