Coastal Cleanup Day Returns to San Diego County September 18, 2021

Posted on by ILACSD

International Coastal Cleanup Day 2021:
San Diego County’s Largest Environmental Cleanup Returns on September 18

Free online volunteer registration opens September 1, 2021 at CleanupDay.org. Volunteer groups expected to grow significantly from 2020. New Coastal Cleanup Day T-Shirt is available on event website.

International Coastal Cleanup Day returns to San Diego County for its 37th edition on Saturday, September 18, 2021. About 80 percent of all marine debris originates inland, so people of all ages and from all points in the region are encouraged to participate in one of the world’s largest environmental preservation efforts. Volunteers can cleanup at any point during the day. Learn more at the official Coastal Cleanup Day San Diego website CleanupDay.org.

Coastal Cleanup Day T-Shirt

Order your Coastal Cleanup Day Tshirt Today! All proceeds benefit I Love A Clean San Diego. Thank you!

The countywide event is a major part of International Coastal Cleanup, which includes many U.S. states, territories, and over 90 countries. San Diego County volunteers are joining nearly one million volunteers all over the world in the removal of pollution from our connected ecosystems.

“Each year, at least 8 million tonnes of plastics leak into the ocean – which is equivalent to dumping the contents of one garbage truck into the ocean every minute. If no action is taken, this is expected to increase to two per minute by 2030 and four per minute by 2050. Estimates suggest that plastic packaging represents the major share of this leakage. The best research currently available estimates that there are over 150 million tonnes of plastics in the ocean today. In a business-as-usual scenario, the ocean is expected to contain 1 tonne of plastic for every 3 tonnes of fish by 2025, and by 2050, more plastics than fish (by weight).” World Economic Forum Report

Produced by I Love A Clean San Diego for the region, and in cooperation with the California Coastal Commission and Ocean Conservancy, over 269,000 volunteers countywide have removed over 5.4 million pounds of litter and debris from local communities since Coastal Cleanup Day’s inception in 1985. Despite the effects of the pandemic in 2020, San Diego County stood out. The region’s effort accounted for 1 percent of international litter totals, nearly six percent of the national totals and 20 percent of California’s results.

This year, Coastal Cleanup Day is making a return to group volunteering and data collection at litter hot spots across the county. If volunteers would like to find a litter hotspot in the county to do their cleanup, they can check the hotspot map on CleanupDay.org when registration opens Sept. 1.

Keeping with the theme protecting the coast starts at your front door, organizers are still offering a close to home option to allow more volunteers the opportunity to cleanup streets, parks, canyons and beaches within their own communities.

“No matter where you live in San Diego County, we all live in one of the region’s 11 watersheds, which need our help to protect the inland environment, creeks, bays and ultimately the ocean,” said Len Hering, executive director at I Love A Clean San Diego. “We’re happy to be making a significant step toward getting back together in groups to show our love for the region we call home.”

San Diego Gas & Electric (SDG&E) will be celebrating its 20th year participating in Coastal Cleanup Day, making it the longest serving corporate team in the San Diego region, according to I Love A Clean San Diego. SDG&E encourages all volunteers to be community scientists and record their data during and after their cleanup so the results of local efforts are included in the global totals.

“Coastal Cleanup Day is an event our employees look forward to each year, and we will be out at four locations this year,” said Scott Crider, senior vice president of customer services and external affairs at SDG&E. “Heading into our 20th year of volunteering for the event, we are proud to have stopped over 110,000 pounds of trash from going into our waterways.”

Be a community scientist and report cleanup data online.

This year we are recording the Thank Yous volunteers receive from passersby while working on their project.

All volunteers must register at CleanupDay.org to officially participate and have their cleanup totals officially counted in the international effort.

Prior to event day, registered volunteers will receive a link to a simple cleanup report form to record their cleanup data, which can be accessed on mobile device or computer.

I Love A Clean San Diego has created a Volunteer Impact Map. This map visualizes all locations and cleanup totals around San Diego County in real time as volunteers submit data.

