Picking up the town

Community members will unite to do their part for the city of Laguna Beach and for the environment from 10 a.m. to noon Sept. 5 at ZeroTrash Laguna’s monthly street and beach cleanup.

Local Chip McDermott, who initiated the movement at the close of 2008, said the grassroots cleanup project on the first Saturday of each month is “dedicated to ridding city streets of trash, reducing waste, supporting local business and fostering environmental responsibility.”

In addition to major sponsorships from XS Energy Drink and Re-Source water — companies that make it easy and profitable to recycle used bottles, and are passionate about spreading environmental awareness — five local businesses will lend their support to aid cleanup between Broadway and Aliso Creek.

Volunteers can report to YogaWorks and La Sirena Grill in South Laguna; and to El Ranchito, Thalia Surf Shop, Hobie Surf Shop or Whole Foods to retrieve pickers, gloves, bags, T-shirts, and a morning cup of coffee provided by the Laguna Coffee Company.

Deanna Rowe, marketing coordinator for YogaWorks, said the studio will also offer a free class to Saturday’s participants.

“We have an 8:30 a.m. level 1-2 Yoga Blend or a 9 a.m. Mat Pilates class,” she said. “Both get out at 9:55 a.m., just in time for the street cleanup.

“We think it would be fun for everyone to wear their red ZeroTrash T-shirt — or any red top — to show we are ‘seeing red’ about litter in Laguna.”

La Sirena will offer a 50% discount on meals for volunteers, El Ranchito will take 10% off the bill, and Whole Foods will provide free goodies.

Hobie’s will also offer a 20% off coupon to ZeroTrash shoppers.

Fed up with seeing trash littered on Laguna’s streets — which also makes its way into storm drains and washes up on beaches — McDermott said he felt inspired to do something about it.

“It amazes me that it was so commonplace and people could just step over the trash and think nothing of it,” he said.

“I didn’t want our town to look that way, so something needed to be done.”

Now embarking on its 23rd consecutive cleanup in Laguna, ZeroTrash is working to expand to other communities in Orange County, starting with Newport Beach in the next couple of months.

“Our goal is to take this national,” McDermott said.

As part of the movement, he and other volunteers also make appearances at local schools to inform students about recycling and composting.

For information about how you can get involved, donate or sponsor, visit www.zerotrash.org.

For more information about how to help locally, visit www.zerotrash.org and go to Laguna Beach under “communities.”