Mt. Miguel Eco Club students ready to take on Chollas Creek

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I Love A Clean San Diego’s (ILACSD) Coastal Cleanup Day is Sept. 20. This free event, celebrating its 30th anniversary, gives San Diegans the chance to make an impact by joining 8,000 other volunteers at more than 100 sites to keep our city pristine and beautiful.

I Love A Clean San Diego’s (ILACSD) Coastal Cleanup Day is Sept. 20. This free event, celebrating its 30th anniversary, gives San Diegans the chance to make an impact by joining 8,000 other volunteers at more than 100 sites to keep our city pristine and beautiful.

One special volunteer team is found in Lemon Grove residents’ and Mt. Miguel High School teachers Todd Linke and James McFaraland who have been become integral volunteers with ILACSD’s clean ups and will be participating this year with the help of their Mt. Miguel Eco Club students. The team will oversee the Chollas Creek site in Lemon Grove.

Through the Mt. Miguel  High School Eco Club, an after-school club dedicated to protecting and enhancing their local environment, both Linke and McFarland strive to practice and instill the value, “think globally, and act locally.”

These hands-on, clean up experiences provide the students and community members with a better understanding of reality and that every action they take is important. Todd and James love that after every clean up their students feel uplifted and full of hope.

At last year’s event, 9,714 volunteers (7,714 in San Diego County and 2,000 in Tijuana) removed nearly 171,000 pounds of trash and recyclables from San Diego County’s 11 watersheds. Trash removal is just one component of the annual event. Volunteers will also conduct storm drain stenciling, invasive plant removal, native planting and graffiti removal.