Projects
Moraga, California
Summary:
40,000+ lbs of dumping/litter were removed from the town’s creeks and open space from 2021-2024, led by East Bay Beautiful’s partner Clean up Moraga! All accessible creeks and open spaces were remediated, and solutions were implemented and are still being pursued, where possible, to prevent future litter.
Detail:
Moraga is home to nearly 17,000 residents in the scenic East Bay hills of the San Francisco/Oakland Bay Area. Formerly, home to over 35,000 lbs. of dumped material and litter that was evicted over three years! Much of the garbage had accumulated over decades (finding bottles and cans from the 60’s was common!) and the town is undoubtedly the cleanest it has been in over 50 years! In total, across town, well over 10,000 bottles/cans were removed in addition to 100+ tires, thousands of balls, and a wide assortment of items such as trash compactors, dishwashers, HVAC units, shopping carts, discarded pipe, barrels, car parts, etc.
Where possible, material was recycled via home recycling bins and commercial recyclers like Rapid Recycle in Pacheco, where scrap metal and TVs were taken to be recycled.
Some key locations:
Mulholland Ridge
Mulholland Ridge is an open space popular with dog walkers and home to cattle with a beautiful view of the Oakland Hills and Contra Costa. While home to the cows, this area is also an excellent habitat for many other species with open hillsides, wooded areas, and multiple creeks. Decades ago, the road was shut to traffic and made pedestrian-only, but the garbage from its road days remained. Over 7,000 lbs. were removed, including 1,000s bottles/cans, nearly 50 tires, large amounts of piping, and other junk. One creek area in a sublime gorge had over 30 tires. With no road traffic to provide a source for litter/dumping this cleanup should leave a lasting impact on Mulholland Ridge.
Bollinger Canyon/Trampas Creek
It is a pretty 1-mile drive along Trampas Creek that borders St Marys College and the John Muir Land Trust Harvey Ranch property. Trampas Creek is the Moraga creek that does not drain to Upper San Leandro Reservoir, but instead feeds Walnut Creek and ultimately Suisan Bay. Several pull-outs along the road have attracted significant contractors and landscapers dumping and litter over the years. Over 7,000 lbs. were removed, including 1,000’s bottles/cans and more oversized home items such as trash compactors, dishwashers, HVAC units, and flat-screen TVs.
Next Steps:
The Clean Up Moraga! project is now primarily focused on outreach and education and centered on working with citizens, the Town of Moraga, Contra Costa County, East Bay MUD, and local organizations to work on preventative measures to limit litter and dumping. We expect that there will be occasional maintenance clean-up events, but keeping Moraga clean should be very attainable, mainly if citizens report issues and pick up as they go about their dog walks, exercise, etc. We are also joining local Commissions to create an opportunity to work closer with town staff. A summary of items to work on or to be monitored:
St Mary’s College has committed to a clean-up program to prevent tennis balls from entering the creek system. We have also contacted the College administration and environmental science department about the stewardship of all creek/open space areas on campus. The creek areas were all significantly littered, in addition to the hill below the cross.
Moraga Baseball Association is working on a plan to clean up balls that enter the watershed.
Work with EBMUD and the town around placing a floating boom across Moraga Creek before it gets to Upper San Leandro Reservoir so that trash can be stopped and collected.
Work with the town on recurring reviews and wooded/creek park area maintenance. Maintenance in common areas of the parks has been excellent, but other areas, such as wooded sections and creeks do not appear to receive much cleanup attention.
Work with the town to ensure commercial property owners do their part in keeping their outdoor spaces clean, particularly those near storm drains.
Work with the town to prevent, clean up, or require landowners to clean up regularly the dumping/litter along Bollinger Canyon Road/Trampas Creek and Canyon Road/Moraga Creek.
Work with citizens to impress upon residents the importance of using Report an Issue to notify the town of issues.
Work with educators to spread the message to children.
Pinehurst Road Canyon, California
Clean-up of a 3.5-mile section of Pinehurst Road adjacent to Redwood Regional Park, which cuts through the small town of Canyon, CA, and through a valley populated with towering redwoods with a creek leading to the Upper San Leandro Reservoir. We are proud to report that significant progress has been made in restoring this beautiful watershed. Approximately 5,000 lbs of litter and dumping were removed, and the area has been restored to a more pristine state.
We have been working with East Bay MUD and Contra Costa County to ensure that preventative measures are implemented to discourage illegal dumping. New signage and fencing have been added to this stretch of road, while other options, such as cameras and enhanced enforcement, are discussed.
Next Steps:
Continue to work with EBMUD, EB Parks, and Contra Costa to expand signage, fencing, and other preventative & educational measures, particularly in the steeper sections of Pinehurst Rd experiencing heavy dumping.
Educate, Enforce, and Prevent!!
Update 8/14/2024:
I returned to see how it looked after 2.5 years. I covered the section from Canyon Road to just past Huckleberry, and what took 20-30 hours 2.5 years ago took less than four this time! The prior clean-up netted several thousand lbs, while this clean-up was less than 200 lbs. The picture below and three additional bags show the total waste removed. It is uncertain if the dumping culture has improved, the prior clean-up netted garbage accumulated over a long period (most likely), policing by locals has deterred littering, or other groups have been cleaning it up but it is encouraging that the amount of litter/dumping was not more significant. Hopefully, this beautiful stretch of road along San Leandro Creek can remain close to pristine.
Orinda Oaks Park Orinda, California
Clean-up of a 100+ acre hillside park with majestic views of the Oakland Hills and Contra Costa County. Over 1,000 lbs was removed from the open space, much of which had accumulated for decades.
Next Steps:
We are working with the city of Orinda on additional clean-up of town-owned land at this gorgeous park in addition to littering that has spilled onto adjacent private property.
Lafayette Community Park/St Marys Road Lafayette, CA
Ahh, the memories. Where the insanity began during one of my son’s soccer practices, I didn’t want to drive home and he didnt want me to watch practice so I walked around and picked up litter (and watched practice out of the corner of my eye!!)
Little did I know what picking up litter around the park would lead to. During COVID, things became capital T trashy; it seemed everywhere. Lafayette Community Park was no exception, mainly wooded areas around the parking lot. After working on the park for several practices, I headed down St Marys Road for several more, accumulating over 1,000 lbs of litter. During the last practice, I walked over to Trampas Creek off Bollinger Canyon Road and noticed the amount of dumping there, and that kicked off the effort a month later to tackle the local creeks. However, I may have been the one that got tackled.
No pictures because, at that point, I was too clueless to document anything!
Joining others in their efforts:
Grizzly Peak Blvd Oakland, CA
The Trash Pandas, an Oakland-based group, has been working in the Oakland Hills since late 2023 to clean up massive amounts of dumping along Grizzly Peak Boulevard, one of the prettiest drives in the Bay Area. It is truly a sad sight. The job is enormous, and the Pandas are well organized and equipped to take on the task. East Bay Beautiful and Clean up Moraga! joined the Pandas for clean-ups 8 and 9 and the amount of effort required to clean up that area is astounding. The steep slopes require ropes to go up and down safely and to haul junk to the top, and the Pandas are prepared!
It is incredible work that the Pandas are doing on behalf of Oakland, University of California, Alameda County and the East Bay. Now if Oakland, Alameda County and the landowner, University of California, will become part of the fight this dumping assault on the hills along Grizzly Peak Blvd can be ended.
The Trash Pandas also post clean-up parties and info on the Reddit group r/DeTrashed and on the Facebook group Untrash East Bay.
