With garbage bags in hand and trash pickers ready, hundreds of volunteers made their way from Point Loma Nazarene University’s Young Hall parking lot to Sunset Cliffs on the morning of Saturday, Sept. 19, to spend two hours cleaning up the coastline.
Jeff Bolster, vice president for university services and adjunct professor of management at PLNU, said that around 400 students, faculty, staff and community members participated in their fourth annual Coastal Cleanup from 9 to 11 a.m.
Surfers heading out to catch waves and neighbors out for their morning jogs encountered a large-scale service project unfolding along the cliffs. From a distant view, volunteers in matching teal long-sleeve shirts were scattered across the landscape. Throughout the morning, they moved steadily along the cliffs, filling bags as they collected debris and helped clean up the coastline.
Among those participating was Leon Scales, a community member who serves with Friends of Sunset Cliffs and the Sunset Cliffs Natural Park Council. Friends of Sunset Cliffs is a nonprofit that raises money to maintain and protect the park, while the Natural Park Council serves as an advisory group to the city of San Diego on projects and improvements for the park.
Scales said the cleanup reflects the close relationship between the park and PLNU, which share the same coastal environment.
“The fact that so many students, and so many other people from San Diego, are attracted by Point Loma Nazarene to pick up trash and clean up the park is a really positive thing,” Scales said.
Annika Schramm, a third-year environmental studies major, climbed up and down the ridges on the cliff to find trash hidden in the brush. She said the cleanup was a great way for students to give back to the community and help keep the land around them clean.
“I think it’s a really great idea because it gives us an opportunity to take care of the land around us,” Schramm said. “Even though picking up trash might seem like a small thing, it makes a difference in keeping the area clean and beautiful.”
Scales said some of the volunteers were attending the park for the first time and encouraged them to return to help care for it throughout the year.
“This [event] happens once a year, but of course, it inspires the rest of us to keep the trash pickup all year long,” Scales said.
Scales said Saturday’s cleanup showed what can happen when the university and surrounding community work together to care for the coastline.
Zoey Peters