Write up by Madi:
On Saturday, at 9am my dad and I went to the Mission Oaks Barranca to take part in the Coastal Cleanup program by picking up trash. We found almost every category of trash you could think of; chip bags, plastic bottles, cardboard, food wrappers, dozens of glass shards and more. We also passed by so many other people with as much trash as us and it was sad to think how much trash there could even be here. After about an hour and a half my dad and I went to go weigh our bags. Our 2 trash bags weighed 6 pounds, and our recycling bag weighed 1.5 pounds. That’s 7.5 pounds of trash that my dad and I picked up in one short hour. I was surprised by how much trash we found. I had been to the Barranca many times and never noticed there was so much hidden trash. It felt good to help our community and keep it clean.
Coastal Cleanup is really important because it brings awareness to our community about how much litter there really is all around us. It also helps keep our community more beautiful and clean. I think the community should participate in this event because we all live here and it is our duty to keep our environment clean. Keeping our coastal community clean benefits everyone and everything; the plants, animals, the air we breathe, and the people who live here. I would definitely recommend this event to everyone. It was such a good experience for me and I will make it a priority next year. If everyone could participate in this program think about how much more beautiful our environment would be. 
