With 63,00 volunteers participating in the annual Coastal Cleanup Day held on Sept. 17, the California Coastal Commission announced that volunteers picked up almost 600,000 pounds of debris.
Since 1985, California has hosted this event each fall to encourage people to get involved with the preservation of our fragile environment and demonstrate respect for the huge coastline that is California’s western border.
Along with Girl Scout Troops, teachers and other members of the Simi Valley community, Moorpark College students were a significant presence at Rancho Simi Community Park along the Arroyo. The Environmental Club at Moorpark College, “MERGE”, was there along with students from an Environmental Science lab class.
One of MERGE’s founding members and current ASG President, Jonathan Foote, was at the event supporting and participating in the cause.
“If we don’t take a stand and start to protect the resources in the natural environment, we leave a footprint that is sometimes irreversible,” Foote said.
Lori Clark, professor of Environmental Science at Moorpark College, is an advocate for the program and encouraged the participation of both students and the community.
“Actually getting out and being part of the community and improving the places that you visit and you live, gives you a sense of connection and ownership to your environment and an appreciation for it,” said Clark. “When we feel that connection, we want to take better care of it and become better stewards of the land.”
Clark explained that run off water does not reach a water treatment facility. The trash that collects in our streets flow into washes, then to rivers and eventually drain into the Pacific Ocean, which has become a huge receptacle for non-biodegradable waste.
California has one of the largest participation rates in the world for a trash clean up. Since its establishment, both the number of participants and the amount of trash collected has continued to increase.
“When you’re not going there to look at the surf, you’re going there specifically to get rid of the trash, you see so much more than you would if you weren’t looking for it,” Clark said. “It kind of breaks your heart a little bit, but also makes you appreciate and feel like you can actually improve it.”
Along with some of his classmates, lab student William Murphy, a 21-year-old Biology and Engineering Major, with a minor in Environmental Science, located a shelf in the Arroyo where water bottles, Christmas ornaments, beach balls and other miscellaneous waste had piled up.
“Every little action that you do has an effect and it’s interesting to see how it accumulates,” Murphy said.
Beyond the statewide cleanup, MERGE hosts multiple events of similar caliber throughout the school year. They also sponsor a recycling program on Moorpark’s campus, separating recyclables from trash in an effort to promote green living and fund their program.
Noah Kiedaisch, a 2nd year member of ‘MERGE’, participated in this year’s clean up.
“It’s just important for our own futures individually and as a whole because they’re both connected, and it’s important to get involved with something that’s going to benefit our society,” Kiedaisch said.
To get involved with MERGE, visit Moorpark Environmental Club MERGE on Facebook.
