Sep 17, 2015

Give a Day for the Bay with Morro Bay in Bloom

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Every Saturday morning at 9 a.m., Morro Bay in Bloom volunteers spring into action. They meet at different locations each week, and work together to beautify Morro Bay. When they landscape and tidy public spaces, they follow bay-friendly practices like planting drought-tolerant plants, avoiding the use of herbicides, and removing invasives.

Thomas, a long-term volunteer with Morro Bay in Bloom, surveys the succulent bed at the top of Centennial Parkway’s staircase.
Thomas, a long-term volunteer with Morro Bay in Bloom, surveys the succulent bed at the top of Centennial Parkway’s staircase.

We are happy that Morro Bay in Bloom has dedicated three of their regularly scheduled cleanups this summer and fall to our Give a Day for the Bay campaign. This past weekend, the “Bloomies” (as they sometimes call themselves) met at the top of the stairway in Centennial Parkway, above the giant chessboard.

A row of colorful clippers, bags of different-sized gloves, stacks of buckets, and piles of other helpful tools sat waiting. As volunteers arrived, they greeted each other, donned their gloves, and cheerfully got to work.

Megan and her daughter came to volunteer with Morro Bay in Bloom for the second time. Megan says she picked Morro Bay in Bloom because it’s a kid-friendly volunteer opportunity that gets them outside.
Megan and her daughter came to volunteer with Morro Bay in Bloom for the second time. Megan says she picked Morro Bay in Bloom because it’s a kid-friendly volunteer opportunity that gets them outside.

Volunteers started the morning working on a beautiful bed of succulents that they planted a year ago. Many of these drought-tolerant plants started out as small transplanted cuttings from the volunteers’ gardens. They say it’s wonderful to see how they’ve grown.

The volunteers cut back some of the plants that had grown too large, pulled weeds, and picked trash out of the beds.

Volunteers pulled these cigarette butts out of the succulent beds and threw them away before they could catch a gust of wind and blow down the street and into the bay. That’s good for the estuary, because cigarette butts can be toxic to bugs, fish, and mammals.
Volunteers pulled these cigarette butts out of the succulent beds and threw them away before they could catch a gust of wind and blow down the street and into the bay. That’s good for the estuary, because cigarette butts can be toxic to bugs, fish, and mammals.

 

Pulling weeds helps make sure that only non-invasive drought-tolerant plants are growing in the beds. (It also makes the garden beds look nice!)
Pulling weeds helps make sure that only non-invasive drought-tolerant plants are growing in the beds. (It also makes the garden beds look nice!)

Next, a group of volunteers started working to remove an invasive plant from the hillside next to the stairway.  Taking these plants out by hand reduces the need for the use of herbicides, which helps keep the estuary clean and free of chemicals.

Volunteers work on the hillside at Centennial Parkway.
Volunteers work on the hillside at Centennial Parkway.

Other volunteers worked their way down the stairs, through the park, and all the way to the water’s edge, hauling buckets of yard waste, clippers, and other tools all the way.

A volunteer empties her bucket of yard debris into a large portable container at the end of the day
A volunteer empties her bucket of yard debris into a large portable container at the end of the day.

This Give a Day for the Bay cleanup was a great success. The volunteers kept trash and herbicides from entering the bay, nurtured drought-tolerant plants, removed invasive plants, and had fun while doing it. We thank Morro Bay in Bloom for working hard to keep our town and bay clean, healthy, and beautiful.

 

 

If you’d like to participate in Give a Day for the Bay, there is still time! Four great, bay-friendly events remain: