Keep Temescal Clean & Beautiful

Among the variety of single-use packaging littering our streets, none seems as ubiquitous as the plastic straw.  We pick up dozens of plastic straws during our weekly cleanup yet many more make their way into storm drains and into our waterways. While small in size, a plastic straw’s impact on animals and the environment can be devastating.

A recent proposal by Oakland City Councilmembers Abel Guillen and Dan Kalb seeks to reduce the supply of this plastic detritus by requiring restaurants to provide straws only on request. Fewer plastic straws means less litter and that’s something we can definitely get behind.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The overwhelming majority of the litter we pick up is packaging related to food. Whether pre-packaged plastic containers or bags and cups from fast food restaurants, the amount of waste is staggering.

While we, as a society, struggle with how to address this issue holistically, we believe we should be able to live in a clean and beautiful neighborhood today. Nobody wants to, deserves to, or should live in garbage, litter, and debris. We’ll continue to do our small part by spending an hour a week removing litter from our neighborhood. Join us any Sunday at 9am — corner of 43rd and Shafter.

We spent the morning cleaning up along 45th Street between Webster and Telegraph. The AT&T property at 479 45th Street is becoming overrun with debris and graffiti.

The issue has been reported through See-Click-Fix (and here) to the City of Oakland and we are anxiously awaiting a resolution. In the meantime, we cleaned up what we could.

Thanks to our lovely group of litter walk volunteers who helped remove a significant volume of trash from our neighborhood streets this morning.

Today we concentrated on the area around Oakland International High School.  Since their joining the neighborhood in 2007 OIHS have been good neighbors.  In 2013 the students partnered with neighbors to develop the Webster Street Garden Project which helped brighten and beautify the corner of 45th and Webster.

We were surprised and saddened to see so much litter around the school. There was a noticeable increase  in the volume of McDonalds litter, particularly along 45th Street. We’re hoping this is a temporary issue as McDonalds does have a litter control plan in place with the City of Oakland.

Another troubling situation is developing at the MacArthur BART station where trash and debris are piling up along 40th Street. We spent a significant amount of energy over there a bit ago and will drop by again soon. Please lend a hand in our cleanup but please also contact BART and let them know we can use their help.

See you next Sunday morning at 9am on the corner of 43rd and Shafter! In the meantime, let’s Keep Temescal Clean & Beautiful!