About Us

The Journey Here

Scott Parker, Founder of East Bay Beautiful

My name is Scott, and I hate litter and dumping. I really hate it! Like “I should be living in Japan” hate litter. Like many during COVID, I noticed how trashy everything had become and worked on little projects to do my part. It got a little out of control, and I worked to systematically clean up the town of Moraga, focusing on creeks and open spaces. 50,000+ lbs of junk were removed from local watersheds. If this much was in a small, off-the-beaten-track town like Moraga, we undoubtedly have similar and worse scenes in the 33 incorporated communities of Contra Costa and Alameda counties, not to mention all of the unincorporated areas, which are usually worse.

As we concluded the remedial clean-up in Moraga, it was clear that a more comprehensive approach was needed, drawing on the lessons learned in Moraga and other communities.

The Future

The future is about building a deeper understanding of the issue of dumping/litter and its’ impacts and mobilizing folks to engage with the issue. A trashy environment harms citizens, wildlife, mental health, and societal harmony. The goal is preventative; let’s reduce dumping and littering so we spend much less time cleaning it up. Let us beautify our surroundings so folks are less inclined to litter and dump. SOLUTIONS not maintenance! We have a few main paths to get there:

  1. ORGANIZE CLEAN-UPS so that volunteers get an up-close view of the issue.

  2. IDENTIFY SOLUTIONS to prevent future dumping/litter/accumulation.

  3. REPORT ISSUES and encourage everyone to use their local report and issue feature. I believe much of our litter/dumping issue would be gone if we all routinely used “report an issue,” as it represents a direct voice from citizens to the government on specific issues.

  4. GOVERNMENTAL OUTREACH to monitor and hold municipalities/agencies accountable for results and encourage proactive action in addition to reactive action.

  5. ENCOURAGE GENERAL BEAUTIFICATION so that citizens can feel better about their communities and there is less of a draw for litter. This could entail weed abatement, greening projects, community gardens, etc.

Thanks!!

Thanks for dropping by. I hope we can all chart a path to a cleaner and more beautiful East Bay. We live in an incredibly beautiful place, and it needs us to take care of it.

Scott P