Hundreds of residents picked up thousands of pounds of trash along the San Lorenzo River corridor as part of an annual cleanup Saturday, Sept. 17, an effort organized by several local activism groups.
SLV Citizens Organized for Responsible Ecology hosted 60 volunteers at the Felton Covered Bridge. The volunteers focused on Zayante Creek, the Felton meadow, Covered Bridge Park, storm drains and the riverbanks around the bridge.
In all, 2,600 pounds of trash and recyclables were pulled from these areas.
One of the largest trash areas was under the Felton bridge, where Kip Tellez and Mike Mantessa, along with other volunteers, pulled out 2,000 pounds of tarps, bottles and garbage that would have floated down the river during winter storms.
Student volunteers from San Lorenzo Valley and Scotts Valley schools also worked hard to pick up hundreds of cigarette butts and other refuse. Two homeless encampments were also removed from underneath the Graham Hill Bridge.
The Valley Women’s Club hosted 94 more volunteers from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. near Boulder Creek and Ben Lomond, and later in the day in Felton. More than 1,533 pounds of recyclables and 644 pounds of trash were collected.
Trucks from the SLV Water District and the County of Santa Cruz driven by Joe Davis, Howard Oliphant and Artura Sigala helped the cause.
The effort was part of the 25th annual Al Haynes Memorial SLV River and Road Cleanup from the Valley Women’s Club.
The efforts of the two local groups accompanied the 27th annual California Coastal Cleanup that takes place throughout California each year.
This year, more than 63,000 volunteers picked up more than 523,000 pounds of trash and more than 68,000 pounds of recyclables from 800 locations across the state.
