Celebrating 55 years of Earth Day: How small actions create big change

Originally created here in the United States to inspire and unite Americans in environmental awareness, Earth Day, now a global movement to advance meaningful action for the health of the planet, will reach its 55th anniversary on April 22.

Even with the best intentions, sometimes it can seem impossible to believe we individually have the power to make an impact in a meaningful way, but we do. For more than 70 years, I Love A Clean San Diego (ILACSD) has been helping people to do just that by creating opportunities for San Diegans to contribute to the environmental health of our community through action and education. Jenny Barros, ILACSD’s director of marketing and development, shares insights on how to make small changes, and why they’re important.

Far from being just a small piece of the environmental puzzle, trash is a significant contributor to larger issues that impact green space, waterways, and wildlife, and not just where it was dropped. “80 percent of the litter that we see at the beaches will start at an inland location,” explains Barros. “So, if you’re having a picnic or a birthday party at a park in Julian and the wind blows and your party favors blow into the nearby storm drain, our watersheds are all connected, and they’re going to make their way down to the coast.” Barros says education is an important aspect in reducing the amount of waste that’s released and ultimately ends up in our watersheds, beaches, and oceans. “I think what people need to be aware of is making sure that you’re responsible for every single thing that you bring with you and that you consume. It’s like you are going to be the ‘caretaker’ of that item, and that means you have to see it all the way through to its disposal,” she says.

ILACSD’s mission is to create a “zero waste lifestyle” in San Diego. But having zero trash logically begins with less waste. “Something for people to consider is that we just have a larger volume of single use items now, and that’s not a positive thing,” says Barros. “It’s great for convenience, but…single use items and single use plastic mean that we have an increase in actual trash.” Switching to reusable items, from water bottles and food containers to grocery bags and other longer-lifespan items mean less trash that misses the trash can and ends up in the environment — as well as less in our landfills. 

“We want people to understand where ‘away’ is,” says Barros. “When you throw [waste] in a trash can, that’s wonderful, because it’s getting off the streets. But landfills are part of the Earth as well, and all of the landfills in San Diego are reaching capacity. So, the most impactful thing we can do is to reduce the amount of trash that we’re producing.”

Many of us have heard anecdotes of ships loaded with recyclables being refused at port after port, their load unwanted as quantities of recyclables exceed the need or ability to process them into new materials. And whether those accounts are sensationalized or not, Barros does say that the global rate of plastic recycling sits at a paltry 6%. However, in San Diego, our recycling stats are starkly different: We boast a staggering 71% diversion rate. “It is absolutely worth it to make sure you are not mixing your classic recyclable plastics, aluminum, and cardboard with your trash, because that is another thing that will increase the [lifespan] of the landfills,” says Barros.

Though according to Barros items mistakenly dropped into recycle bins — or put in there with the hope that they can be recycled, known as “wishcycling” — are removed, it can come with a heavy toll beyond simply impeding the recycling process. Soft plastics, like snack or grocery bags, can actually be a hazard, clogging heavy machinery that has to be manually stopped and the waste removed, creating hazardous working conditions. A key action you can take to avoid contributing to these issues is to drop your plastic bags in the receptacles located at many supermarkets or other stores you likely visit weekly.

Green waste — kitchen waste and garden clippings — accounts for about 35 to 40 percent of all the waste inside of a landfill in San Diego, shares Barros. “If we just used our green bins, we would be able to create a lot more space in that landfill without needing to open a new landfill,” she says. Since all Californians should have organic waste “green” bins following the enaction of a 2016 California senate bill, this is an easy but significant step everyone can take to have a major impact here in San Diego.

ILACSD offers an array of activities, events, and volunteer opportunities to meet members of the community wherever, and however, it’s the best fit for them to contribute to efforts to improve our environment. In honor of Earth Week, taking place on April 26 is the organization’s largest event of the year, Creek To Bay, a cleanup event encompassing more than 70 sites throughout the county. Historically, this single day results in the collection of 100,000 pounds of litter and debris in mere hours. Registration opens April 1. cleansd.org