October 27, 2019

by drplasticpicker

I am lucky to be part of a fun office with like-minded pediatricians, nurses and back-office support staff. We work together. Share meals together. Celebrate birthdays and each others’ big milestones. Drplasticpicker’s office friends wanted to do an ocean beach cleanup in order to bond and help the earth together! I am excited about posting the results of our group clean-up which will be next weekend.

In this blog post, I will describe the 10 steps it took to organize the office beach clean up.

1. The Beginning: The motivation for this outing came from multiple other staff members hearing about my new hobby, and saying it would be fun to do it together. A critical mass is interested, and I agreed to help organize since I’m now the plastic picking expert in the office!
2. Make sure Mr. Plastic Picker is Available: I had to make sure my beloved Mr. Plastic Picker is available to help. I always have these crazy things I do, and he’s often right there along with me to make sure I don’t get into trouble! So he is available and not working, and can drive our big minivan to haul all the supplies.
3. Found an Established Organization to Work With: I’ve been plastic picking myself, but actually having the office do it together I thought it would be better to work with an established organization. I Love A Clean San Diego https://www.ilacsd.org/ actually helps groups do clean-ups together. I contacted them and they actually have a coordinator that helps you, supplies to check out, and waiver forms. Check out their website if this is something you might want to do something similar.
4. Decided on Time and Place: I live a bit further north of my coworkers and don’t attend religious services regularly. The rest of my office does. So they wanted Saturday morning before it gets hot (so we decided 730-9am), and at a nearby beach for most of our friends. We wanted to make it low stress, not take up the whole day, so that we can do it regularly and make it part of our lives.
5. Adopted a Beach: Who knew you could adopt a beach so easily?!!! Through I Love a Clean San Diego, I found out that if you do at least 3 cleanings a year that your group can “adopt” a beach. So we adopted Imperial Beach Pier, in South County San Diego. Exciting!
6. Advertising: Since we decided on time and place, I just sent one email to work friends and put up a sign up sheet in the lunch room.
7. Gather Numbers and Paperwork: Thus far about 15-20 friends have said they will come. I have their waiver forms ready and will get their signatures in the next few days, and they can be signed that day of as well.
8. Pick Up Supplies: I have to call I Love A Clean San Diego https://www.ilacsd.org/to confirm pickup of the supplies . There is just a small deposit for $5 for those who want the metal grabbers.
9. Easy Breakfast: My plan otherwise is to set up a canopy that morning e (the canopy I already own), and have an easy breakfast with vegan muffins, bagels, fruit and juice for anyone who wants a quick breakfast afterwards.
10. Clear My Schedule: I had to make sure I have adequate time to sleep before, so made sure I am not working that afternoon or evening prior so that I can rest up and be adequately enthusiastic and present for my friends who are coming on this plastic picking journey with me.

So hopefully it will be next weekend! Hoping you will join us to see how our first group ocean beach clean-up goes with I Love A Clean San Diego https://www.ilacsd.org/.

Here are the links to the final office beach cleaning results https://drplasticpicker.com/part-3-office-beach-clean-up-final-results/