Meet our new Marketing Intern, Christina!

Today’s post comes from ILACSD’s newest Marketing Intern, Christina Etchebarren!

Hey there readers of this blog and fans of I Love A Clean San Diego! My name is Christina, I’m the new Marketing Intern here at ILACSD and I’m so excited to be joining the team and learning from the wonderful staff and volunteers. I am a fourth year Environmental Systems major at UC San Diego, originally from a small town outside of Portland, Oregon. Growing up I’ve always been surrounded by environmentally conscientious communities, so it was no surprise that learning about and protecting our environment has turned in to a passion of mine. Letting people know about what we’re up to at ILACSD is a part of my job description and my first assignment was to attend one of our education presentations at University City High School on Tuesday, Feb. 12^th.

Arriving at the high school brought back a strange wave of nostalgia for my carefree, hormone charged, rebellious teenage days and I kind of felt like never leaving. I sat myself in the back row of a marine science classroom trying to blend in inconspicuously as the students noisily settled into their seats. Monica Rosquillas, who is one of our lovely educators, introduced herself and took control of the students attention with a quickness and ease that would impress the pants off of any HS teacher I’m sure; high schoolers can be some of the most difficult crowds to reign in and she did so with confidence that can only come from plenty of experience.

The presentation began with a lesson on the importance of water, which may seem obvious but sometimes all of us need a reminder about just how vital clean water is to not only our health, but the health of every living thing around us. The rest of the lesson plan was focused on watersheds, water quality and marine ecosystem health. Talking about environmental issues can be an extremely difficult task because you don’t want to come across as threatening or pessimistic and you don’t want present the problem  as overwhelmingly large or beyond help, but you do want to make it seem important and urgent enough to motivate people to care and to take action. The presentation that I Love A Clean San Diego has put together walks the line quite gracefully, and I noticed that even from the back of the classroom, all of the students seemed to stay engaged throughout the entire duration of the talk.

Stomach contents from an Albatross include plastic caps, fishing line, and even a small wooden door knob.

Monica hit the message home by passing around a jar filled with contents from an Albatross’ stomach which included a pen and several other pieces of colorful plastic, I heard murmurs of horror coming from the pupils as they passed the jar around with disgust.  To be honest, although I’ve gone through several years of environmental education throughout my time at UCSD, I learned a lot about watersheds and how important it is that we do our best to keep them clean.

All in all, I walked out of University City High School proud to be a part of such an amazing and inspiring organization and feeling hopeful for our future generations of environmental enthusiasts, and I look forward to the months ahead here at ILACSD.

You’ll hear from me soon, until next time.

Christina

Intern Spotlight: Gabe Grinstein

Today’s post comes from our summer Community Events Intern, Gabe Grinstein. Gabe has been an amazingly dedicated and vital part of our team over the past few months. From helping at cleanup events to inventing new educational displays for our volunteers, Gabe has been resourceful and has always shown a positive attitude, regardless of the task. Everyone here at ILACSD would like to thank Gabe and we wish him the best of luck in school and during his upcoming research project!

Gabe helping tally trash collected at the Morning After Mess cleanup

I am finishing up my internship this week with I Love A Clean San Diego. I wish I could stay longer, but I am going to Wyoming to complete a field research requirement for my undergraduate concentration. My time here has flown by, keeping busy reaching deadlines to make sure we are ready for cleanups and other tasks such as inventing educational displays for site captains to make during Coastal Cleanup Day in September. I have had such a blast, thanks to the always-cheerful and welcoming attitude of the staff here. Every staff member has been fantastic, but I would like to give a special thank you to Jemma De Leon. As my supervisor, I worked with Jemma on a daily basis and she made my work here so much easier, whether it was calling a client when they wouldn’t take my previously agreed upon posters or helping me clean the storage room.

Gabe displaying the educational displays he created

I learned so much from this internship that I will surely take for my future in the environmental field. So many things go unnoticed in planning a cleanup or in any environmental initiative, but every step is important in making it successful. I am planning on conducting a research after I graduate which shows the effects of sports on the environment and ways to make it more sustainable. Even an area as beautiful as San Diego needs improvement, making it hard to imagine how much needs to be done in other cities across the United States and abroad. If everyone could portray just a small amount of the passion I saw working with the staff here and volunteers at events, it would surely turn around our environmental problems.

Although I won’t be able to participate in any ILACSD events anymore, I will still help the environment somewhere else. I hope all of you continue with it as well.

Gabriel Grinstein

Tires Flew & Heads Rolled at our Tijuana River Valley Cleanup!

Today’s post comes from ILACSD’s Outreach Intern, Ian!

Our Best Tijuana River Valley Cleanup Yet!

Hello, my name is Ian MacGregor and I am ILACSD’s newest Outreach Intern, I am a 16 year old high school student. I became an intern here at ILACSD because I wanted to assist in the effort to beautify our county. I’ve loved my time so far here and hope to continue interning for a long time.

This past Saturday more than 150 volunteers worked very hard to beautify the southernmost part of our county, the Tijuana River Valley. Just south of a sod farm and just north of the border, the volunteers worked very hard collecting trash and recyclables. They collected about 2000 pounds of trash, a whole dumpster full of bottles and other plastics and somewhere around 130 tires.

In previous years, we have had around 75 volunteers. Having double that amount was a great sign that our efforts to spread the word about the cleanups are working. Participants ranged from middle schoolers working to improve their community to 15 Job Corps participants searching for some community service to put on their résumé. From a clique of friends just looking for a great activity on a Saturday morning to a long time participant happy to see the growth of the cleanup.

