Trio's nonprofit helps preserve Bay Area beaches with trash clean-up
PACIFICA -- Cleaning up along San Mateo County's beaches is not just a once a year event, but a year round effort that's growing.
Pacifica residents Lynn Adams, Jim Fithian, and his wife Ana Garcia led the charge in a war on trash. Fithian says the project began at Linda Mar State Beach in Pacifica.
"My wife and I were coming down to the beach one day, and we saw trash on the beach, and, of course, you can walk away from the trash and say, 'Oh, it's terrible, there's trash here.' So once you start picking it up, it's hard to stop," he explained.
So they didn't stop. Fithian and Garcia helped organize the first beach clean-up at Linda Mar in 1997. They also co-founded the Pacific Beach Coalition.
Today, the nonprofit organizes weekly cleanups at nine beaches and a bay site from Daly City to Half Moon Bay to Foster City.
Garcia cringes at the sight of garbage in the sand.
"Oohhhhh! It is so disappointing and frustrating and confusing. We didn't understand coming to enjoy the beautiful day at the beach and just leaving your trash," she said, as she deposited cigarette butts into a bucket during a recent clean-up effort.
Adams, the coalition's president for the last 15 years, said she sees the impact in the sand.
"The beach was considered a dump - people brought their car parts and household goods," Adams said.
And today?
"Nothing monumental today. And that's a good thing," said Adams as she combed the beach for garbage to pick up.
In fact, the coalition's army of nearly 10,000 volunteers collected more than 28,000 pounds of trash and recycling this year during nearly 1,300 clean-up events the nonprofit has organized or inspired.
At a recent corporate day of giving, Adams shared with dozens of volunteers like Till Maurer the joys of environmental stewardship.
"There's always been a consciousness there but being able to live it is really nice," Maurer said with a smile.
And volunteers discover what Fithian did: the secret to keeping beaches clean.
"If they see it clean, they're more likely to keep it clean," he stated.
And that's a victory for everyone.
"It's really heartening to see a clean beach that we can just enjoy," said Fithian.
"There's also something meditative, just walking the beach," added Garcia.
"To know I've done something good, and then I'm teaching other people to continue doing something good, that's everything," said Adams.
The nonprofit also restores native habitat and educates students at school assemblies.
Groups wishing to volunteer with a clean-up or organize their own can contact the Pacific Beach Coalition at their website.
So for leading San Mateo County beach clean-ups that care for the environment and educate the public, this week's Jefferson Award in the Bay Area goes to Lynn Adams, Jim Fithian and Ana Garcia.