For Plastic-Free July, we’re getting hands on with a shoreline clean-up in partnership with the City of Berkeley this Saturday. If you’re into citizen-science, volunteering, or thinking about how to solve the problem of plastic, this clean-up is for you. Clean-ups are like a real life treasure hunt, where the treasure is the feeling you get from removing dozens of tiny pieces of harmful litter from our environment. Invite your friends and family to join you, and share in that feeling, too!
Ecology Center’s staffer Carrie Bennett will be there helping out. She says clean-ups are eye-opening: “The closer you get to the debris on the shoreline, you see that it’s millions of pieces of small items like cigarette butts, straws, and broken pieces of larger items. By participating in the clean-up, you get to be a microscope for what’s happening in the ecosystem, and what you find gets tallied to add to data that can help advocate for solutions.”
The clean-up will begin at the Shorebird Park Nature Center at 9am. Participants will turn in signed waivers, view a brief indoor presentation on the problems of plastics in the marine environment, and learn how to fill out the data cards. There will be a safety talk, and explanations of what is not recyclable where to put the trash you find. Then, we will set out as a group to clear trash from a particular area of the Berkeley marina shoreline. Clean-up ends at 12pm, when we will return all unused materials, data cards, pencils and any borrowed tools or supplies to the Nature Center. Sign up to participate by sending an email to naturecenter@cityofberkeley.info. Please note how many people will be in your party and what ages.
Some things to know: Wear sturdy tie on shoes — no sandals, flip flops or crocks. This is NOT a beach — it is man made landfill and sometimes you will be working around large rocks. Wear pants – you will be kneeling on rocks/sand/dirt. Dress like an onion so you can peel off the layers as the temperature rises. It can be cold in the morning, hot in the afternoon and windy.
We hope you will join us!
[Photo of last year’s Shoreline Clean-Up for Plastic-Free July]
