Weiwei Wang was in charge of recycling. Daphne Psaledakis had trash. And Iris Hou recorded the findings.
Together, the trio was among 14 Ojai Valley School students who roamed San Buenaventura State Beach last month as part of the annual California Coastal Cleanup Day.
As OVS’ community service representative, Daphne organized the school’s participation in the event as a way of getting students involved in a campaign aimed at saving part of the planet.
“I wanted people to sign up for Coastal Cleanup because it helps the environment and the community,” Daphne said. “And you’re saving turtles.”
For the 29th consecutive year, the annual cleanup day was organized by the California Coastal Commission.
On that day, 50,000 volunteers picked through shorelines and inland locations, picking up debris at more than 850 sites in 53 of California’s 58 countries, according to the Coastal Commission’s website.
In total, volunteers gathered gathering half a million pounds of trash and recyclables.
In Ventura, more than 150 volunteers picked up and removed 300 pounds of garbage at San Buenaventura State Beach.
The beach seemed clean at first glance before the OVS students arrived.
That was only the beginning though, as “hidden treasures” still lay buried under sand and brush. According to the US Environmental Protection Agency, Americans generated about 250 million tons of trash in 2011, much of which is dumped into oceans and renamed marine debris.
Marine debris are usually items like fishing line, strapping bands, and soda and beer six-pack rings, according to the California Coastal Commission, whose slogan is “let’s make trash extinct!”
Those items often entangle marine life, causing them to suffocate or starve. Ingestion is also a problem, where marine animals mistake marine debris for food.
The trash, usually plastic, fill the animal’s stomach, creating a “full” feeling, and causing the animal to starve to death. Victims range from sea turtles to gray whales, found dead from eating plastic bags and bed sheets.
As the chilly ocean wind blew and the warm sun shone in San Buenaventura State Beach, the Ojai Valley School students quickly assembled themselves into teams of three; one for recyclables, one for garbage, and one to record all the findings.
As many decided to wander the length of the beach in search of trash, a few stray students and Biology teacher Lisa Boyd decided to comb the sand dunes.
Traditionally off limits to the public for walking or exploration, the sand dunes are home to many nesting birds. The birds, however, had left their nests for the season, and garbage had blown itself deep into the sand and scraggy vegetation.
Picking their way through sinkholes and spider webs, students and teacher sighed and winced as plants dropped their spiky seeds into socks and shoes. “Newspaper!” called out Mrs. Boyd, shaking the sand out of an old and yellowed newspaper. “Cigarette butt!” called a student in return. “Chips bag! With chips! Umm, rat skeleton!”
After an hour of hard work, the students began to migrate towards the mouth of the beach, where they placed their bags of trash and recyclables into a small pile and received thanks from event organizers.
“We did make a difference,” Mrs. Boyd said. “In the big picture, in the long run, we have made a difference.”
Stories and photos by Kai Lin, Class of 2015