Adding an appreciation metric, volunteers will report the number of “thank yous” they receive from passersby while working on their cleanup project.

“It is critical volunteers register first and then review and submit their totals on our easy online cleanup report form,” said Lauren Short, the event’s program manager. “This data gives us a snapshot of the weights and types of pollution collected so we can share those accomplishments internationally.”

To help expand the countywide experience, volunteers are encouraged to contribute to the virtual cleanup’s story through Facebook and Instagram with images and video to show themselves in action as they beautify their community. #ILoveACleanSD @ILoveACleanSD #ProtectYourHappyPlace #CCD2021

Top 10 Items Collected Around the World in 2020

Plastic is the problem: All items listed below are example of single-use plastic.
1. Food Wrappers (candy, chips, etc.) 4,771,602
2. Cigarette Butts 4,211,962
3. Plastic Beverage Bottles 1,885,833
4. Plastic Bottle Caps 1,500,523
5. Straws, Stirrers 942,992
6. Plastic Cups, Plates 754,969
7. Plastic Grocery Bags 740,290
8. Plastic Take Out/Away Containers 678,312
9. Other Plastic Bags 611,100
10. Plastic Lids 605,778
Source: OceanConservancy.org

Supporting partners of Coastal Cleanup Day San Diego County

Think Blue, County of San Diego and its Watershed Protection Program, Project Clean Water, COX Communications, SDG&E, Wells Fargo, Coca-Cola Foundation, News 8, Bank of America, Northrop Grumman, Illumina, Sony, City of Imperial Beach, City of Carlsbad, City of La Mesa, City of Poway, City of Chula Vista and San Diego Regional Airport Authority.

About Coastal Cleanup Day San Diego County

I Love A Clean San Diego has been the official organizer of Coastal Cleanup Day in San Diego County since it was founded in 1985. The event is a major part of International Coastal Cleanup Day and includes many U.S. states and territories, and over 90 countries. Each year the event attracts nearly one million volunteers globally and about 6,000 throughout San Diego County who prevent ocean pollution from our connected ecosystems. International Coastal Cleanup was founded by the Ocean Conservancy and is coordinated in California by the California Coastal Commission.

About I Love A Clean San Diego

Founded in 1954, I Love A Clean San Diego is an environmental nonprofit supporting residents and businesses of San Diego County through youth and adult education, and local action through impactful volunteer events and workshops. As San Diego’s most influential advocate for sustainability, I Love A Clean San Diego’s programs are an environmental catalyst, awakening passion and inspiring action to empower everyone to be leaders in conservation and waste-free living. Our community is passion in action to maintain and improve the health of the home we love.

The post Coastal Cleanup Day Returns to San Diego County September 18, 2021 appeared first on I Love A Clean San Diego.

Coastal Cleanup Day Results: Single-Use Plastics are Chief Polluter and Cigarette Butts Remain Single Most Littered Item Countywide

Posted on by ILACSD

In just three hours today, more than 6,500 volunteers cleared nearly 145,000 pounds (72,500 tons) of waste and debris from streets, canyons, parks and the coastline in communities across San Diego County for the 35th annual Coastal Cleanup Day, organized by the nonprofit I Love A Clean San Diego. The day’s environmental protection effort took place at 107 sites around the region and prevented the equivalent of 5,500 garbage trucks emptying their contents into the ocean.

For the 35th year in row, since Coastal Cleanup Day’s inception, plastic in all its forms remains the chief polluter collected throughout San Diego County today. From food wrappers to cups and water bottles to fast-food containers, single-use plastics were found across parking lots, public parks, within canyons and around schools.

Cigarette butts remain the most littered individual item. Many cigarette butts were discovered within feet of the water along the coast, trapped in gutters that flow to the ocean, and tossed near waterways in the inland communities. Cigarette butt filters are made of plastic, do not biodegrade and are full of harmful toxins that pollute the environment when left behind.

