CVSan: Earth Day Clean-Up and Recycles Day Events a Success

On Saturday, April 26th, Castro Valley Sanitary District (CVSan) coordinated Earth Day Clean-Up and Recycles Day events for the community.

Nearly 500 members of the public participated in CVSan’s Earth Day Clean-Up projects throughout Castro Valley. CVSan and ACI donated 40 cubic yards of compost, 86 cubic yards of mulch, and picked up 3,505 pounds of plant debris for composting, along with 1,609 pounds of litter gathered by volunteers from Castro Valley streets. Volunteers had the opportunity to select a charity that CVSan would donate to in their honor. The following charities were selected and will receive funds at the August CVSan Board Meeting: A.R.T. Inc. $410.00, Castro Valley Educational Foundation $860.00, and FESCO $735.00.

Over 1,300 CVSan residential households and businesses attended CVSan’s Recycles Day event at Canyon Middle School, and dropped off mixed-material plastics, fabric shopping bags for reuse at local food banks, textiles, documents for shredding, and e-waste for reuse or recycling! Over 3,600 one-cubic foot bags of compost were distributed to attendees.

CVSan connected Earth Day Clean-Up volunteers to the following five local sites coordinated by event sponsors: Castro Valley Community Park, Castro Valley Creek, Downtown Castro Valley, Lake Chabot Park, and areas around Center Street and Interstate 580, supported by ForestR.org. In addition, twelve schools organized volunteer efforts for the event, including Canyon Middle School, Castro Valley Elementary, Castro Valley High School, Chabot Elementary, Independent Elementary, Jensen Ranch Elementary, Our Lady of Grace School, Palomares Elementary, Proctor Elementary, Redwood High School, Stanton Elementary, and Vannoy Elementary.

Earth Day Clean-Up would not have been possible without the generous support of event sponsors: Alameda Countywide Clean Water Program, Alameda County Industries (ACI), Alameda County Resource Conservation District, East Bay Regional Park District, ForestR.org, Friends of San Lorenzo Creek, Hayward Area Recreation and Park District, Pete’s Ace Hardware, and Alameda County Supervisor Nate Miley.

Volunteers collected litter, planted trees and native plants, spread mulch, and removed weeds. For more information on Earth Day Clean-Up, please visit cvsan.org/ED.

The next Recycles Day and Compost Give-Away event will take place on July 26th. Appointments are required and will be limited. Registration opens June 23rd at cvsan.org/RecyclesDay. Acceptable items will include textiles and household hazardous waste. Residents can also receive a free 1 lb. reusable propane cylinder by exchanging a single-use 1 lb. propane cylinder for safe disposal. CVSan residents and businesses may also pick up three one-cubic foot bags of compost.

CVSan thanks all its volunteers, residents, businesses, and sponsors for helping to keep Castro Valley beautiful and for making this year’s Earth Day events a success!