BCR members sort trash collected by public volunteers.
BCR participated in this year’s Coastal Cleanup Day, which is the third Saturday of September every year, when ocean and creek cleanups are organized all along the coast of California. In the L.A. area, Heal the Bay organizes cleanups at over 50 sites, including not just beaches but also some inland sites.
On September 19, BCR and Culver City teamed up to provide tools and instructions for 100 volunteers, including 40 youth, at the Overland Avenue Ballona Creek bikepath entrance, next to the County library. Volunteers collected 239 pounds of trash, 116 pounds of recyclables, and 678 pounds of green waste (including weeds and ice plant). Some hazardous waste was handled with special procedures. Sony Pictures Studio employee volunteers also hacked out the invasive weeds that largely obscured the Rivers of the World mural, created by BCR in 1997 as one of our early projects and renovated just a few years ago. Culver City provided tools and buckets and later removed the debris. BCR provided gloves, water and snacks, our knowledge, guidance and safety talks for the volunteers, organized the operation, and provided educational information about the creek and watershed.
Sony Pictures Studio volunteers dig out and remove the invasive nonnative grasses that obscured the Postcards from Ballona mural, first constructed by BCR in 1997.