Coastal Cleanup Day at Upper Newport Bay – Sept. 23
By Christopher Trela – September 1, 2023
Source: Newport Beach Independent https://www.newportbeachindy.com/coastal-cleanup-day-at-upper-newport-bay-saturday-sept-23/
The Newport Bay Conservancy is hosting Coastal Cleanup Day at Upper Newport Bay on Saturday, Sept. 23 from 9 a.m. to noon.
Volunteers will meet at a dozen different mini-cleanup day sites around the 11-mile bay including the Peter and Mary Muth Interpretive Center, Newport Aquatic Center, Big Canyon, Vista Point, Jamboree Bridge, etc. Exact meeting location will be announced and sent to everyone (group leaders) prior to Sept. 21.
Each September, families, friends, co-workers, scouts and school groups come from all over Orange County to volunteer their time at Upper Newport Bay. With more rain this year bringing more trash into the Bay from our surrounding watershed, we are gearing up for a much-needed deep cleaning of the Bay.
The goal is to remove over 10,000 pounds of trash including a new wave of waste from the increased use of single use plastics, disposable masks, and gloves since the start of the pandemic. These items and others risk harming wildlife, pollute our waterways, and threaten public health and your support is crucial to our mission.
Around 1,000 volunteers are needed to help remove trash from the uplands and marsh areas of the Bay and participate in invasive plant removal. Groups are welcome to participate. There will be bus/shuttles to other areas of the Bay where parking or direct access isn’t available and more accessible options for groups with families.
Everyone should wear old clothes and close-toed shoes because you will get dirty. Feel free to bring your own reusable mask, gloves and trash bag or bucket. It also helps if you have tall/rubber boots or water shoes so you can get into the mud and reach those hard-to-get pieces that may be not as accessible when wearing regular sneakers. Bring a reusable/refillable water bottle so we can reduce our plastic use.
Everyone is welcome to lend a hand, although minors need guardian permission and adult volunteers present (ages six and up may participate). Although we love dogs, please leave your furry friends home. Commemorative t-shirts will be given away to everyone helping out that morning.
For mor information and to register, visit https://www.ocparks.com/events/coastal-cleanup-day-bay.
By Christopher Trela – September 01, 2023
Source: Newport Beach Independent https://www.newportbeachindy.com/coastal-cleanup-day-at-upper-newport-bay-saturday-sept-23/
By Phillip Palmer
ABC Eyewitness News, Los Angeles
NEWPORT BEACH, Calif. (KABC) — Keeping garbage out of the ocean isn’t easy. So enter Mr. Trash Wheel, the 70-square-foot barge gobbling up garbage by the ton to keep the beach and ocean pristine.
Trash in the streets ends up in the river and then from the river, the ocean.
Hoping to reduce the amount of trash making it to the ocean, Newport Beach is set to become the first west coast city to use a water wheel system to scoop up trash headed toward Upper Newport Bay.
“We really need to knock that trash load down. This is not going to be a silver bullet, it’s not going to get everything, but it’s going to get a big slug of stuff,” said John Kappeler, a senior engineer for the city of Newport Beach.
By Matt Morrison
For a generation of youngsters who grew up around the Newport Harbor, there’s a legacy to perpetuate. OK, maybe they’re only considered youngsters on a geologic scale, yet together they’ve accumulated decades of passion for the fabulous waterway central to our community. The goal now is to preserve it for generations to come.
We might compare it to fixing up a stately landmark home; the curb appeal is still magnificent but the bones need attention. Dennis Durgan can certainly relate to the analogy.
A residential real estate professional in the community for more than four decades, Durgan grew up on the harbor, beginning in the early 1960’s when it was a seasonal recreation destination. He learned to sail here, then went on to crew in three America’s Cup competitions working with both Ted Turner and Dennis Connor. Now it’s a cause for the future, and not just his own.
“There are numerous issues the harbor has, and will continue to have, as we move forward. There’s more and more people that want to use it,” Durgan explains. “I used to call it the sandbox. Well, the sandbox is overflowing with kids that want to play.”
“With all of their toys…” chimes in Val Lyon, like Durgan, a board member of the Newport Harbor Foundation, established in 2019.
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