SUBMITTED ARTICLE
GONZALES — The four-hour downtown Gonzales litter abatement event was staffed by a total of 30 volunteers supporting Gonzales Boy Scout Pack 370.
This again included volunteers from Cypress Church, Gonzales. Both parents and Scouts of all ages participated, resulting in a total of 105 volunteer hours for the event work period.
Tri-Cities Disposal and Recycling provided all supplies, including snacks and water, to help volunteers stay hydrated and keep their energy up on such a warm day.
The team once again met at Central Park to focus on removing litter from streets, alleyways, planter and rain gutter areas covering the entire downtown area from streets A through 10, Alta through Elko, and all the way down Fifth Street into the highway commercial shopping district.
Youth collected 200 pounds of micro-trash and litter left or blown to these locations. There were no tires or heavy items to collect as in years past. This included a full cleanup by the group from Cypress Church, Gonzales, of what is called “the catcher’s mitt” area at the end of South Belden Street. This area receives an inordinate amount of micro-trash litter that is blown by the prevailing winds and gets captured by the slats in the fencing at the dead end.
This year, the site was not quite as contaminated as in years past. Thankfully, there was no illegal dumping found this year.
Most of the items collected were found in street rain gutters, alleyways and planting areas. The collection was composed of items such as cigarette butts, candy wrappers, drink pouch straws, coffee cup lids, paper napkins, fast food catsup packets, plastic bottle caps and the like. Notably missing from the haul was polystyrene food to-go packaging and single use, ultra-thin plastic grocery bags. Both items were banned by statute by the Gonzales City Council (the ordinance taking effect in January 2015).
The Boy Scouts and members of Cypress Church, Gonzales, should be commended for their community service, which was completed with an attitude of enthusiasm and a glad heart.
Tri-Cities Disposal and Recycling would like to thank Monterey County Environmental Health for providing the landfill voucher for disposal.
