Litter-Free by the Sea

Team Vinny’s, 2015 – Contributed photo

Mark your calendars! It’s time for the 2016 Great Islands Clean-Up… our annual spring-cleaning! And again this year, both Orcas and Lopez will be joining San Juan in the event!

The specific information about San Juan Island’s effort is as follows:

• When: Saturday, April 23, 9 am – noon
• Where: All island roadsides and beaches
• Rain or shine!

Last year on San Juan, 225 islanders collected over 1600 pounds of litter from approximately 45 miles of roads and several beach areas. And, our island really did look GREAT!

But sadly, our refuse continues to end up as litter. Thoughtless tossing of bottles, cans, food wrappers, or cigarette butts; accidental “blowing away” of debris from unsecured loads on boats and trucks; or deliberate dumping of tires, etc., all contribute to the need to make litter pick-up an ongoing effort.

Multiple organizations – including San Juan County, the town of Friday Harbor, San Juan Sanitation, island service clubs, the Chamber of Commerce and Friends of the San Juans – are collaborating to sponsor this year’s Great Islands Clean-Up, a day when all able-bodied islanders are encouraged to help pick up the accumulated trash so that residents and visitors alike are treated to a litter-free island when warmer and sunnier weather beckons us all outdoors. The town of Friday Harbor has even issued an official proclamation supporting the clean-up and encouraging everyone to help out!

On behalf of the Town of Friday Harbor, Mayor Carrie Lacher gives the official proclamation to clean-up organizer Lori Stokes – Tim Dustrude photo

Please connect with your business, school, non-profit, service or neighborhood groups, family and friends and volunteer to help. You can join a group that has already been formed, or you can organize a group of your own!

To clean a road, contact David Dehlendorf (378-1082 or dauffa [@] gmail.com) prior to April 16, or Lori Stokes (378-4643 or loristokes3 [@] gmail.com) after that date; to clean a beach, contact Jana Marks (378-2319 or jana [@] sanjuans.org).

Pete Moe is organizing all the clean-up activities on Orcas Island (376- 4089 or pete [@] exchangeorcas.org).

The coordinators on Lopez Island are Nikyta Palmisani for roads (468-2555 or nikytap [@] lopezsolidwaste.org) and Nick Teague for beaches (468-3754 or [email protected]).

To help this effort: FREE pick-up bags will be available at the Chamber of Commerce office on Spring Street the week prior to the event. In addition, their office also has a limited number of grabbers, gloves and safety vests that participants are welcome to use.

San Juan Sanitation will be picking up collected litter at the following locations: Bonnie’s Craft Supplies on Spring St. across from the Friday Harbor Suites; the intersection of Roche Harbor Rd. and West Valley Rd.; the intersection of Mitchell Bay Rd. and West Side Rd.; the intersection of Beaverton Valley Rd. and Egg Lake Rd.; the intersection of Douglas Rd. and Bailer Hill Rd.; and the parking area at South Beach.  Your collected litter must be at one of these locations before 12:30 pm on April 23.

If you want to work on a different date, you can drop off your collected litter at the transfer station on Sutton Rd. during its regular hours – it’s FREE!  Just identify yourself as a litter-picker-upper.

If you are not picking up litter the morning of April 23 but are out and about in your car, please be cautious and keep an eye out for the safety of the clean-up crews; many of our roadsides lack shoulders and good sight lines.

Everyone is encouraged to pitch-in and clean around their neighborhoods and businesses, and help us be Litter-Free by the Sea!

You can support the San Juan Update by doing business with our loyal advertisers, and by making a one-time contribution or a recurring donation.