Among the debris collected were several notable odd items, including a reclining chair, refrigerator, wheelchair, plastic Christmas tree, messages in a bottle at Swami’s State Beach, rice cooker, restaurant pager and a guitar case.

Conservation Tips

  1. Visit WasteFree.org to learn more about how to recycle effectively to reduce contaminated materials from the blue bin. And, see what waste goes to the landfill and use reusable items instead.
  2. Work to eliminate single-use plastics from your lifestyle and switch to reusable alternatives.
  3. Smokers: Please make sure your cigarette is disposed of properly and not discarded on the street. And, if you desire quitting, consult a physician to discuss a plan to stop smoking.

Volunteers included residents, corporate groups, and civic organizations who turned their appreciation for the region’s beauty into action by not only cleaning up waste, but also completing restoration projects such as painting, graffiti removal, non-native vegetation removal, mulching, trail restoration and weeding.

Coastal Cleanup Day was an opportunity for the community members to conserve in more ways than one. As part of the effort to boost zero-waste practices, I Love A Clean San Diego encouraged all volunteers to be more sustainable by choosing to bring reusable items to the cleanup such as reusable water bottles, work gloves and buckets. Volunteers had the opportunity to showcase their creativity and commitment to zero-waste practices by decorating reusable buckets to enter the Bling Your Bucket Contest for a chance to win prizes while celebrating sustainability.

Thank you Sponsors

I Love A Clean San Diego organizes Coastal Cleanup Day in San Diego County in partnership with the California Coastal Commission as part of a global international event led by the Ocean Conservancy. Top tier supporters of Coastal Cleanup Day include Think Blue San Diego, County of San Diego, San Diego Gas & Electric, Wells Fargo, Qualcomm Foundation, Cox, SolarTech and Evans Hotels.

Creek to Bay is Next Major Cleanup

Coastal Cleanup Day is one of two annual countywide cleanups, which includes the Creek to Bay cleanup on April 25, 2020, hosted by I Love A Clean San Diego that engage thousands of local families, community groups and local businesses. Beyond countywide events, I Love A Clean San Diego continues to empower volunteers at hundreds of cleanups targeting specific neighborhoods, parks, and open spaces on an ongoing basis throughout the year. In 2018, the nonprofit mobilized over 34,000 volunteers who removed more than 357,000 pounds of trash and debris from the San Diego County landscape. For more information about upcoming cleanups, workshops, or zero-waste tips, please visit CleanSD.org.

The post Coastal Cleanup Day Results: Single-Use Plastics are Chief Polluter and Cigarette Butts Remain Single Most Littered Item Countywide appeared first on I Love A Clean San Diego.

Coastal Cleanup Day Results: Plastics and Cigarette Butts are Chief Polluters

Posted on by ILACSD

In just three hours today, more than 6,800 volunteers cleared nearly 145,000 pounds of waste and debris from streets, canyons, parks and the coastline in communities across San Diego County for the 35th annual Coastal Cleanup Day, organized by the nonprofit I Love A Clean San Diego. The day’s environmental protection effort took place at 108 sites around the region and prevented the equivalent of six garbage trucks emptying their contents into the ocean.

For the 35th year in row, since Coastal Cleanup Day’s inception, plastic in all its forms remains the chief polluter collected throughout San Diego County today. From food wrappers to cups and water bottles to fast-food containers, single-use plastics were found across parking lots, public parks, within canyons and around schools.

Cigarette butts remain the most littered individual item. Many cigarette butts were discovered within feet of the water along the coast, trapped in gutters that flow to the ocean, and tossed near waterways in the inland communities. Cigarette butt filters are made of plastic, do not biodegrade and are full of harmful toxins that pollute the environment when left behind.

Among the debris collected were several notable odd items, including a reclining chair, refrigerator, wheelchair, plastic Christmas tree, messages in a bottle at Swami’s State Beach, rice cooker, restaurant pager and a guitar case.