You never know what you’ll find at our cleanups!

There were three sponsor booths there: our I Love a Clean San Diego tent or the registration tent, a WiLDCOAST tent that educating participants about their organization, and an Ocean Minded tent that gave away free merchandise. There was even a major TV news station covering the event.

During the cleanup, we found everything from shoes to styrofoam, from a manikin head to cans stuck in cement.

In the end, we are happy to see the growth of the event and to see the great change in the landscape of the river. Below is a Picture of the Job Corps Members, our staff and our interns sitting on the pile of tires we collected. Thank you to all our volunteers and all our sponsors.

Maddy Blake: My Internship with I Love A Clean San Diego

Today’s post comes from ILACSD’s Marketing & Community Events Intern, Maddy Blake.

My name is Madelyn Blake and I am a senior at the University of San Diego. I’ll be graduating in May 2012 with a double major in Political Science and Philosophy, but my passion lies with environmental stewardship.

As I entered the final semester of my college career, I knew that I wanted to gain internship experience in the environmental field. I’ve always been passionate about these issues but after traveling the world, I realized the harmful impacts human actions have on the natural world around us. While researching environmental non-profit organizations, I stumbled upon I Love A Clean San Diego and knew I wanted to be a part of their cause.

I began interning with ILACSD in February as an Outreach Intern. I attended cleanup events in order to help volunteers with checking in and weighing the bags of trash they returned to us at the end of the day. I loved being out in the sun with like-minded individuals and having the ability to walk around and help out wherever I could. The events are full of energy, fun and dedication towards cleaning the natural habitat. Aside from working at cleanup events, Outreach Interns also attend community festivals and fairs. These are my favorite events because I am able to talk about our organization, our cause and recommend ways for people to get involved. I love sharing what ILACSD is doing in the entirety of San Diego County and learning from other people what environmental issues affect them most often. It provides me with more insight to the unique issues found in our neighborhoods and helps me to understand why ILACSD works throughout the county.

My favorite event this year was in La Mesa at Mt. Helix Park. I Love A Clean San Diego had a booth with an “Emergency” themed game for children. The kids had to pick up different types of trash without letting the buzzer go off, and then place the items in the appropriate places: recycling, hazardous waste, compost or regular, old trash. I loved when the kids were excited about placing the items in the correct places and how they explained why they chose that particular place. I was surprised at how knowledgeable they were and sometimes, they even outshined their parents! It’s refreshing to know that these younger generations have such a great understanding of the environment and realize the impact they can make by doing the right thing.

Although I began interning through our community events department, I started working with the marketing department as well. I primarily worked on research projects in the beginning, but have recently moved on to social media-based projects. This includes writing press releases, blog posts, Facebook updates and Tweets. It’s been really fun because I can be creative and show mine and ILACSD’s personality through all of these outlets. This position has given me the opportunity to see our influence on the community through social media and how it allows us to reach more people through Internet-based mediums.

Because of my internships with I Love A Clean San Diego, I’ve learned things both about myself and the environment. As for the latter, the most striking information that I’ve acquired is a knowledge of items that can and cannot be put in the recycling bin. For example, I’ve lived my entire life thinking that flimsy plastic bags are recyclable… they’re not. And I vow to stay far, far away from them. I think the coolest part about ILACSD is their recycling hotline, WasteFreeSD.org – it’s so easy and convenient to use. As for myself, I’ve learned that working for a non-profit isn’t always glamorous work, but it’s motivating because you’re working for a higher cause. The people in this office are friendly and really know their stuff. They’re qualified and experienced and just in general, wonderful people who want to make a difference. I thank them for this opportunity and look forward to volunteering with them in future years to come.

The ILACSD staff would like to thank Maddy for her hard work this semester and we wish her the best of luck in the exciting adventures she will embark on after graduation!

Nick Gatelein, An Inspired ILACSD Intern!

One of ILACSD’s trusty Outreach Interns, Nick Gatelein gives an insider perspective on his internship.

Working as an ILACSD Outreach Intern has been an enriching experience that has allowed me to give back to the community in a variety of ways. It has provided me the opportunity to work side by side with various community members to restore numerous locations within San Diego County by removing debris and working directly with volunteers. It has also allowed me to network with a variety of individuals that understand the importance of environmentally sustainable practices. Through this internship I have also been able to see a variety of locations in the San Diego County including Balboa Park, Ocean Beach, along with many other locations that display San Diego’s diverse beauty.

Nick, one of ILACSD's interns at our Open House

One of the major motivating factors that caused me to pursue this internship with I Love A Clean San Diego was the fact that it provided the opportunity to contribute as an individual and to make a difference in this community both environmentally and aesthetically. It has also allowed me to gain experience in organizing community events and working with teams. I have also been able to receive college credit for this internship through San Diego State University. The flexibility of being able to select which events I attend also makes it easy to create a schedule that works around my school schedule. After working for this organization for a few months it has become clear to me that our contributions are making a BIG difference and that we are providing a valuable service to the community. Working the community events has also been a lot fun because of the team members that we work with and all of the volunteers that we get to meet. As on outreach intern at the end of my second month I am glad that I chose to work for this organization and I would recommend it to others in the future!

Thanks Nick for providing your input and encouraging others to follow your lead! To find out more about internship opportunities, log on to
http://www.cleansd.org