Students gather for California Coastal Clean Up Day
San Benito County might not be the first place residents would
look for the coast, but once again the San Benito High School
Outdoor Club participated in the 24th Annual California Coastal
Cleanup Day. Since the program started in 1985 more than 800,000
Californians have removed more than 12 million pounds of debris
from state shorelines and coast, according to the cleanup Web
site.
Students gather for California Coastal Clean Up Day
San Benito County might not be the first place residents would look for the coast, but once again the San Benito High School Outdoor Club participated in the 24th Annual California Coastal Cleanup Day. Since the program started in 1985 more than 800,000 Californians have removed more than 12 million pounds of debris from state shorelines and coast, according to the cleanup Web site.
“Because most of the trash that gets into the ocean comes from inland waterways, this kind of project helps to prevent further pollution to the Pajaro River,” wrote Jim Ostdick, in an e-mail. Ostdick is an SBHS teacher and advisor to the Outdoor Club.
The San Benito River is part of the Pajaro watershed, and many small waterways connect to the rivers before they eventually empty into the Monterey Bay.
This year’s clean up involved 25 students who lugged everything from abandoned tires to mattresses to plastic bags out of the dry riverbed. The students worked for more than two hours Sept. 20 at the Hospital Road crossing of the river.
“Club members and their guests worked from 9 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. and removed another huge pile of trash from the San Benito River,” Ostdick wrote.
The event was sponsored by the Baler Education Foundaiton, Graniterock, San Benito County’s Integrated Waste Management Division and the Public Works Department.
Ostdick and his students also posted their project on a Web site called DonorsChoose.org, where they received several donations to support their clean up.
For more information on future Coastal Cleanups visit. www.coastal.ca.gov.
