This past Wednesday, 7 Surfrider Volunteers met up in North Portland to help out on their monthly Green Streets neighborhood cleanup. Over the course of 2 hours they picked up over 75 gallons worth of waste off the streets. That's about the same volume as a refrigerator! Picking up this litter keeps it out of our local waterways and the ocean.
Surfrider Green Streets is a partnership with the City of Portland's
Green Street Steward Program. Green Streets are neighborhoods where the city has installed bioswales to manage storm water. What's a bioswale you say? Its one of those little gardens you may have seen on the curbs in many of the neighborhoods in Portland. Instead of water flowing into a storm drain, water goes into one of these swales and percolates down, getting cleaned by the plants in the swale, and by the compost in the soil. The water then further descends over time deep into the ground to replenish our local aquifers. This innovative use of a natural process keeps our Willamette river clean! The city is getting known around the world for its innovative use of these swales, and its awesome to be involved on such a cool project!
After returning we ate a bunch of Gregg's homemade ice cream and enjoyed the beautiful weather! Even Amity, Gregg and Michelle's 2 month old daughter got in on the fun. Green Streets is a great way for anyone to give back to the City, meet some new friends and help keep our local environment clean and healthy. We meet usually the third Thursday of the month in North Portland and the Fourth Tuesday of the month in East Portland. Give our Volunteer Coordinator
Krista a quick email and join us next month!!!
