More than 20 campers picked up 25 bags of trash from the Kendall-Frost Mission Bay Marsh Reserve at Campland on the Bay campground Jan. 14, with camper Vikki Ingham fueling the idea of campers making the area more beautiful.
Other campers wanted to participate, and Campland recreation director Kenny Johnson is thrilled.
“They pay for camping here, and they still don’t want to complain about the trash, but to volunteer and do something for the environment,” Johnson said.
Volunteers at the 40-acre urban campground, founded in 1969, included those of different ages and origins, from as far apart as Oklahoma and Europe. Meanwhile, Johnson noted that the trash usually comes to Campland from the Rose Creek area.
“We recycled the glass, plastic and tins we found,” Johnson said. “We also found a car tire and a plastic piece of a shopping cart, which was surprising.”
Johnson doesn’t want to point fingers at people, but he says everyone should think where their trashes go.
“If someone throws a tin from the Rose Creek Bridge,” Johnson noted, “it doesn’t stay there. It can go to an area where birds nest. It’s a sad sight to see a beautiful bird next to trash.”
Reserve manager Isabelle Kay organizes a Campland clean-up once or twice every two months, adding that the campers themselves have planned going to Rose Creek for a clean-up. If they can affect the area where the trash comes from, Campland stays cleaner automatically.
Campers fascinated with the birds over the area have started a birdwatchers group. New campers express curiosity about the Mexican parrots or black skimmer birds, wanting to know what they are.
Camper Lynn Ihlstrom launched the idea of a birdwatching group, and thus every Thursday at 3:30 p.m., a group tries to recognize the species. Those who wish to join are asked to bring their own binoculars.
The campground is located at 2211 Pacific Beach Drive. For more, call (800) 422-9386 or see campland.com.