Earth Day Neighborhood Clean-Ups

In celebration of Earth Day, Long Beach neighborhood and community groups hosted 13 clean-up events across the City on Saturday April 24th. The clean-ups were held in various neighborhoods and business improvement districts across Long Beach in an effort to support environmental sustainability and to provide assistance to residents and businesses during the pandemic. Volunteers collected trash and swept the sidewalks along business corridors.

The clean-ups were led by graduates of Long Beach’s Neighborhood Leadership Program (NLP) who served as community ambassadors at the events. “There is more strength in numbers,” said Juanita Doplemore, NLP class of 2019 and volunteer with the Collins Neighborhood Association. “I would encourage residents and members of the community to tap into their neighborhood associations and their city council to partake in the programs and events that are being offered. Together each one of us can help keep the City clean, safe, and healthy.”

Cleaning up our neighborhoods and streets beautifies our City and keeps pollutants out of the environment. The most common type of litter is plastic, which breaks down over time into tiny, and eventually microscopic pieces of plastic referred to as microplastics. Microplastics not only impact us as they have been found in the air we breathe and the food we eat, but they also end up in waterways and the ocean, harming aquatic life. Preventing litter from entering waterways is especially important here in Long Beach where all our drains eventually lead to the ocean.

Neighborhood and community groups organizing the clean-ups included AOC7 Neighborhood Association, Belmont Heights Community Association, the Long Beach Environmental Alliance, Willmore City Heritage Association, and the 8th District Council Office, among many others.

Approximately 200 volunteers participated, including residents, students, and representatives from the Andy Street Community Association, Conservation Corps of Long Beach, Ramona Park Neighborhood Association, and the YMCA.

“The Earth is shared with everyone, it really doesn’t matter where you’re from or who you are, we can all make a difference,” said Pheakdey Soeun, a volunteer with the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. “There’s nothing better than cleaning up our community together to show that we’re grateful for this Earth and for one another.”