Conservation Tips

  1. Visit WasteFree.org to learn more about how to recycle effectively to reduce contaminated materials from the blue bin. And, see what waste goes to the landfill and use reusable items instead.
  2. Work to eliminate single-use plastics from your lifestyle and switch to reusable alternatives.
  3. Smokers: Please make sure your cigarette is disposed of properly and not discarded on the street. And, if you desire quitting, consult a physician to discuss a plan to stop smoking.

Volunteers included residents, corporate groups, and civic organizations who turned their appreciation for the region’s beauty into action by not only cleaning up waste, but also completing restoration projects such as painting, graffiti removal, non-native vegetation removal, mulching, trail restoration and weeding.

Coastal Cleanup Day was an opportunity for the community members to conserve in more ways than one. As part of the effort to boost zero-waste practices, I Love A Clean San Diego encouraged all volunteers to be more sustainable by choosing to bring reusable items to the cleanup such as reusable water bottles, work gloves and buckets. Volunteers had the opportunity to showcase their creativity and commitment to zero-waste practices by decorating reusable buckets to enter the Bling Your Bucket Contest for a chance to win prizes while celebrating sustainability.

Thank you Sponsors

I Love A Clean San Diego organizes Coastal Cleanup Day in San Diego County in partnership with the California Coastal Commission as part of a global international event led by the Ocean Conservancy. Top tier supporters of Coastal Cleanup Day include Think Blue San Diego, County of San Diego, San Diego Gas & Electric, Wells Fargo, Qualcomm Foundation, Cox, SolarTech and Evans Hotels.

Creek to Bay is Next Major Cleanup

Coastal Cleanup Day is one of two annual countywide cleanups, which includes the Creek to Bay cleanup on April 25, 2020, hosted by I Love A Clean San Diego that engage thousands of local families, community groups and local businesses. Beyond countywide events, I Love A Clean San Diego continues to empower volunteers at hundreds of cleanups targeting specific neighborhoods, parks, and open spaces on an ongoing basis throughout the year. In 2018, the nonprofit mobilized over 34,000 volunteers who removed more than 357,000 pounds of trash and debris from the San Diego County landscape. For more information about upcoming cleanups, workshops, or zero-waste tips, please visit CleanSD.org.

The post Coastal Cleanup Day Results: Plastics and Cigarette Butts are Chief Polluters appeared first on I Love A Clean San Diego.

San Diego County Volunteers Needed for Coastal Cleanup Day

Posted on by ILACSD

The 35th annual Coastal Cleanup Day is nearly here. I Love A Clean San Diego (ILACSD) seeks 8,000 volunteers to help beautify more than 100 sites across San Diego County on Saturday,September 21, 2019 from 9:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. ILACSD has coordinated this event regionally for the past 34 years, successfully mobilizing thousands of volunteers throughout the county. Volunteers of all ages and abilities are encouraged to sign up for a site in their neighborhood and help leave a positive impact on the entire region. Online registration is now open at CleanupDay.org.

Coastal Cleanup Day covers more than just the shoreline. ILACSD focuses the majority of its cleanup efforts along inland waterways and canyons. With 80 percent of marine debris coming from inland territories, volunteers learn first-hand the importance of keeping trash out of the region’s waterways, which carries trash and pollutants directly to the ocean through the storm drain system. In 2018, 9,174 volunteers removed over 148,000 pounds of trash, recyclables, and green waste from San Diego and Tijuana regions that otherwise would have polluted the beloved coastline and the Pacific Ocean.

ILACSD invites volunteers to take waste reduction into their own hands by pledging to “Bring Your Own” reusable items when they register at CleanupDay.org. Each volunteer who brings a reusable water bottle, work gloves, and/or a bucket to collect litter significantly reduces the need for single-use bags and disposable gloves. Prizes will be awarded to the best decorated buckets entered into this year’s Bling Your Bucket contest.

The CleanSwell app is another option for volunteers to help cut back on waste produced at this year’s Coastal Cleanup Day. Volunteers are encouraged to download the Clean Swell app to be used in place of paper data cards to track the debris collected on event day. The app is free and available to download for both iOS and Android devices.

