Volunteers remove 30,000 pounds of trash from creeks, Bidwell Park

By SCOTT JASON - Staff Writer

When Chico resident Reena Schaller decided to help clean Chico's creeks, she expected to remove a few glass bottles and some candy wrappers.

Instead, she carried mattresses, tampons, batteries and blankets from Little Chico Creek.

"I didn't realize it was the dump," Schaller said. "It's nasty."

Schaller was one of the 130 volunteers who spent about four hours Saturday cleaning Bidwell Park, Lindo Channel, Comanche Creek, Little Chico Creek and Big Chico Creek.

The Butte Environmental Council organized the Fall Bidwell Park and Creeks of Chico Cleanup 2005, which started nearly 20 years ago.

The volunteers filled six 20-yard trash bins, collecting items like microwaves, computers and glass bottles, said BEC Executive Director Barbara Vlamis.

"We weren't able to finish," she said. "If we had, we would have filled many more Dumpsters."

About 30 more volunteers would have made a huge difference, she said.

Vlamis said between 25,000 and 30,000 pounds of trash was removed from the park and creeks.

"What we are doing is successful, but that we have to do it isn't," she said.

The event was coordinated with the California Coastal Cleanup Day, which had about 40,000 volunteers remove more than 400,000 pounds of waste with less than half of the groups reporting, Vlamis said.

The amount of trash in the creeks was more than previous years, Vlamis said. The increase is because more homeless people live next to the creeks, she said.

"There needs to be a more concerted effort to reach out to the homeless people," Vlamis said.

She said she plans to write a letter to the City Council asking members to look for a way to reduce the amount of homeless people who aren't receiving proper care.

"There's has to be a lot more attention paid to the people who slip through the cracks," Vlamis said.

Chico State University student and Alpha Chi member Deanna Moon came with five of her sorority sisters. She said finding the homeless camps surprised her.

"It changes your perspective about the community," Moon said. "I don't see Chico coming together to help the homeless."

She said she would bring more of her sorority sisters to come clean next year.

"I really wish more students would get involved," Moon said. "It's only four hours of a day."

Despite being shocked by the amount of garbage strewn through the creek, Schaller said she would probably help next year.

"It needs to be done," she said. "I like Chico, and I don't like it when it's yucky."

Reprinted from the Chico Enterprise-Record, Sept. 17, 2005