Cities across the Bay Area celebrated Earth Day on Saturday with community clean-ups events where volunteers picked up trash.
The City of San Jose held its annual “Great American Litter Pick-Up” in the morning. Residents joined Mayor Matt Mahan and other city leaders to pick up trash across 40 neighborhoods.
Mayor Mahan said the day wasn’t just about taking care of the planet, but was also about building community and getting to know neighbors.
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“We live in a world where we are all so busy, stressed out, and on our phones all the time. And, frankly, kind of disconnected. But to have this opportunity to get to know people and work side-by-side to make our city a better place is really special,” he said.
The push for a cleaner city doesn’t start and end with Earth Day, either. Mayor Mahan and other volunteers have also been collecting trash and cleaning up the city each weekend. All told, they’ve collected 38,000 pounds of trash so far.
And in Alameda, people took advantage of the sunny day to clean up the earth in a scenic locale. Volunteers brough buckets and bags to collect trash along the Robert W. Crown Memorial State Beach.
During the event, volunteers gathered a lot of plastic straws, cigarette butts, bottle caps and cans. One person even said they picked up almost 2 full bags of trash.
Some Bay Area cities also celebrate Earth Day in other ways, like the City of Fremont’s annual Earth Day festival. Booths lined the plaza at the Fremont Event Center where people learned about environmental issues, did crafts, and even learned how to fix bikes.
