Imagine walking along the pathway of a creek near your neighborhood. You see a variety of plants resting on the creek banks. You see tall and powerful trees and as they rise up in the sky. You see birds and bugs flying freely in their surroundings. You look over to the side of the creek and notice something large halfway buried in the dirt, it’s trash, intruding upon and corrupting the beauty of nature.
On Saturday, September 21st, approximately 133 volunteers participated in the 2019 Coastal Cleanup Day hosted by the non-profit organization, Keep Coyote Creek Beautiful.
In efforts to provide what was once a suitable environment to many plants and animals, volunteers gathered at Coyote Creek beside Capitol Expressway to help clear out as much trash as possible to reduce and prevent debris and plastic waste that can potentially make its to the Bay.
San Jose’s Mayor, Sam Liccardo, even made an appearance at the event and shared encouraging thoughts to help save Coyote Creek. After the introduction, participants moved into different groups, led by the team leaders of Keep Coyote Creek Beautiful, as they were guided to different spots of Coyote Creek to remove any of the waste within the area.
The 133 volunteers included families, children, high school and college students and many other individuals who continuously participate with Keep Coyote Creek Beautiful. It was great to see different communities coming together to help protect the well-being of the environment.
After three hours of hard work, a total of 140 bags of trash and 390 lbs of scrap metal were collected at Coyote Creek for a total of 2.8 tons of trash.
“Doing things in a coordinated group of like minded individuals can be enjoyable and we can accomplish a lot,” said a participant of the event.
We want to give a special shout out to all the participants of the event. None of this would be possible without their help. The Coastal Cleanup event in Santa Clara County is coordinated by Valley Water's Clean A Creek. We would also like to give another special thanks to Mayor Liccardo for showing up regardless of a busy schedule and taking the time to participate. Lastly, we want to thank our sponsors, Anti-Litter, for providing snacks, passing out lanyards and registering participants. Another shout out goes to California Water Conservancy for providing participants with hats and informing them with the knowledge of sustainable water usage.
We looking forward to next Coastal Cleanup Day!
