Seeking volunteers for preventative cleanup
Save Our Shores (SOS), the leader in ocean awareness, advocacy and action on the Central Coast, announced today that they will be conducting their first public inland cleanup in Scotts Valley. Save Our Shores will be cleaning Scotts Valleys streets and neighborhoods this Friday. This cleanup is a precautionary and preventative cleanup to ensure there is little to no waste left in the streets before the first rainfall of the year. It is especially important to clean before the first rain to keep waste from being washed into the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary.
Preventative measures are the most effective in maintaining ocean health. So come on out and help us cleanup the streets and collect valuable data used to protect our wonderful coastline. Everyone is welcome! Make sure to wear sturdy shoes, dress in layers, wear sun protection and bring a filled reusable water bottle. We always encourage volunteers to bring any gardening gloves and/or reusable buckets to help us reduce the amount of waste created by the event.
“It is common to think that winter is a slow season for beach, river and street cleanups, when in fact it’s quite the opposite. Instead of heavy foot traffic and warm weather, we are faced with heavy rains that flush trash downstream into our bay.” said Marina Maze, Program Coordinator at Save Our Shores.
Save Our Shores will be set up at Sky Park near the play structure at 10am this Friday, November 15th. We will be heading into the surrounding streets and neighborhoods to collect any and all trash that is about to enter our marine environment.
It may seem odd to head inland to protect the coast, but there is rhyme to this reasoning. While Fall and Winter weather may not be the most welcoming for cleanups, it is the most important time of year to keep waste from being washed into the storm drains and into our creeks, rivers and lastly the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary. Once trash enters our waterways it is much harder to remove and can cause serious damage to habitat and the animals residing there.
For more information, please contact Marina Maze, Program Coordinator at Save Our Shores at (831) 462-5660 x2 or [email protected]. You can always find us on the web at
www.saveourshores.org.
ABOUT SAVE OUR SHORES:
Save Our Shores is the Central Coast leader in caring for the marine environment through ocean awareness, advocacy and citizen action. Our core initiatives are Clean Boating, Marine Debris and Ocean Awareness. Over the last 30 years SOS has been locally responsible for key accomplishments such as helping to establish the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary, preventing offshore oil drilling and cruise ship pollution and bringing together diverse stakeholders to find common solutions to ocean issues. Today we focus on educating youth about our local watersheds, tackling marine debris on our beaches and rivers, supporting habitat conservation efforts, implementing our nationally renowned DockWalker program and providing our community with educated and inspired Sanctuary Stewards! For more information about Save Our Shores visit our interactive website www.saveourshores.org or call at (831) 462-5660.