Sony Electronics has returned to sponsor this year’s Coastal Cleanup Day Photo Contest where volunteers have the opportunity to win a Sony Cybershot Camera. Volunteers are encouraged to submit a photo of their Coastal Cleanup Day experience that best fits the theme, Blast From The Past. Photos for the Bling Your Bucket and Sony Photo Contests may be submitted to iloveacleansd@gmail.com.

ILACSD organizes Coastal Cleanup Day in San Diego County in partnership with the California Coastal Commission as part of a global international event led by the Ocean Conservancy. Top tier supporters of Coastal Cleanup Day include the County of San Diego, Think Blue San Diego, San Diego Gas & Electric (SDG&E), Wells Fargo, Qualcomm Foundation, Evans Hotels, Port of San Diego, Cox Communications, SolarTech, Republic Waste Services, and KFMB-TV / CBS 8.  Several corporate supporters plan to mobilize employee volunteers and their families at cleanup sites across the county including SDG&E which has accounted for more than 8,000 corporate volunteers over the last 16 years.

The post San Diego County Volunteers Needed for Coastal Cleanup Day appeared first on I Love A Clean San Diego.

San Diego County Volunteers Needed for Coastal Cleanup Day

Posted on by ILACSD

The 35th annual Coastal Cleanup Day is nearly here. I Love A Clean San Diego (ILACSD) seeks 8,000 volunteers to help beautify more than 100 sites across San Diego County on Saturday,September 21, 2019 from 9:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. ILACSD has coordinated this event regionally for the past 34 years, successfully mobilizing thousands of volunteers throughout the county. Volunteers of all ages and abilities are encouraged to sign up for a site in their neighborhood and help leave a positive impact on the entire region. Online registration is now open at CleanupDay.org.

Coastal Cleanup Day covers more than just the shoreline. ILACSD focuses the majority of its cleanup efforts along inland waterways and canyons. With 80 percent of marine debris coming from inland territories, volunteers learn first-hand the importance of keeping trash out of the region’s waterways, which carries trash and pollutants directly to the ocean through the storm drain system. In 2018, 9,174 volunteers removed over 148,000 pounds of trash, recyclables, and green waste from San Diego and Tijuana regions that otherwise would have polluted the beloved coastline and the Pacific Ocean.

ILACSD invites volunteers to take waste reduction into their own hands by pledging to “Bring Your Own” reusable items when they register at CleanupDay.org. Each volunteer who brings a reusable water bottle, work gloves, and/or a bucket to collect litter significantly reduces the need for single-use bags and disposable gloves. Prizes will be awarded to the best decorated buckets entered into this year’s Bling Your Bucket contest.

The CleanSwell app is another option for volunteers to help cut back on waste produced at this year’s Coastal Cleanup Day. Volunteers are encouraged to download the Clean Swell app to be used in place of paper data cards to track the debris collected on event day. The app is free and available to download for both iOS and Android devices.

Sony Electronics has returned to sponsor this year’s Coastal Cleanup Day Photo Contest where volunteers have the opportunity to win a Sony Cybershot Camera. Volunteers are encouraged to submit a photo of their Coastal Cleanup Day experience that best fits the theme, Blast From The Past. Photos for the Bling Your Bucket and Sony Photo Contests may be submitted to iloveacleansd@gmail.com.

ILACSD organizes Coastal Cleanup Day in San Diego County in partnership with the California Coastal Commission as part of a global international event led by the Ocean Conservancy. Top tier supporters of Coastal Cleanup Day include the County of San Diego, Think Blue San Diego, San Diego Gas & Electric (SDG&E), Wells Fargo, Qualcomm Foundation, Evans Hotels, Port of San Diego, Cox Communications, SolarTech, Republic Waste Services, and KFMB-TV / CBS 8.  Several corporate supporters plan to mobilize employee volunteers and their families at cleanup sites across the county including SDG&E which has accounted for more than 8,000 corporate volunteers over the last 16 years.

