Earth Day Events 2012

This year SCA Northwest celebrated Earth Day two weekends in a row, with two major work projects.

Washington Park Arboretum (Saturday, April 14)

SCA Northwest celebrated Earth Day at the Washington Park Arboretum in Seattle, Washington on Saturday, April 14 and it was a huge success!  The celebration started with inspirational speeches from UW Dean Lisa Graumlich, Acting Superintendent of Seattle Parks & Recreation Christopher Williams, former Congressman and 2012 Democratic candidate for Washington State Governor Jay Inslee, and SCA youth leaders Latreea Garner and Georgia Ray.

Nearly 200 volunteers joined to complete 750 hours of volunteer service.  Work projects at eight different sites included removing invasive plants, mulching a trail, salvaging and replanting native ferns, and weeding. 

The Arboretum staff was surprised and pleased with the amount of work completed. Over 15,000 square feet of invasive plants were removed, 6.5 trailer loads of ferns were salvaged, and over 150 feet of trail was mulched.

We were also joined by Zoo Corps naturalists who provided environmental education talks throughout the day about wetlands, watersheds, raptors, turtles, toads, bears, wolves, and New Zealand wildlife. This youth lead event was full of energy and hard work. Beautiful weather, passionate people, and diligent work added another successful Earth Day event to SCA’s history.

CoastSavers, Point Grenville, Quinault Indian Reservation (Saturday, April 21)

In continuation of celebrating Earth Day, SCA Northwest joined CoastSavers on Washington Coastal Cleanup Day as proclaimed by Governor Gregoire in volunteering to remove marine debris from Washington’s Pacific coastline.

Former SCA board member Jackie Oldham, SCA youth members, SCA staff, volunteers, and other organizations, such as the Surfriders Foundation and ARAMARK, joined forces at Point Grenville, one of the Quinault Indian Reservation’s beautiful beaches, normally closed to the public. They removed marine debris and learned about our endangered coastal habitat and wildlife.

The Washington Coast Cleanup is an annual event which started as a series of separate beach cleanups held every April in celebration of Earth Day. Since 2000, they’ve had a total of 9,404 volunteers collect 300 tons of marine trash. This year, SCA’s Evan Escamilla helped to organize the critical clean up. The debris washing ashore comes from both land and sea sources and is harmful to the coastal ecosystem.

Activities like this Earth Day cleanup event promote awareness of preventable human activities and develop a sense of ownership towards our coastal habitat. Beginning this year marine debris related to the Japan Tsunami of 2011 has arrived on the US Pacific coast. The amount of debris and affects are anticipated to increase over the coming years. This was the first year that SCA has joined the clean up and contributed to its success in bringing 1,457 volunteers collecting approximately 33.5 tons of garbage. The total estimated value of Washington Coastsavers efforts is $94,501.

For more photos please go to:

Arboretum Work Projects and Celebration [1]

CoastSavers Beach Cleanup [2]