There has been a lot of talk about garbage in the news lately. But while others were just talking trash, four of our intrepid Club members were doing something about it!
Here, Lowry pauses before some autumn color, second bag in hand.
Fifth Thursday is a service day for our Club. This morning, Lowry Fenton, Jack Hunt, Laura Grinder, and Nelson Crandall met at AJ’s Natural Foods in Soquel to don yellow CapApRotary aprons and carry grabbers and plastic bags.
Before even crossing Soquel Drive, the group came across a tool that had been run over and broken into several plastic pieces, well on its way to becoming micro-plastic pollution.
Once across Soquel, the first block started slowly. It appears that one of the County’s rarely seen street sweepers had been by recently. Most the trash was on the sidewalk or in the adjacent landscaping.
That changed with the second block, where Cabrillo College Dr. crosses Park Ave. That’s where the adjacent landscaping slopes toward a drainage ditch that flows into Tannery Creek. In past years, this area has been covered with blackberries, poison oak, and brambles. Today, however, it was as if all the flora had been cut back, revealing a treasure trove of discarded waste, much of it years old.
By the time the group reached the northbound offramp to CA-1, everyone’s bag was bulging. A freeway offramp has its own distinct flavor of trash. In addition to cigarette butts (mostly on the driver side), the group found a lug nut, a few tire-balancing weights, and a forlorn Crest toothpaste box. What could have been its back story?
Several passers by thanked us for our service, except for one Eric Costello, who hollered, “You missed a spot!” as he drove on to southbound CA-1.
The group continued to the pedestrian entrance to New Brighton State Beach, greet by this whimsical Halloween icon.
Sseeking an accommodating trash can, the group found a candidate near the entrance kiosk. With the permission of an appreciative park ranger, they stuffed the can to capacity, leaving one bag at the side.
The walk back to AJ’s on the other side of the street was not quite as productive. Still, the combined effort was enough to fill Lowry's bag.
The adventure concluded with a lunch of halal sandwiches and drinks from AJ’s and a thoughtful conversation. The subject was how to help our friends and colleagues who inevitably will be disappointed, and perhaps distraught, with the outcome of this most divisive of elections.
Overall, it was a fulfilling morning of service. “Better than duck hunting,” one member observed.