The post San Diego County Volunteers Needed for Coastal Cleanup Day appeared first on I Love A Clean San Diego.

The Wet Lab’s Citizen Science Lecture Series

Posted on by gtsueng

Our citizen science lecture series speaker on Tuesday 11/6 at the La Jolla Riford Library is Barbara Lloyd, who is the co-founder of Ocean Sanctuaries. OS is a non-profit organization “devoted almost exclusively to ocean-related citizen science projects and sharing the data obtained from them with both the professional and citizen science community… to foster greater understanding, wise ecology, species protection and good stewardship of the ocean and related habitats”.

Title: Using Citizen Science to Track Sevengill Sharks

Speaker: Barbara Lloyd, Founder, Ocean Sanctuaries, (a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization)

Abstract: Certain species, such as the sevengill shark or the whale shark, have unique patterns which can be utilized to identify individuals and to track resightings of the same shark. Ocean Sanctuaries is using online tools along with photos and videos to develop a collaborative data management system to estimate sevengill shark populations in Southern California and South Africa.

For more information, visit The San Diego Wet Lab group’s facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/The-Wet-Lab-130034794515909/

Happy Halloween

Posted on by ginger

M2C Halloween movie parody poster

If you love science and enjoy learning, you're in for a treat! Andrew (the brains behind Mark2Cure) will be holding a webinar using two case studies (the Gene Wiki Project and Mark2Cure) to illustrate the use of crowdsourcing as it applies to knowledge management for translational research. Registration is free and open to anyone (we checked first). There may be some required questions on the registration form which may not necessarily be applicable to you, but they're only meant to inform, not exclude. So, if you're interested in the webinar but don't have an affiliation with an institute or department, feel free to select 'other' and type in 'Mark2Cure'.

Event Details

(View the original announcement)

Speaker: Andrew Su, PhD, Professor, Department of Integrative, Structural and Computational Biology, The Scripps Research Institute

Overview: Crowdsourcing involves the engagement of large communities of individuals to collaboratively accomplish tasks at massive scale. These tasks could be online or offline, paid or for free. But how can crowdsourcing science help your research? This webinar will describe two crowdsourcing projects for translational research, both of which aim to better organize biomedical information so that it can be more easily accessed, integrated, and queried:

First, the goal of the Gene Wiki project is to create a community-maintained knowledge base of all relationships between biological entities, including genes, diseases, drugs, pathways, and variants. This project draws on the collective efforts of informatics researchers from a wide range of disciplines, including bioinformatics, cheminformatics, and medical informatics.

Second, the Mark2Cure project partners with the citizen scientist community to extract structured content from biomedical abstracts with an emphasis on rare disease. Although citizen scientists do not have any specialized expertise, after receiving proper training, Mark2Cure has shown that in aggregate they perform bio-curation at an accuracy comparable to professional scientists.

The Digital Scholar Webinar Series introduces health researchers at USC, CHLA and beyond to digital approaches and tools relevant to their research. The series showcases the potential and limitations of digital approaches health researchers need to be aware of. All webinars will be accessible afterward on the Digital Scholar Program page.

Register for the webinar

Celebrating Impact and Welcoming New Leadership at the Catamaran Wine Mixer

Posted on by ILACSD

On Thursday, Oct. 11, I Love A Clean San Diego’s supporters, community members, and local leaders gathered at the beautiful Catamaran Resort Hotel and Spa for ILACSD’s annual Fall Social, the Catamaran Wine Mixer, an evening celebrating environmental action in our community.

.

This year’s event, which took place as the sun set behind Mission Bay, included delicious food provided by the Catamaran and beer and wine provided by beverage sponsors Baja Brewing Company, Karl Strauss Brewing Company, and Summer Haines; an exciting auction and opportunity drawing; the chance to score premium vintages at the event’s wine pull; a wine tasting sampling a selection of fine wine; live music by Peter Hall; and more!

