Creek2Bay Site Captain Spotlight – Spanish Landing

Each year, I Love a Clean San Diego hosts the annual Creek to Bay Cleanup, with over 100+ cleanup sites. We like to highlight our volunteer site captains who go above and beyond to help make this event possible. For today’s blog, we’ve chosen Brendan Reed from the San Diego County Regional Airport Authority to tell us about his journey to help keep San Diego clean and how he and his team are making a difference in our community. Read on to learn more about how Brendan got involved and how you can make a difference at a site near you.

Brendan is a seasoned volunteer site captain and is committed to keeping San Diego clean. When he isn’t volunteering with ILACSD, you can find him at the San Diego Regional Airport Authority, where he is the Environmental Sustainability Manager. Brendan’s main focuses are energy and water conservation, air quality management, and clean transportation at the San Diego Airport.

Having such a passion for sustainability Brendan finds himself as the site captain at Spanish Landing Park East in Point Loma – what he considers “the front door step” for the traveling airport passengers. Spanish Landing is a relatively new site, which Brendan believes makes it an “untapped” area for cleanups. While the site is generally kept clean, Brendan says that you would be surprised by the amount of trash you can still find and cleanup, especially objects like cigarette butts, old fishing line, and other smaller items. 

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Small pieces of litter really do add up!

Brendan first started volunteering with ILACSD ten years ago when he was the environmental manager for the City of Chula Vista. What keeps Brendan coming back year after year? Brendan says it’s, “ILACSD’s mission and their on-the-ground projects.” Brendan feels that through cleanups, communities are engaged and it’s a great benefit not just for the environment but for everyone. Brendan encourages others to come out on April 23rd at one of the 110 sites because even their smallest actions could make all the difference. “With 5,000 plus volunteers we are making a difference and that’s inspiring”.

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It’s more than a cleanup. Creek to Bay is about community.

He encourages those who are looking to get involved with I Love a Clean San Diego to find a site that has meaning for them. By volunteering at the Creek to Bay Cleanup, we can help reduce our impact on the local environment.

Keep San Diego thriving and show it some love! Save the Date for the Creek to Bay Cleanup happening on April 23, 2016 by registering today at CreektoBay.org!

A big thank you to Brendan Reed for all his work as a site captain and to the San Diego County Regional Airport Authority for supporting I Love A Clean San Diego’s Creek to Bay Cleanup.

Thank you for investing in a clean San Diego!

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Thanks to San Diego International Airport for their support!

 

 

Meet Billy Paul: Protector of Creatures Big and Small

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Billy Paul, Creek to Bay Site Captain at Rose Creek

Meet Billy Paul, Creek to Bay Site Captain and a tireless advocate for our environment.

For more than 40 years, Billy Paul has been an environmental activist involved with many environmental projects in San Diego. He also rescues beagles. He works tirelessly to protect the natural environment and the unique animals that call San Diego home, particularly in the areas around Ocean Beach and along Rose Creek. A Vietnam veteran and former Marine, Billy has been involved in everything from cleanups at Dog Beach, to saving Famosa Slough from being drained by developers back in the 1970s. When he first got involved in cleanups, areas like Famosa Slough were being used by locals as dumping grounds for everything from shopping carts and even cars! Working with other dedicated citizens, Billy helped revitalize that area and started to notice a trend – the cleaner the area was, the less trash people would dump there over the course of a year. He says, “I’ve come to realize that if people don’t see trash there, they won’t dump stuff there!” which is one of the reasons he believes cleanups like Creek to Bay are so important.

Several years ago, Billy started volunteering at Rose Creek, an often overlooked waterway that runs along the eastern boundary of Pacific Beach and behind Mission Bay High School. He became a site captain for that site alongside his friend, Karin Zirk, who is also a member of the Friends of Rose Creek. Not only have they removed tons of trash from the creek, they even convinced Campland by the Bay to host an ice cream social after cleanups, providing volunteers with a small token of appreciation after a long morning of work! Thank you Campland!

The hidden gem that is Rose Creek.
The hidden gem that is Rose Creek.

Billy now lives in Clairemont where he serves as Chair of the Balboa Avenue Citizens Advisory Committee which has helped to revitalize the Balboa Avenue area and make it safer for drivers, pedestrians, and even the animals that call the area home. Billy’s dedication to protecting the environment, the people, and the animals in his local community are evident in the many ways he volunteers his time. It’s evident that nothing will stop Billy Paul from working tirelessly for a clean environment! He was even scheduled for hip replacement surgery this month that would have had him wheelchair bound at Creek to Bay. Fortunately the surgery was pushed back, although he said that he would have been out there regardless. Lucky for us, Billy will be fully mobile at Rose Creek for the Creek to Bay Cleanup and sharing his stories and experiences with the volunteers who share his enthusiasm for preserving the natural habitats near their home.