Join the 2018 Great Islands Clean-up on 4/22!

It’s time for the Great Islands Clean-up on Earth Day – Sunday, April 22 from 10 am – 2 pm.

Join us for this county-wide greening event where volunteers will collect litter from public beaches and roadways and help make the San Juan Islands “Litter Free by the Sea”!

Drop in cleanup is scheduled for South Beach, San Juan Island from 10-2 Sunday. Stop by and help community members, Friends of the San Juans and park staff clean our county’s longest beach for people and wildlife. Access to South Beach is from Pickett’s Lane off of Cattle Point Road on San Juan Island. Past year’s cleanups have removed 100’s of pounds of marine debris and litter from this beach. Dress for the weather and bring your picnic!

New this year: San Juan Island picker-uppers are asked to join the recycling diversion challenge. We are seeing how much of the collected litter can be diverted to recycling. Please sort any clean recycled material from your roadside or beach litter and deposit in the recycling container that will be located at Bonnie’s Crafts at 635 Spring Street in Friday Harbor by 2 pm day of clean-up.

After party on San Juan: The Stewardship Network of the San Juans and San Juan Island Brewing Company are co-sponsoring an after party for clean-up participants at the brewery (410 A St.) in Friday Harbor from 3-5 p.m. Bring a picture of you participating in the clean-up and, as a thank you, you will get one pint of beer for a dollar between 3 and 5 p.m. There will also be a raffle for people of all ages including prizes from the Stewardship Network members.

All islands info below:

On Orcas Island: Come to the Eastsound Village Green on Sunday, April 22nd at 10 am to sign in. You will be given cleaning and safety supplies and be assigned an area of the island to cover. If you want to be a team leader or register a crew in advance, please email [email protected]. See the Exchange website for more info www.exchangeorcas.org.

On Lopez Island: Meet outside Blossom Grocery at starting at 10 am on April 22nd to get your assignment. For more information contact Mike Moore (360-468-3362 or [email protected]) or Kirm Taylor (360-468-2474 or [email protected]).

On San Juan Island: For roadside clean-ups, contact Catherine Kenney (360-378-3658 or [email protected]). For beach clean-ups, contact Jana Marks (378-2319 or [email protected])

It means so much to me to have helped protect the rural environment and natural beauty of the San Juan Islands during the 1980s and 90s. Now I get to share my appreciation of these beautiful islands with my grandchildren, too.

Nancy DeVaux

former Executive Director and member, San Juan Island