The festivities were also an opportunity to introduce I Love A Clean San Diego’s new Executive Director, Len Hering. Len began at ILACSD just last week, and we look forward to his leadership as we look toward ILACSD’s future.

The evening’s program kicked off with remarks by District 78 Assemblymember Todd Gloria; Ilsa Butler, Senior Vice President, Sales and Marketing of Evans Hotels; and Morgan Justice-Black, Community Relations Manager of San Diego Gas & Electric.

The program culminated with an award ceremony recognizing local volunteers, businesses, and community leaders whose environmental commitment make ILACSD’s mission possible. We were pleased to present awards (made from recycled glass!) to this year’s honorees:

Cox Communications:
Corporate Employee Engagement Award

 KP Charpentier:
Volunteer of the Year Award

Todd Linke:
Leading Tomorrow Award

 Rossel & Company:
Zero Waste Innovation Award

Imperial Beach Councilmember Mark West:
Community Collaboration Award

Proceeds from the Catamaran Wine Mixer will help I Love A Clean San Diego share more environmental educational resources, further build community volunteer opportunities, and offer even more zero waste resources benefitting all of San Diego County. Thank you to everyone who celebrated with us at this year’s Fall Social for helping us to create a cleaner, healthier, more beautiful San Diego! Check out more photos from the Catamaran Wine Mixer!

.

ILACSD would like to thank the following sponsors for their generous support of the Fall Social:

.
.
.
.
.
.

Celebrating Impact and Welcoming New Leadership at the Catamaran Wine Mixer

Posted on by ILACSD

On Thursday, Oct. 11, I Love A Clean San Diego’s supporters, community members, and local leaders gathered at the beautiful Catamaran Resort Hotel and Spa for ILACSD’s annual Fall Social, the Catamaran Wine Mixer, an evening celebrating environmental action in our community.

.

This year’s event, which took place as the sun set behind Mission Bay, included delicious food provided by the Catamaran and beer and wine provided by beverage sponsors Baja Brewing Company, Karl Strauss Brewing Company, and Summer Haines; an exciting auction and opportunity drawing; the chance to score premium vintages at the event’s wine pull; a wine tasting sampling a selection of fine wine; live music by Peter Hall; and more!

The festivities were also an opportunity to introduce I Love A Clean San Diego’s new Executive Director, Len Hering. Len began at ILACSD just last week, and we look forward to his leadership as we look toward ILACSD’s future.

The evening’s program kicked off with remarks by District 78 Assemblymember Todd Gloria; Ilsa Butler, Senior Vice President, Sales and Marketing of Evans Hotels; and Morgan Justice-Black, Community Relations Manager of San Diego Gas & Electric.

The program culminated with an award ceremony recognizing local volunteers, businesses, and community leaders whose environmental commitment make ILACSD’s mission possible. We were pleased to present awards (made from recycled glass!) to this year’s honorees:

Cox Communications:
Corporate Employee Engagement Award

 KP Charpentier:
Volunteer of the Year Award

Todd Linke:
Leading Tomorrow Award

 Rossel & Company:
Zero Waste Innovation Award

Imperial Beach Councilmember Mark West:
Community Collaboration Award

Proceeds from the Catamaran Wine Mixer will help I Love A Clean San Diego share more environmental educational resources, further build community volunteer opportunities, and offer even more zero waste resources benefitting all of San Diego County. Thank you to everyone who celebrated with us at this year’s Fall Social for helping us to create a cleaner, healthier, more beautiful San Diego! Check out more photos from the Catamaran Wine Mixer!

.

ILACSD would like to thank the following sponsors for their generous support of the Fall Social:

.
.
.
.
.
.

The post Celebrating Impact and Welcoming New Leadership at the Catamaran Wine Mixer appeared first on I Love A Clean San Diego.

