Co-organizers of the 5th annual Great Island Clean-Up on San Juan Island, Lori Stokes, Jana Marks, and David Dehlendorf, would like to thank our island’s approximately 225 volunteers who participated on April 18, helping to make San Juan Island “litter-free by the sea.”

A grand total of approximately 1,600 pounds of litter was collected from our island’s roadsides and beaches.

Many groups provided enthusiastic litter-picker-uppers: Cub Scout Pack 4090, Cutthroat Pirates, Friday Harbor Labs, Friends of the San Juans, Islanders Bank, Kiwanis, League of Women Voters, Lions, Mitchell Pt. Litter Ladies & Gents, Paideia School, Ravenhill Construction, Rotary, San Juan County Land Bank, San Juan County Parks, San Juan Island National Historic Park, Soroptimists, Stillpoint School, Trash Masters, and Washington State Ferries.

These groups were supplemented by the efforts of numerous unidentified volunteers who picked up litter near their homes or businesses. A special thank you goes to the 52 youngsters from Cub Scout Pack 4090, Paideia School, and Stillpoint School who helped clean Eagle Cove, Jackson Beach, and the streets of Friday Harbor, respectively.

And a huge thank you goes to both Kira Bradshaw of Orcas and Nikyta Palmisani of Lopez, who organized parallel clean-up events on their islands. Orcas and Lopez had a combined total of 175 participants who collected 4,600 pounds of litter.

Special acknowledgement also goes to San Juan Sanitation for picking up and disposing of the collected bags of litter on Orcas and San Juan, and to Lopez Solid Waste Disposal District for doing the same on Lopez.

5th annual GIC committee