Help improve our local creeks, Lake Merritt and the San Francisco Bay during Oakland’s 25th Creek to Bay celebration this September. Although COVID-19 prevents us from gathering in groups this year, individual and household actions can still add up to positively impact our communities and beyond.
Oakland’s Creek to Bay is held in conjunction with the California Coastal Cleanup, part of an international cleaning-and-greening effort that rallied over a million volunteers worldwide in 2019. In a normal year, Oakland’s volunteer day in September is one of over 1,000 similar events held across California to reduce plastic pollution and trash debris in our waterways.
“Creek to Bay and the California Coastal Cleanup get people to engage in a stewardship activity,” reflects Chris Parry, education manager for the California Coastal Commission. “But they are also out there learning about the problem and ways to address it all year long. These events mobilize thousands of people who can then work at different levels through volunteering, services and legislation.”
In light of the restrictions COVID-19 places on group events, this year’s Creek to Bay will focus on encouraging individuals and households to take water conservation and protection actions throughout the month of September. Volunteers can register for Creek to Bay, access watershed education resources and record their results at oaklandcreektobay.org.
“Traditionally, Creek to Bay has been about big volunteer litter cleanups,” says Mike Perlmutter, environmental stewardship team supervisor with Oakland Public Works. “This year, we are physically apart, but virtually together. We would like to see volunteers taking action outside and inside their homes, then reporting their work online to share in our collective achievement. Litter cleanup and daily decisions such as our water use, what we put down our pipes, our materials consumption and how we take care of our landscaping all have big impacts on our waterways.”
Oaklanders are encouraged to clean up their neighborhoods, local parks, streets and storm drains to protect our waterways and prevent trash from reaching the bay and the ocean. Individuals can access general volunteer information, an updated waiver and guidelines at oaklandadoptaspot.org, then request supplies for their self-guided cleanup activities using the Adopt a Spot Tool Request Form.
“My volunteer goal this year for Creek To Bay is to bring attention to a creek through volunteerism,” says Oakland Parks and Recreation Foundation Board Member Dwayne Aikens Jr. “As a community organizer, I feel it is the perfect opportunity for me to bring attention to a creek or park in the Oakland area that traditionally receives little or low volunteer support.”
Following the conclusion of Creek to Bay at the end of September, the City of Oakland will compile, and share results of the community’s activities to celebrate the collective environmental, community, educational and health impacts of so many individual actions taken together.
“Oakland’s creeks highlight the connection between the watershed and the bay,” concludes Chris Parry from the California Coastal Commission. “But cleanups are also about our communities and getting out where we live to make our neighborhoods great places for visits and recreation.”