Going to Bat for SD by Stepping Up to the Plate as a Site Captain

Posted on by ILACSD

San Diego Gas & Electric has been delivering San Diegans their power for almost 150 years. On top of their work providing around 45% clean energy to homes and businesses in this region – compared to an average of 8% nationwide – SDG&E supports many local nonprofits organizations that are working to improve the environment. This year, SDG&E and the San Diego Padres are Going to Bat for San Diego, and teaming up to support I Love A Clean San Diego and celebrate Coastal Cleanup Day.

 

ILACSD is proud to be part of the 2018 Going to Bat for San Diego Starting Lineup!

As a special thank you to volunteers that Go to Bat for San Diego, SDG&E and the Padres are recognizing Coastal Cleanup Day participants with a Volunteer Appreciation Night at the Padres game on Monday, September 17. Coastal Cleanup Day volunteers receive a promo code to purchase discounted tickets and be recognized for their accomplishments in keeping San Diego clean.

 

The 34th annual Coastal Cleanup Day will bring thousands of volunteers together on September 15th to beautify more than 100 beaches, parks, and other outdoor spaces throughout the region. Over the past 17 years, SDG&E has helped support I Love A Clean San Diego’s Coastal Cleanup Day efforts with the participation of thousands of employee volunteers! We are pleased to highlight two SDG&E heavy hitters who have stepped up to the plate to serve as site captains for Coastal Cleanup Day throughout the years.

Crystal Yousef

Crystal and her sidekick, Tipsie, at Coastal Cleanup Day 2013.

Crystal has been an SDG&E employee for 15 years and a Coastal Cleanup Day site captain for close to 10 years. She can always be counted on to go wherever there is a need, and Coastal Cleanup Day has led her on expeditions to Encanto, Poway, Golden Hill, and Rancho Bernardo, among other places.

In her day job, Crystal works at SDG&E’s Environmental Lab, which does environmental sampling and test analyses.  The Lab is certified to test for more than 500 chemical compounds, ensuring that SDG&E facilities are operating safely.

In Crystal’s decade of service at Coastal Cleanup Day, she says her favorite part of the annual volunteer event is seeing kids’ enthusiasm when they find a strange piece of trash. Whether it’s a shoe, a stuffed animal, or even a bathroom scale, kids often burst with excitement recounting where and how they found it, and in some instances, even make up stories for what they think the item is. It’s like trash show-and-tell.

Crystal also notes that she feels a sense of pride each year when she arrives at Coastal Cleanup Day to a sea of Team SDG&E volunteers outfitted in team t-shirts, which for many years were the two-toned tie-dye in the photo to the left. SDG&E and I Love A Clean San Diego are lucky to have folks like Crystal committed to ensuring a safe and successful cleanup for volunteers of all ages! This year, you can find Crystal helping out at the South Shores cleanup site in Mission Bay with Team SDG&E.

Hilary Haskell

Hilary participating in the 2016 City Heights Facelift with Team SDG&E.

Hilary has been an environmental enthusiast from a young age. In fact, in high school she conducted regular beach cleanups, and in college she interned with another environmental nonprofit, Orange County Coastkeeper. Fun fact: during Hilary’s internship, she helped to plan Kids’ Ocean Day in Orange County, aerial art and all! That’s the sister event to ILACSD’s San Diego Kids’ Ocean Day that occurs every spring.

Hilary joined SDG&E a little over two years ago and jumped right in with Coastal Cleanup Day. Last year, she led the San Dieguito Lagoon site for SDG&E, and this year you’ll find her at the Paradise Creek site in National City. Aside from having a good attitude and strong leadership qualities, Hilary brings another attribute to her role as site captain…she knows a lot about the environment! At SDG&E, she makes sure projects like the placing of a new power pole, or even the removal of one, don’t result in a detrimental environmental impact. She’s also one of the company’s leading sustainability advisors, helping to track SDG&E’s environmental performance in key areas.

While Hilary hasn’t been a part of Team SDG&E for very long, we anticipate that her involvement in Coastal Cleanup Day will continue for many years to come!

ILACSD is grateful for SDG&E’s longtime partnership and the hands-on role team members take on to make sure we knock Coastal Cleanup Day out of the park!