This Saturday in California...

[windoggi]

You don't have to look to the "down southers" (where I live, thats everyone south of San Jose) for garbage by the water. Just go to a popular fishing spot anywhere.

[dsgrntlxmply]

As a regular windsurf user of Alameda's Crown Beach, I showed up early Saturday (only partially out of sanctimony, because the traffic through 580/880 can be slightly less homicidal at early hours) to work on the cleanup before going sailing. Having parked by the shack at Crown, I found that the cleanup was operating only from the Park end of the beach, so ended up walking all the way down there (around 1.5 miles).

At Park, there were tables with sign-in sheets, people handing out examination gloves, paper forms to list the objects found, and trash and recycle bags to groups only, along with warnings not to touch any hypodermics or car batteries found.

If anyone can find a way to turn the ordinary into the impossible, with boxes of paperwork added, they will be surely be found in the Bay Area.

On the way down to the tables, someone in a group wearing vests walking along the sidewalk spotted the coffee cup in my hand and yelled "you done with that?" Ha ha ha - I was still drinking it. At least someone was being vigilant for possible trash.

Working my way back up the fence-protected trash accumulation zone (where if spotted by an eco-vigilante, I would very likely have been yelled at if not held for arrest, even though I was using common sense and existing use-paths to avoid stepping on actual living vegetation), I heard some kids on the beach yelling "I found a battery!" Another yelled "Don't touch it!" I very much doubt that this was a car battery. When I was a kid, we tested batteries by putting the terminals on our tongues.

Using no bags (because I am not a group) and my highly reusable cheap work gloves (bleeding from one hand due to an ungloved encounter with a nasty piece of pointy vegetation: WARNING, PANIC, BIOHAZARD DESPITE THE FACT THAT I DONATED BLOOD LAST WEEK!!!) and no extra plastic bags, I collected: random plastic, a number of beer bottles, Hennesy bottle and Red Bull can found close enough together to make me gag at the possibilities, red Ferrari (regrettably thumb-sized) set back out where some kid might find it (WARNING, PANIC, CHOKING HAZARD!!!), nail clippers in excellent condition (WARNING, PANIC, BIOHAZARD!!!) which I used an hour later to remedy a nail mishap during rigging.

Thanks past, present, and future to two crews from our United States Coast Guard who were standing up and walking with their recycle bags at the ready, instead of sitting on the sand yikk-yakking, the recyclables got recycled.

Given the very warm and sunny weather and number of typical family visits to the beach over the weekend, by Sunday evening, with the organized cleanup long-gone, I was picking up innumerable chip bags, candy and ice cream wrappers, multi-pound-sized plastic containers that formerly held industrial sucro-greasewads sold as "cookies", straws, plastic cups, and those horrible plastic "juice" containers that are always sticky.

Organized events might raise awareness, but they can be defeated in moments by ordinary crappy behavior.

I hope that the paperwork generated, all managed to fit into only one unwashed Prius.

[Sandman510]

Proudly wearing my BAK shirt I picked up trash from Racetrack beach at the Albany Bulb. That place has a fantastic view of the GG Bridge and often blows in EBay when other sites are shutdown. Only ever seen 1 windsurfer there, but tons of kiters have learned to love this urban beach.
Really cool to see all the people turn out.
The dog walkers were mostly clueless with off-leash dogs running rampant. Epitome moment when dog takes crap right in ankle deep water while coffee-cup toting owner shouts to his wife "I can't pick it up, it's not a floater"
Hopefully one day the beach will be nice enough to let your kids play there without constant monitoring so they're not playing in effluent.
Sander

[benspikey]

I windsurf at Cabrillio often also. How come they never fine people for littering here?

I have seen people just get up and leave all trash on the beach. I often see police but have not once witnessed them write a ticket for this. Seems like one police officer on a weekend could generate a lot of revenue for the city and change this behavior. Make sure this officer is speaks spanish..

Just a though.

Also I do not do a session without picking some type of trash off the beach at this location. I have even yelled at people for littering but it does little good..

[theq]

[mac]

After writing something like that, not thinking about what the larger message is, and posting it, is it any wonder that many of us think that the right wing is simply racist? Poor people litter more than rich people, for a number of reasons. The reasons that cops don't ticket more people is the same reason that they don't give tickets every time someone runs a stop sign. There aren't enough of them to enforce all of the laws. But of course, if we throw all the bums out, elect a bunch of amateurs, and cut taxes we'll somehow find all of that waste that Meg's talking about.

Q--do you have any idea home much comments like this diminish you?

[nw30]

[mac]

Yes, I've seen that--adn thought about it. What is the per capita income in Baja? And the government's role in setting up sanitary landfills? Could there be differences?

It is one thing to point out a problem, and look for root causes and solutions. It is quite another to make it a racial issue. I found the comments repulsive and demeaning to the author.

By the way, I did spend 3 hours plucking garbage off a remote beach in San Francisco Bay. most floated in. Shall we blame that on boaters?

[bludyell]

So......did all agree ridding our play grounds of trash is a GOOD thing, or is it just more rewarding to bicker amongst ourselves?
How do we encourage and educate people (south, north or plain pink) to be better stewards, for the short time we're here to eff things up forever?
Doesn't seem like punishment or heckling works; anyone got any new ideas?
If folks need an armband to help them motivate and feel good, let em have one.
But maybe just one, so the landfills don't fill up with feel good armbands!!

BTW, there is no 'race' - only 'other than self'.

[mac]

bludyel--a good question. In southern California you might look at the efforts of Heal the Bay, in Northern California Save the Bay, and in other places the water keeper organizations. A couple of things pop out:

1. Having natural streams, and people who enjoy their communities because of that amenity helps. Most trash comes from upstream--not from boaters or beachgoers. This involves peer education, the most effective.

2. Look at land uses that generate a lot of litter--fast food places notoriously, and charge them fees that would allow the trash to be swept up.

3. Install trash separators in the really dirty watersheds.

4. Clean it off the beach.

I've been involved in all of those for decades. You too can volunteer.