Page 14 - Sonoma County Gazette Sept 2017

Tracking our Trash Footprint – Source to Sea
PHOTO by Jerry Dodrill for B-RAD Coast Cleanup
The Albatross is a seabird with the largest
wingspan of any bird up to 11.5 feet and is
capable of traveling 10,000 miles in a single
trip without landing! As you can see below
they are majestic birds that live up to 60 years
but plastic pollution threatens their existence
because of the way they feed. They glide around
for weeks picking up floating marine creatures
and frequently consume the floating plastic in
our oceans. The plastic fills up their stomachs,
preventing any nutritious foods from being
absorbed and they slowly starve to death as
they are full of plastic. The images from Midway
Island are haunting with beaches covered with
albatross carcasses rotting away toreveal what
caused their demise – plastic trash. It doesn’t have to be this way if we are more mindful of trash anywhere we see it, we can save the albatross and sea turtles by picking up trash before it gets into the ocean.
Volunteer for the 30th Anniversary RR Watershed Cleanup
Sept 16th!
By Adriane Garayalde
Russian River Confluence Coordinator
river from Asti to Guerneville and link up with the California Coastal Cleanup. The deplorable condition of Steelhead Beach was evident and in January
1994, a huge community effort was made to clean
The Russian River Confluence is a movement
to bring people together to celebrate and protect the river that is the life of our communities, states Adriane Garayalde, RRC Coordinator. Bringing awareness that what each person does, whether at home or recreating on the river, can affect the water quality in the river is vital to river health. Trash is just one of the water quality issues plaguing the Russian River. A healthy river provides water for our homes and businesses, a healthy agricultural economy, a place of recreation, thriving wildlife and fish, and economic vitality.
up the beach. An abandoned bus, several vehicles, six (twenty yard) dumpsters of trash and over 400 tires were removed. The beach is now a jewel of our county park system and enjoyed by many river goers.
What happens to the cans, bottles and the plastic bag with lunch leftovers sitting along the river?
It gets ripped apart by wildlife, then the fall and winter rains pick up the thousands of pieces of garbage left by summer visitors to the Russian River and it washes downstream to the ocean
and litters our beaches.
Last year 364 total registered volunteers: 130 in Mendocino, 264 in Sonoma collected 21,769 pounds of trash from over 89 miles of stream banks with 4,405 pounds diverted to recycling or reuse. Let’s beat last year’s totals!
There will be cleanup locations organized from Ukiah to Monte Rio. General information is available via the RRWCU website russianrivercleanup.org and
registration is open at: .eventbrite.com/e/russian- river-watershed-cleanup-tickets-27204836398
Trash has now reached every corner of the globe and has formed large floating garbage patches bigger than Texas. Trash destroys the beauty, health, and safety of our rivers. Many people disregard trash as a major environmental issue but with the discovery of yet another Texas sized garbage patch in the South Pacific last month confirms it is a major global environmental issue. Where does all that trash come from?
By volunteering and removing trash from our watershed you will not only be protecting our waterways, you will be shrinking the Great Pacific GarbagePatch, the massive vortex of marine debris in the Pacific Ocean.
At least 80% of trash that ends up in our oceans and comes from our streets, cities and parking lots, look around you will see it before the rains sweep it into our ocean. Seemingly harmless items like plastic straws end up in snouts of sea lions and often lead to mortal injuries. Trash is not just ugly it injures and kills thousands of marine mammals and tens of thousands of birds.
– Clean River Alliance! In 2014, Chris Brokate founded the Clean River Alliance (CRA). As an enthusiastic paddler and fan of the river, he had noticed the devastating impact of all the rubbish and debris that washed downstream and landed on the beaches and in the estuary after heavy rains. By providing leadership and organization to cleanup efforts, CRA has inspired enthusiastic support from a diverse group of citizens, businesses and public and private agencies in the pursuit of a pristine and beautiful watershed.
This is where YOU enter the picture to help change things for the better!
By reaching out to all residents and educating them on the importance
of a clean and healthy watershed, it has built an ever-growing community collaboration. From school kids, neighbors, to business groups, the educationand training has empowered them to take direct action to keep their own towns, neighborhoods, parks and living spaces clean.
It’s hard to believe the annual Russian River Watershed Cleanup is 30 years old this year! The first official Russian River Cleanup Day was held in 1988 with members of the Sequoia Canoe Club and Sierra Club members cleaning up the river between Alexander Valley and Healdsburg. October 21 was officially designated as Russian River Cleanup Day by the County Board
What can you do to reduce trash in the Russian River watershed?
of Supervisors and the City of Healdsburg, which brought additional river aficionados out each year to clean up litter along the river prior to the winter rains. In 1993, the cleanup was moved to September and expanded to cover the
• Take away all trash from visits to the river. Even small items, like pop tops, and glass that can get broken, can be deadly or injurious to wildlife, children, and pets. Remember the river is Ours to Protect. Leave the river area cleaner than when you arrived.
14 - www.sonomacountygazette.com - 9/17
For more information on CRA, or to talk trash, call Chris at (707) 322-8304 or visit cleanriveralliance.com
This year we’ll be saluting the efforts of over 9,000 volunteers since 1988 andagain working to make this the biggest cleanup event in the Russian River’s history.
Our local trash solution innovator
Late autumn and winter of 2015 brought about an endeavor to collect and dispose of the unwanted trash and items abandoned by the homeless living along the Russian River. Having no home also brings the issue of no resources
to dispose of unwanted belongings and trash. An unexpected benefit of reaching out to the homeless communities, is their recruitment as volunteers in the cleanup effort. CRA volunteers hand out trash bags to local campers at the weekly Vet Connect Clean Day Project in Guerneville. There are scheduled pickups of
trash that is collected and staged. Since this program started, over 30,000 pounds of garbage has been collected and delivered to the landfill.
• Join Russian River Confluence partners, Russian Riverkeeper and Clean River Alliance for the 30th annual Russian River Watershed Cleanup on September 16th.