More than 200 volunteers braved sporadic downpours on Saturday, Sept. 21 for a day of cleaning the litter that had accumulated in the valley’s parks, roads, and waterways, as two San Lorenzo Valley organizations — SLV Core and the Valley Women’s Club — each hosted their annual river and road clean-up events.
While independent of one another, the two organizations’ clean-up efforts both supported Save Our Shores’ annual Coastal Cleanup Day.
David Wright, director of the Valley Women’s Club’s SLV Redemption and Recycling Centers, said that approximately 150 volunteers turned up at locations in Felton, Lompico, Ben Lomond, and Boulder Creek, and collectively removed 5,466 pounds of trash and recycling — nearly 2,000 more than the 3,700 pounds collected at the previous year’s event.
“We were able to pull more material out of the San Lorenzo Valley than we did last year,” Wright said. “A lot of students and a lot of families showed up.”
He said that, of the 5,466 pounds collected, some 2,700 of that was removed from the vicinity of the Covered Bridge in Felton.
“Furniture and shopping carts were a big part of it,” Wright said. “Fortunately we had a lot of volunteers with pickup trucks.”
Wright said that more than 3,000 cigarette butts were collected, and nearly 2,500 of those — “a discouraging number” — were collected from the Ben Lomond area.
Numbering 60 strong, volunteers for SLV Core’s cleanup event met at the Covered Bridge Park Saturday morning and removed some 2,700 pounds of trash and recyclables from the area surrounding the river.
According to Beth Hollenbeck, SLV Core volunteers — including 5th District Supervisor Bruce McPherson — removed several tires, fiberglass insulation, and other hazardous materials from the river area.
The strangest thing that the volunteers found? A full keg of Sierra Nevada Pale Ale.
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